Keep your judgment trustworthy by trusting it.
     --Anonymous

Welcome back! In the first part of this series, we covered the following points:

Break new ground. Be visible; get out on the floor, walk around the office; stay in touch with the people who take care of the daily happenings.

Utilize the unexpected and concrete. Have a concrete way of conveying your vision; use a tangible example.

Encourage risk-taking. Encourage risk taking in yourself and subordinates in order to get less predictable (read: high visibility) results.

Now let's get started on the next set of "wisdom tactics." Warning: These behaviors will help you move ahead in your career. Are you ready? Let's go.

Learn who the boss is. The fact is that even when you reach your "terminal" job--the Holy Grail that you have been working for, even then, you will have a boss. Ironic, isn't it? You will probably be the boss in many settings, but "relativity of power" is something that good leaders have to learn. Whether it is shareholders, employees, Directors or peers, we all have someone to answer to. It's just that simple. Remain open to answering whoever happens to be in the "boss" role today.

Decide to decide. You have a situation, and you may feel that you need more information or facts in order to come to a solid decision. That's fair. We all need to have background information and sometimes we seek counsel when it comes to major decisions. The fact is, however, that many of us get caught up in the information gathering stage. We mull it over; we take all the documents home and look at them again. We spend our lunchtime re-reading emails on the subject. Don't let yourself get caught in this rut. Gather information, analyze it, seek counsel as appropriate, and make a decision and MOVE ON.

Learn to bounce back. Failure. It happens to everyone. Really. You may know some executives, CEOs or CFOs who seem to always be on the winning end of every deal and project, but even they have had their hopes pinned on a big goal and it has gone awry, or they were taken down in front of a client, or even lost a job along the way. What makes them different from others? Their recovery, that's what.

Many people are good at forgiving others, but are not able to forgive themselves. A mistake has the potential of being the "decider" for your career path. Look at it this way--if you don't think you can make the right decisions, and then no one else will, either. If a mistake happens or your biggest plans fail, own up to them, pay for them, and move on. 

Add these three tactics to your cache of career keys. We have three more to go. Taken together, they will help you act the part of the position that you are waiting to step into!