Last night I went to see Beyoncé. Now, mostly I don’t want to describe Beyoncé as role model for young women, as her feminist credentials are often questionable, but, there is no denying that the woman is a phenomenal performer. I’ve never experienced anything like the joy of her show, and I urge you all to go and see it if you ever get the chance. But despite the dubious feminist pseudo-philosophising peppering her career, she is clearly a master of her trade and is experiencing an enviable career high epitomised during her current world tour.
Here’s a few of our top tips for emulating Beyoncé’s career confidence:
Flaws and All
Being self-aware is the first step towards being self-accepting. So hold up a mirror to your own ‘flaws and all’ and be aware of them when thinking about your career next steps. Understanding your weaknesses will help you to better understand and ‘sell’ your strengths and also demonstrates a valuable emotional maturity to potential employers.
Run the world
Be ambitious, one of the key differentiating factors with candidates embarking on their early career is their level of drive. So make like Beyoncé and run the world (Girls and Boys).
Survivor
Part of ambition and drive is the ability to bounce back from setbacks, if something goes badly it can be a huge benefit to your career in terms of helping you to learn vital lessons and become emotionally resilient.
Crazy in love (with your career)
Passion is one of the most important things to bring to the table, life is just too short to spend time in a job you don’t love, so make sure your career inspires and motivates you.
Work it out
Watching Beyoncé perform was a lot like watching an elite athlete – high energy dance routines and vocal acrobatics over a stamina-challenging two hours – and reminded me that you have to be incredibly dedicated to reach the kind of career success she is currently enjoying.
I suspect the skin tight catsuits / hotpants / leotards approach to ‘standing out’ from the crowd, is not an appropriate methodology to draw on to further your career, but aside from that, there’s a lot we can learn from a person at the absolute zenith of her career trajectory.
