13 Clever Ways To Use ‘Calculated Ambition’ To Get Ahead At Work, According To A Career Coach
Lean almost all the way in.
Mangostar | Shutterstock We’ve all heard the phrase, “Work smarter, not harder,” but without practical examples, it can be difficult to know exactly how to go about working smarter.
When it comes to giving guidance on how to make the most impact without breaking a sweat, career coach Hannah Goefft has got you covered.
“There is a sweet spot between overworking and underperforming that people don’t really talk about,” Goefft said. “I like to call it ‘calculated ambition.’”
She described the concept as “The way to use minimal effort to maximize your career growth” and offered a “cheat sheet to build a successful career by leaning in only when it counts.”
Here are 13 ways to use ‘calculated ambition’ to get ahead at work, according to a career coach:
1. Learn how to peacock
Goefft likened peacocking to humble bragging, which is essentially trying to impress someone without being too brash or overt.
She believes that workers should learn how to talk themselves up, if only “So your leadership always knows the value you’re creating.”
Letting colleagues know your wins doesn’t necessarily come naturally to most people, especially women in the workplace, as we’ve been socialized to be polite and blend into the woodwork, even when it’s to our detriment.
Instead, Goefft advocates for employees to shout their successes from the rooftops or at least mention them to their manager during one-on-ones.
Doing so might feel vaguely uncomfortable at first, but with practice, you’ll find yourself building up that skill as you would any other professional technique.
2. Always map back to clear business priorities
“If you cannot map your work back to a clear business priority, talk to your manager about getting rid of it — Automate or delegate it or stop working on it entirely,” she said.
Locating the tasks that are necessary while scaling back on ones that are superfluous is a smart tactic, one that helps you as an individual and your company, overall.
Redundancy is the enemy of progress and productivity. Most corporations want to streamline their input to get the best output, which is just a way of saying they want workers to put their energy where it matters most.
3. Practice selective intensity
It’s not always the most productive employees who make the biggest strides in advancing their careers. Often, people who consistently work the hardest are passed over for promotions for their seemingly less-deserving coworkers.
Goefft acknowledged that some amount of high-octane productivity is needed if you want to push forward. Still, she advised against going full throttle all the time.
“This may be hard to hear, but career growth does not happen without going above and beyond, but only do so when you can clearly see how it’s going to serve you,” Goefft said. “If it’s not, boundaries are your best friend.”
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It might feel uncomfortable to set boundaries around work, but doing so can vastly improve your relationship with your job.
Michele Moliter, a coach who works with high-achieving professionals, noted the value of boundary-setting in the workplace, saying, “Your boundaries help safeguard your time, talent, skills, and abilities, helping you to avoid getting consumed by your work and client challenges.”
Moliter shared some of the common triggers that stop people from setting boundaries, including perfectionism, people-pleasing, and fear of failure. She also shared specific strategies for creating boundaries, like identifying your core values and expressing clear and consistent expectations.
4. Go to happy hour
Another aspect of Goefft’s calculated ambition roadmap included going to work-related social events when it serves you.
“Think about social events at work like making deposits in a bank,” she said. “The more you make them when it’s easy, the easier time you’ll have withdrawing them when you need to spend the money.”
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Many corporate decisions are made outside of scheduled meetings, so in some ways, opting out of drinks with colleagues keeps you isolated from what’s really going on in your workplace.
5. Talk to executives
Goefft elaborated on the reasons why it’s important to spend time with coworkers away from work, noting that you can build your social capital with upper management, just by virtue of having a simple conversation.
“When you’re at these social events, get your face time in with the executives, because the more you talk to them, the more you’re gonna realize that they’re not necessarily smarter or better than anybody else,” she said. “What they are, perhaps, is influential in getting you to where you wanna go.”
6. Systematize
Another part of her methodology is putting routines in place that help you simplify your day-to-day tasks so that you can get more done, overall.
“Set boundaries, use repeatable systems, automate, [and] delegate,” Goefft advised. “Try to stop measuring your work by hours and instead, focus on output.”
7. Overset your boundaries
In a follow-up post that continued her deep dive into calculated ambition, Goefft went back to the idea of boundaries, explaining why it’s important to create wide margins around your boundaries, themselves.
“Overset your boundaries from the start so people are less likely to take advantage of them,” she said. “When you have a deadline, add extra days to it. Go no-contact every time you’re out of the office. Say ‘no’ to work you don’t have capacity for.”
Again, this practice can feel nerve-wracking if you’re not used to it, but like any professional skill, you’ll only get better the more you do it.
8. Build a public resume through social media
Goefft recommended harnessing the power of algorithms by posting about your job on social media, noting that they’re not only good at serving up cute puppy content, they’re also good at “connecting professionals with people looking to hire for those professional skills.”
“Build a public resume by regularly posting about your work, and let the algorithms work their magic,” she said.
9. Improve your communication
Being an effective communicator can reduce any friction you may have with coworkers, which makes your job easier. Yet knowing we need to work on our communication doesn’t mean that we automatically know how to hone the skills to get there.
Communication expert Jessica Chen explained that the best communicators have two secret weapons when it comes to conversations.
“The first one is, they ask really thoughtful questions,” she said. “The second one is, they’re very good at acknowledging the other person.”
“We have to remember that the best communicators are thinking, ‘How can I engage the other side? How can I pull them into this conversation?’ That’s asking thoughtful questions,” Chen continued. “Once the person answers that question, how can you make the other person feel like you really heard what they said?”
Chen advises people to acknowledge, reiterate, and clarify what’s being said in conversations to show that they’re actively listening and absorbing the information.
10. Oscillate inward and outward
According to Goefft, an essential element of wielding calculated ambition is to know when to give your job 100% and when to step back.
“Starting a new job is the time to lean in, work hard, establish that reputation as a top performer, and then once you’ve got your footing under you, you can lean out,” she said. “Focus outward on other things that elevate you, like personal branding, upskilling, and networking.”
11. Upskill to earn more money.
She dove deeper into what upskilling means, explaining, “Keep a pulse on the skills that get paid the most money in your line of work, and then during those periods of leaning out, invest time into building them for yourself.”
Upskilling is a way to keep yourself sharp, knowledgeable, and indispensable.
12. Focus
Goefft quoted Alexandra Graham Bell, saying, “The sun’s rays don’t burn until they’re brought to focus.”
“You will go farther by setting goals that force you to grow and focusing on one thing at a time,” she explained, as opposed to setting your attention to many projects at once, which usually produces mediocre results.
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13. Define your success
Her final piece of advice was to define what success means to you as an individual instead of relying on “the traditional corporate ladder-climbing definition.”
“It could be a job or industry, but it could also be the impact you wanna make,” she said. “It could be a problem you wanna solve. It could be a lifestyle. It’s whatever is most important to you.”
As Goefft explained, we don’t necessarily have to give our best all of the time at our jobs, but we do have to know when we should go above and beyond, and when we can sit back and take a breath, all while producing excellent results.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers social issues, pop culture, and all things to do with the entertainment industry.