The information on this site will be particularly useful if you have a preference for introversion. Why? Because we introverts get our energy from the inside while people with a preference for extroversion get their energy from the outside - interacting with people. As a result, we introverts are less likely to be "naturally" talented at things like networking, interviewing, managing meetings etc. than our extroverted friends. The tips on this site will help both introverts and extroverts but my guess is, it is introverts that will benefit the most!

I also want to emphasize that, I am a perfect example of someone who is not naturally gifted in these areas. I used to avoid networking opportunities because I found them awkward! So I have had to learn these skills and I know with practice and support, you too can learn them and greatly enrich your life as a result.

First Things First
This site starts with a few very important foundational elements namely, helping you learn more about who you are and then to decide what it is that you really, really want. This is a critical leadership and life skill. It is often referred to as developing a "Vision or Mission Statement" and there is a reason that most organizations have one. Knowing where you are headed is very important in setting yourself up for success. Remember, your personal vision doesn't have to be 100% accurate. It is much more important to have a direction in mind than a specific destination!

Find a Career That You Love
From there, the site presents information on how to communicate to the business world by building a great resume and preparing for an interview. These elements are very important in empowering you to choose and pursue a career that you love. You are far more likely to be successful if you pursue your passion than you are in working "hard" at a role you dislike. It is just fundamentally hard to be really good at doing something you don't like doing.

Key Tips to Accelerate Your Career
Once you are in a role that you love, we move on to some key communication, business and leadership skills to help you to show up like a true professional in your work. Of course building your professional reputation by doing great work (being competent) and being an individual with impeccable integrity is up to you. This site is all about providing you with a few key tips and techniques and skills that will help you to stand out and get ahead.

Why www.How-To-Get-Ahead.com?
So why did I create this site? In my work as an Executive Coach, I regularly work with young people, experienced professionals, leaders and even executives who are unaware of, or are unskilled at a few key things that could really accelerate their careers and enrich their lives. But who has time to read the warehouse full of “how to” and “self help” books available? Where do you even start? Well - you can start right here!

A Really Important Tip!
And now for a really important leadership (and life) tip:

Get a Success Buddy

Of all of the tips I offer on this site, this is probably the most important. Why? Quite simply it is because our lack of success usually is not a result of lack of knowledge or a lack of skill (although these are important). The key thing that holds us back is a lack of commitment to ourselves. We simply lack the discipline to do what we know is the right thing for ourselves!

Think about dieting as an example. Most people know that eating an apple is better for your health than eating a basket full of french fries, right? You don’t need expert knowledge about food, calories, carbs, fat content and all that other stuff to know that fruit and vegetables are good for you and that fast food is… well not as good for you. The truth is that you already have the basic food knowledge necessary to eat well so our issues with food are not often related to a lack of knowledge.

As for skill – I am going to guess that we are all pretty skilled eaters – I mean we do it at least three and probably closer to eight times a day, right? So why are so many people over weight or suffering with unhealthy bodies? Lack of commitment. This is where having a Success Buddy is so important to becoming successful.

There are lots of self help books in the bookstore – why? Because just reading about what we can do to make our lives better is not enough. Even when we know what to do, we don’t tend to do it or at least do it consistently. It is a well understood that for whatever reason, keeping our commitments to ourselves is very hard.

Improve Your Chances
However, the chance of you living up to your personal commitments actually goes up significantly if you write them down. I am serious! If you don’t believe me – try it out for yourself. Writing down your personal commitment to eat better, stop smoking or learn and practice the skills on www.How-to-get-ahead.com will greatly improve your chances of actually doing it, especially if you place your written commitment in a place where you will see it every day. This is a key business skill that organizations use all the time in their performance management processes. Write down your goals and objectives and review them regularly.

Now if you are really, really serious about being the best you can be: get a success buddy. If writing your personal commitments down improves your chances of success by ten times over just thinking about it, then getting a Success Buddy will increase your chances of success by a hundred times!

So what is a Success Buddy? A Success Buddy is a friend, neighbor, family member, co-worker or someone else that you are going to share your commitments with. Ideally this will be a reciprocal agreement so that you will “hold” their personal commitments as well. Just by sharing these commitments with a third party – your Success Buddy – you will feel far more compelled to stick with them and make the changes you want, all at zero cost. In fact, if you are working with a Success Buddy, you will likely find that your relationship with that person becomes quite fantastic. Imagine helping someone else become more successful while helping yourself become more successful. Not only is this Win- Win, it is a great leadership skill!

Now there is no need to make this out to be bigger than it is. This is as simple as approaching someone you like and trust and saying: “I want to start doing something to get ahead in my life such as networking but I always find an excuse not to do it. I would really like it if you would help me be accountable in accomplishing this for myself and I would absolutely be happy to do this for you as well. What do you think?” The next thing you know, you and your success buddy will be on path forward - creating the careers and the lives you want for yourselves. Just between you and me, this is one of the things that makes
Professional Coaching so successful in helping people make the changes they want in their lives!

So – that is it for this page - please take your time and explore the rest of the site and I hope you come back and check out the newest additions often.

Cheers, Gord