The Road to Champagne: 13 Principles to Drive Career Success

Building relationships and constructing a well-designed network is critical to advance in your career. But many take networking lightly—and their career growth rate suffers. Depending on your personality and context this might be easy and enjoyable or uncomfortable and painful. You must do it regardless of how you feel about it or the level of effort required. Proper networking opens doors for you. Isn’t that what you seek to grow?  Joining us is Neeraj Khanna, Senior Vice President of Strategic Programs at Wells Fargo.

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Bad news: good performance is not enough. You need to convince others your proposal is highly attractive for it to get implemented. Without a certain level of power and influence, you will fail at it—especially true the higher up in the organization you get to. That is why you must be proficient at navigating your organization’s power dynamic and have sharp influencing skills.  Joining us is Prof. Alison Fragale, Organizational Psychologist & Professor at University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School.

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Defining your professional brand helps you convey to others what value to bring to the table and helps differentiates you from your crowded field. It should reflect today’s reality, not an aspiration, and is composed of three elements: strengths, values, and expertise (episodes 6 to 8). Your brand should evolve over time—be in control of its direction. You have to protect it—wrong moves or failure to deliver can damage your brand image. Today we are joined by Phil Buckley, change management expert and consultant, executive coach, and published author. 

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Besides strengths and values, a key component of your professional brand is expertise. To differentiate from the pack, you need to excel at a few topics and be proficient in other topics of relevance within your field. We explore the concept of main and secondary spikes, and how to choose, build, and maintain them. Without such expertise, you are easily replaceable and will have a harder time generating demand for your services. Joining us is Eric Hemer, SVP of Wine Education at Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits (Master of Wine and Master Sommelier). 

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Values seem to be undervalued (pun intended) but their importance is tremendous. They help us understand if we are acting according to the beliefs we hold dearly and play a key role in our career and life; they help us understand if we are about to make the right decision—but only if you are attuned to them. Joining us is Rissa Lawrence, VP of Strategy and Business Development at Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits. 

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Having strong self-awareness is key to having high emotional intelligence, being an admired leader, and making effective decisions impacting your career. Many professionals don’t grow because they ignore their existing blind spots—and therefore can’t address them. The sooner you know yourself, and how others perceive you, the faster you can upshift on your drive to success. Today we are joined by Dr. Jasmin Franz, a certified business coach and e-trainer, an expert in talent and leadership development, and lecturer at the International University of Applied Sciences in Munich, Germany. 

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Being adaptable is the 5th step in shaping your mindset, and it is very important for one simple reason: your road will not be a straight line. You will have unexpected twists, turns, forks, and potholes. How you react to such events on your road can help you quickly recalculate your route—or derail you. Being adaptable is a must—now more than ever. Practice embracing change, because it’s coming…if you want career growth. Joining us is Guillermo Rebolledo, Global Strategy and Transformation Leader for Strategic Sourcing and Procurement at Cargill. 

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Saying “yes” is about how you react when opportunities come your way (related to your job, career, or personal interests), that you didn't expect. Because many times, opportunities come our way when we aren’t expecting or pursuing them. Saying “yes” is a powerful welcome to new experiences that can lead to personal growth, career growth, more learning, and even dramatic positive changes or progress in our career. Joining us is Hector Astorga (hectorastorga.com), an entrepreneur turned award-winning wildlife photographer.

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WIP means work-in-progress, a product that is not yet finished. You need to constantly learn and stretch your knowledge boundaries to unlock professional growth. This thirst for being a non-stop learner will act as fuel for the drive to success. Joining us is Lindsey White, Consultant at Bain & Co. 

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So how much more should I want? How high should I aim? If you want life-changing career moves you have to aim higher than what’s “normal.” Let Plan A be a way into a new league that accelerates growth and let Plan B be “normal.” Joining us is Dr. Alex Frano, Assistant Professor of Physics at University of California San Diego.

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