1.
CLIMBING THE CORPORATE
LADDER: AVOIDING THE 10 MOST
COMMON MISTAKES
Carla Fair-Wright, PMP, MCTS, CSQE
Society of Women Engineers ‘14 National Conference
24 October 2014 - Los Angeles

2.
DISCLAIMER
Opinions expressed are solely my own
and do not express the views or opinions
of my employer.

3.
CONTENTS
Learning Objectives
Overview
Management Hierarchy
10 Common Mistakes
Summary
Q&A
Speaker Evaluations

4.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
 Participants will gain a basic understanding of how
the management hierarchy works.
 Participants will learn what are the 10 most common
career mistakes and how to overcome them

5.
OVERVIEW

6.
MANAGEMENT HIERARCHY

7.
10. GOSSIPING
You could be unknowingly implicating yourself in the event by
discussing it with others.
Engaging in office gossip can make you seem untrustworthy to
both coworkers and leadership.
Never talk negative about your boss. “By the time the story gets
passed to a third, fourth or fifth person, it’s not what you originally
said,” Cindy Burns, the director of the National Association of
Professional Women

8.
9. SELF-EVALUATION IS POORLY
WRITTEN
Women’s self-evaluations are so different from men’s that Andrea
Kramer, attorney and founder of Women’s Leadership and Mentoring
Alliance could distinguish them without looking at names and she was
never wrong.
The biggest difference:
Women’s are full of “we” statements and men’s are full of “I” ones.

9.
EFFECTIVE WRITING - STAR
METHOD
A method for describing behavior and actions taken by a person in a given situation
Situation or Task (Why?)
• The background or context
• Explains why the person acted in that manner
Action (What done & how done?)
• What person said or did in response to the Situation or Task
• How s/he did it. Actions are the heart of the STAR because they show us the person’s behavior
Result (Effect of action?)
• Effects of the person’s actions.
They tell us what changes or differences the person’s actions made and whether the actions were effective and
appropriate

10.
STAR Example
Project My Contribution Purpose Management’s Response
New Production
Process
Researched way to
control the rate of
addition
Needed so process could
scaled up to the
production model without
over pressurizing the
container
Pleased with results. No over
pressurization and done within
two months
Situation/Task
Working on a new process not run in production before. Had to find a new way to control the rate of
addition, so it could be scaled up to the production model without over pressurizing the container
Action
Performed multiple experiments using various lab equipment
Result
Successfully scaled up within two months, which met the required deadline. No over pressurization
occurred.

11.
STAR Example
Education Lesson(s) Learned Application Performance Improvements
Employee
Enrichment
Program
Teamwork
Conflict Resolution
Goal-setting
How to effectively work as
a team of diverse
individuals towards a
common goal
Able to collaborate to identify
goals and motivating factors
to improve efficiency and
morale
Situation/Task
Action
Result

12.
8. UNABLE TO PRIORITIZE WORK
87 percent of managers say that the ability to prioritize work is the most important skill they
are looking for when deciding whom to promote. -Dan Schawbel
Always work from a list
• Master List
• Monthly List
• Weekly List
• Daily List
Prioritize Tasks
Determine the top priority A-level
tasks — things that will
lead to significant consequences
if not done today.

13.
7. NOT HAVING A SPONSOR
“For a promotion, you need to find someone in the ‘power alley’ or in the position to promote you,” says
Stacy S. Kim, founder of Life Junctions.
• Identifying the person who can help you
• Learn as much as you can about them
• Cultivate a relationship with them

14.
6. BEING INVISIBLE
Once you’ve figured out who can get you where you want to go, you need to make sure they see you. “Those
who decide who gets promoted need to know who you are and that you want to move forward,” says Kendra
Davies, co-owner of Stellar Life Coaching.
Participate in company training and skills workshops
Take an interest in company initiatives
Join in company community service efforts
Does your organization have a Toastmasters club

15.
5. NOT SEEKING OUT OPPORTUNITIES TO
SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE
In my company, the difference between a Project Manager and Project
Consultant is that the higher-level role is also supposed to also be a
mentor and coach, recognizing areas in which other project managers
are weak and coaching them.
Managers look closely at employees who take initiative to train new
hires and teach other employees.
By generously sharing your knowledge, you are proving that you are
invested in the success of the department and company as a whole—
and will do the same as you move up.
You are operating at 100% and 50% of your managers

16.
4. NOT ASKING FOR FEEDBACK
Ask for Feedback—and Take it Well
By proactively asking for feedback about the level of your
performance, how you can improve, and what you should be
doing differently, you’re showing initiative and the desire to
grow.
• Ask for 360 Feedback
• Create an action plan
• Practice continual improvement with each project and task
you assign

17.
3. VOICING COMPLAINTS INSTEAD
OF SOLUTIONS
Prove you are ready to step up and take responsibility for what goes on with the team and
help everyone succeed—instead of complacently accepting whatever happens by chance and
not doing anything to change it.
Standout employees aren’t necessarily the ones who
don’t complain at all, but the ones who, after the
complaints have been voiced, develop viable
solutions for the less-than-ideal situations.

18.
2. NOT VOCAL ABOUT CAREER
ASPIRATIONS
Have you asked your manager about how the promotion
process works?
What is your pay grade? Where are you on the career ladder?
Do your research on the position at the next level and how
you can work you way up to that role?

19.
1. LACK OF BUSINESS, STRATEGIC,
AND FINANCIAL ACUMEN
Do you understand your department and company, where it's going,
and what your role is in taking it there?
Are you able to identify risks and opportunities for your business unit?
Make strategy or make strategic recommendations based on your
understanding?
Can look at the financials of your business, understand the story that
the financials tell, and either take appropriate action or make
appropriate recommendations?

20.
REFERENCES CAREER
STRATEGIES
Cleveland, J.N., Stockdale, M., & Murphy, K.R. (Eds). (2000). Women and Men in Organizations:
Gender Issues at Work. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Jansen, Julie. I Don't Know What I Want, but I Know It's Not This a Step-by-step Guide to Finding
Gratifying Work. New York: Penguin, 2003.
Salovey, Peter, Marc A. Brackett, and John D. Mayer. Emotional Intelligence: Key Readings on the
Mayer and Salovey Model. Port Chester, NY: Dude Pub., 2004. Print.
Debbie Meekins Interview: Developing Your Career and Employee Leadership Skills
Mellody Hobson Interview: Cultivate and Grow Your Leadership Skills
Sandberg, S. (2010, December 21). Sheryl Sandberg: Why we have too few women leaders
http://www.ted.com/talks/sheryl_sandberg_why_we_have_too_few_women_leaders.html
Colantuon, S (2013, November 2013). Susan Colantuono: The career advice you probably didn’t get
http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_colantuono_the_career_advice_you_probably_didn_t_get

21.
SUMMARY
Know your industry and
understand your role in
the company.
Set short and long-range
goals to help you
stay focused on
achieving what you
want.
Be persistent. Don't let
temporary setbacks
deter you.
Be Visible. Look for
opportunities to take on
more responsibility.

22.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Carla Fair-Wright, PMP, CSQE, MCTS is a software
engineer with over 17 years of experience in the IT
industry. She is a Senior IT Project Manager for
Chevron, currently working in Global Power.
Carla is the chapter author of two books,
'Encyclopedia of Energy Engineering and Technology'
and 'Case Studies and Applications of Web Based
Energy Information and Control Systems.' She has
been featured in the National Society of Black
Engineers (NSBE) magazine, Maintenance
Technology, and CODE Magazine.

23.
QUESTIONS

24.
Next Steps
Please fill out online evaluation for this session
Thank you for coming and hope you enjoy WE ‘14 in
LA!