It’s easy to think that career paths and the route you take to pursue them are set in stone. Of course, in some cases, vital pre-requisites exist. In order to become a doctor, for instance, you need to attend medical school for a number of years. If you hope to practice law, you may need to pass the BAR exam depending on your country of origin.

That said, once qualifications have been achieved or entrance experience has been earned, you may be surprised just how versatile your path forward may or may not need to be going forward. With a little care and attention, you’ll see that it’s often your professional qualities, not just your luck or external help, that can make a big difference. Outside of resume-writing and discussing skills to come across well in interviews, it’s impressive how little this topic is discussed.

So, let’s discuss it. In this post, we’ll talk about three qualities that can get you ahead in any career:

Accountability

It may seem as though accepting accountability, or asking it of those you manage, is a good way to either make yourself look responsible for every issue, or to put the blame on others, never letting any mistake slide. Of course, this is incorrect. Suppose you can properly allocate corrective action after a mistake.

In that case, if you don’t try and hide your mistakes but instead use them to learn, and if you commit to the work that helps you understand compliance and meet regulatory standards, you become someone worth having around. From avoiding copyright infringement as part of a marketing department, to making sure warehouse safety standards are assured, accountability and an ability to show it will do nothing but help you.

Leadership

It’s important to consider your leadership potential, as well as qualities that help you with day to day management of other people. They say leaders cannot be made, but that’s untrue, anyone can learn the core skills to assist them, from learning to delegate, to communicate, to discipline fairly where appropriate. It’s important to consider why mentorship is important, especially in essential services like healthcare, because learning leadership from active examples is by far the best way forward. Show these values, and you’ll go far in your career.

Perseverance

It’s essential to show perseverance in any role you inhabit. After all, not everything goes to plan, sometimes laughably so, and when that happens, which it will, brushing that dirt off your shoulder is important. Perseverance means not taking mistakes personally, and also sharing credit with your team when you do succeed.

• It means being able to take corrective instruction from a boss or having ideas shot down without taking that personally.
• It also means being committed to the end goal, always seeking improvement and not being afraid to take risks.

That kind of approach will lead to failure from time to time, but it will also lead to success, because you can’t have the latter without the former. Those who notice these qualities in you will help you advance, because there’s nothing quite like a persevering, capable, interested employee.

With this advice, you’re sure to get ahead in any career path, especially regarding a challenging, rewarding focus such as working in the healthcare industry.