5 Questions To Determine If You're On Track For A Bodacious Career
by Mary Foley

Are you completely satisfied with your career? Or, is there something gnawing at you inside saying that you could do better?

Trusting the inner voice that's saying you can be more successful is a good place to start. To understand further where you need to grow, use my five questions below to determine if you're on track for building the Bodacious Career and what adjustments you need to make. (Pssst! If you own your own business, these questions can be applied with just a little imagination.)

#1 Do you deliberately create relationships with people that matter inside and outside your company?

To build your Bodacious Career, you must understand that everything in business (and otherwise) is introduced, evaluated, negotiated, bought, sold, resolved, ended, and enjoy based on relationships.

You need to decide who inside and outside your company could help your career in some way and how you will go about getting to know them better.

#2 Do you know how to say "no" to others when needed without jeopardizing your career?

To build your Bodacious Career, you must be clear about your emotional, psychological, and physical boundaries. You must be able to say "no" in many forms and take stand for yourself when needed.

"No" comes in many forms such as "I can't do that right now, how about on Thursday?" or "If you want me to do this now, I can, but first let me know what can wait to give this priority" or "I appreciate your thoughts, but I've decided to make a different decision."

#3 Do you usually have a proactive strategy for managing change?

To build your Bodacious Career, you must accept that change is inevitable in your career and life, but growth is optional.

You must commit yourself to figuring out how you can thrive, not just survive, as situations arise in today's constantly changing environment.

#4 Do you embrace office politics and know the power bases in your company?

To build your Bodacious Career, you must understand that office politics is really relationships plus power, and be able to identify what type(s) of power exist in your organization. These power bases include knowledge power, creative power, positional power, relationship power, and personal power.

Embracing office politics means determining how to use the power bases in your company for the good of your career and the organization.

#5 Have you imagined what your Bodacious Career looks like and have a plan for making it happen?

To build your Bodacious Career, you must know where you're headed and how you're going to get there.

Creating your future includes evaluating what's working and what's not in your current situation, allowing yourself to dream about a future state, and taking constructive steps in that direction. It also includes making adjustments as needed and celebrating achievements along the way.