Leadership | 5 things that make you look unprofessional

Having the intelligence and market knowledge to excel in your industry is the number one factor that will lead to a successful career, and maybe in an ideal world, this would be enough on its own to ensure that your work life is forever secure. However, this simply is not the case.

Various other extenuating factors affect how others perceive you, and in some cases how you manage your personal brand in the workplace can affect your progression more than your knowledge. In fact, we probably all know an individual who it’s painfully obvious has managed to reach a senior leadership position, almost entirely with a combination of (perhaps undeserved) confidence and a very sharp suit.

In contrast, we also all probably know an extremely hard worker, with bundles of industry-specific knowledge who has remained at the same desk for a decade due to their refusal to ‘play the corporate game’, as some may characterise it.

So, what can you do to ensure that you don’t fall into the corporate trap? How can you ensure that when you play the game, you come out on top?