What do you hope to accomplish in the next five years? How about the next 10? Whether you are just beginning your career or you have decades of experience under your belt, it helps to know some strategies for achieving your next goal. It also helps to know how you may be inadvertently holding yourself back. You may have adopted some habits that aren’t serving you well as you look to grow your career and achieve new milestones.

In this issue of Promotional Consultant Today, we share thoughts from Ryan McGrath, CEO and president of Asset Living, on six patterns that can stop you from achieving long-term success. Read on to discover if you have fallen into any of these bad patterns.

1. Hiring sales reps just like you. Look around your next sales meeting. Are your team members similar to you? Does everyone think and act the same way? If so, you’re not doing anyone any good. McGrath points out that in order to grow, you should prioritize hiring people who are smarter and different than you. Diversity is important because it allows you to understand different perspectives, experiences and ways of thinking.

2. Opposing change. Change can often be uncomfortable because it takes us out of our comfort zones. But, McGrath points out that the old adage, “change is the only constant,” holds true in business. You can’t grow and simultaneously stay the same. Instead of resisting change, aim to not only accept it, but embrace it. For example, think about new markets you could reach or adjusting roles to better serve your clients.

3. Avoiding risk. When working with clients, it’s always a good strategy to present yourself as the least-riskiest choice. No one wants to gamble when choosing a supplier or promotional consultant. However, you shouldn’t always avoid risk, notes McGrath. Nothing great has ever happened without sizable, associated risk, he says. So, think about the potential outcome of a decision or choice, accept that outcome and go for it.

4. Neglecting yourself. Whether you are managing a team or growing your own business as a solopreneur, remember to invest in your own professional development. It’s easy to stay focused on developing your sales reps or working on the business itself but be sure to make room for personal development. This could mean taking courses or asking for feedback from your peers.

5. Setting the bar too low. Goals should be attainable, but also make you stretch a bit. Even if you don’t reach the goal, you still achieve a win for yourself, your team or your company. When setting goals, don’t fear failure. Set your goals high and consistently push the boundaries, says McGrath. If you don’t aim high enough, you and your team won’t be motivated to go after the goals.

6. Believing you need to have all the answers. If you think you need to know everything, you are holding yourself back. You might be an expert in what you do, but the reality is you won’t know everything there is to know. Accept that truth and work on surrounding yourself with people who compliment your strengths and bring fresh skills and knowledge to your team.

Growing professionally and personally requires getting comfortable with change. You may need to reexamine how you choose your team members, make decisions or set goals. To keep moving forward, you should also get comfortable with taking calculated risks and admitting that you won’t always have all the answers.

Compiled by Audrey Seller s

Source: Ryan McGrath is CEO and president of Asset Living, a property management firm.