Get Your Colleagues on the Same Page

As the saying goes, there’s strength in numbers. As anyone in the corporate world would attest to, it doesn’t hurt to have more people on your side. In the short term, by getting your colleagues to be on the same page as you, you’ll be able to gain traction in whatever you’re pushing for. In the long run, if your team is convinced that you’re shaking up the status quo for the right reasons, you’ll get a leg up in your career.

Target the Key Stakeholders

Let's say you are exploring an idea for a new campaign. In this case, you'd need to make sure you have key stakeholders on board in order to see your ideas through to execution. In my experience, there’s no need to deliberately find out who the key stakeholders in a company are, especially if you’re new. 

This is because these key stakeholders – if sceptical – will be sure to identify themselves by raising their concerns when it comes time to actually implement your ideas. Have individual conversations with these key individuals. Share your goals and show them where you are coming from. Listen actively to their concerns and be sure to address them in subsequent proposals. 

Over time, as you become more familiar with your organisation’s style of working, you’ll inherently know which are the key stakeholders you should be spending your time and effort on. Some ideas may only need to be approved by a major stakeholder, while others may need to go through several loops.