Is career success about style or substance?

Posted by Sarah Hobbs

Many people believe that career success is about being in the right place at the right time and knowing the right people. Through our research into careers, we would disagree.The old adage “it’s not what you know it’s who you know” doesn’t hold water. Instead “It’s not what you know – it’s who knows you and what they know you for”.

And this means it’s less about style and substance and more about “substance and style” – with the emphasis on substance. The style is just there to market your substance and push your name and reputation out there. There are always people who will go a long way on style alone, but more often than not, they are rumbled and the higher they have gone, the further they fall.

So what does that mean?

1. Get the substance right. Develop a track record of delivering really high quality outcomes. This will show that you are not someone who has moved on every time something was about to fail but that people have promoted you rather than prevented you from moving on. You are seen as the kind of person who managers have wanted to work with again and again. They come back to you because they think you are really good and that you deliver really well. When you sit down to look at what you’ve achieved and measure the impact you are having, you realise it is considerable. Surely, with all of this I’m going to get noticed and people will move me forward? Possibly, but are you willing to gamble your career on that hope? But don’t just rely on substance alone…
   
   
2. Turn up the style. Ask yourself whether you look like you belong in the next level and whether your image, the way you dress and the way you speak, conveys the right image of you being a high quality individual. Do you demonstrate the level of thinking that’s required at the next grade, and do you fit in alongside the people at the next level? Are you talking about the right things and are you talking about the issues people on the next level are talking about – do you sound the part?
   
   
3. Broadcast your successes. Once you can show you’ve delivered really well and you look ready for the “next step”, you need to make sure people know about your successes. Make sure your manager knows the great things you’re doing – and that their manager knows about them too.

Takeaway
Get the substance right and use the style to broadcast it.