4 Steps to Leadership for Young Professionals

4 Steps to Leadership for Young Professionals.

Featured Guest Blogger: Jason Kent, P.E.

“I want to be a leader, but I’m so new here.”

Many young professionals find it frustrating to feel that they can’t lead or advance because of their youth or short tenure in their organization. The qualities of being relatively young or new to an organization may be obstacles to leadership, but they certainly do not prevent a young professional from being a leader.

There are four easy steps you can follow to cultivate and exercise your leadership skills without having positional power. Do a few of these, and you are well on your way to being a leader.

Do good work. It is an old cliché, but it most definitely holds true in the engineering field – lead by example. Try to exceed all expectations. Winners are seen as leaders.

Get a mentor. As a protégé, you learn from the experience of your more experienced mentor, while your mentor also grows and benefits from your fresh perspective and knowledge of new processes and technologies. If your organization does not have a structure for pairing young professionals with mentors, take the initiative to get one or more mentors on your own.

Take on an initiative or side project. Being a leader of a committee or subgroup in your organization can increase your exposure to leaders and management. Professional organizations also provide great opportunities for leadership, networking, and marketing.

Speak or write about your work. Nothing can establish you as a trusted expert on a subject faster than speaking or writing about it. Speak at a conference or a trade show on your favorite topic. In the office, schedule a “brown bag” presentation over the lunch hour. You can also show your expert status by writing articles for your industry trade journal, alumni magazine, or company newsletter.

If you follow these four steps to leadership for a young professional, you may quickly find your colleagues responding to you as a leader. And don’t forget these tips as you move up the leadership chain – pass them on to your coworkers and other young professionals. After all, successful leaders are committed to the success of the people around them.

Posted by Anthony Fasano for Jason Kent, P.E.

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