Aristotle said: "Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand and I can move the world." That might be a tad ambitious but moving your career is a definite and immediate goal.

Technology As Your Lever

One of most effective ways to advance in the new digital workplace, is to focus on technology, how it overlays your business and how you can support your company in continuously improving your technology. Your goal is to understand how to interweave smart strategy with cutting edge technology to improve your business processes, to best serve your customers and allow your company to capture increasing profits. Mastering that interplay is what will propel your career success.

Overcoming Stereotypes

The first hurdle many women must get over is thinking of themselves as "non-techies" and therefore, somehow, excluded from the realm of technological exploration. Sometimes this perception even rises to the level of fear of technology itself. "Oh, don't bother to show me that, I wouldn't a.) understand it or b.) know how to work it anyway."

You have but one choice in today's digitally driven world: get over it. You need to become tech savvy and fast. None of us can afford to be either ignorant, unaware, or caught up in outdated technologies when we are living through a sea-change in the digitalization of the planet. Unless you want to be left as debris in the wake or perceived as the Ms. Rip Van Winkle of your industry, start ramping up your digital IQ to bring yourself up to speed in adopting and using the latest in technology.

You Don't Have to Be A Tech, You Just Need to Learn How To Use Technology

As mentioned, Meg Whitman, CEO of online auction house eBay became a high tech billionaire without being a techie.

We all make telephone calls without knowing how to assemble a telephone or hook up the lines and networks which enable it to operate. We all know how to get cable or satellite TV without feeling any necessity to become satellite engineers. Learning about the technology which overlays your business is analogous to this, in that, you don't have to understand how every piece of it works, you just have to grasp the principles behind the technology how they impact the results, and how they could be improved.

"How Digital Is Your Business?"

All businesses need to find ways to reduce costs and provide better service. New means and uses of digitalization are being introduced daily and many of them can have a profound impact on the profitability of your company. Start reading and learning about how the new online paradigm can impact and help your business.

Take a look at what processes can be computerized, how much money could be saved and how to sell that concept to the final decision makers. No need to be a programmer, engineer or technician; simply dig deep enough to understand your company's processes, what is feasible and which automated processes could result in significant savings and improvements

It's All About Speed

Technology keeps moving forward at blistering speed, changing daily, sometimes hourly, so it's vital to keep up, keep tuned in and keep your eye on the high speed ball of the new networked, online world.

You Have To Start Somewhere

If you are seriously behind the power curve in adopting technology or increasing your understanding of it, remember, it will never be earlier than today. Start now and keep leveraging up. Don't put out anything-card, letter, brochure or ad--without your email address and web page address. You have a web page, right? If you don't , better start developing one now , not an electronic brochure, which gives only static information, but a dynamic site which delivers your story with multiple media - video, graphics, downloadable pdf files; one which puts interaction and exchange of information with your customers at the forefront. Develop a closer relationship with your customers and a deeper understanding of their needs so you can be the first to meet them, or you can learn more ways to serve them.

Clearly, a small business needs a web site. But even as an individual, a web page or web site is an excellent way to facilitate networking and gives you a convenient and appropriate place to post not just your resume but in depth samples of your work like videos of presentations you've given. Directing a prospective client or employer to your up to date web page can deepen and sharpen the focus of any conversation about your future collaboration.

If your company has a web site you should make it a major focus of your attention: how to contribute information to it, what the customers say about it, how it might be improved. Your input can be strategic, directly related to your field, so that you are bringing your own expertise to create synergy with the existing technology, as Meg Whitman did at eBay.

With time and technology on your side, you might actually be able to do what Aristotle proposed, and that is to move your own professional world, just as Amazon.com changed the way people buy, eBay.com changed the way people traded, Paypal changed the way people paid, Google changed the way people searched, and Apple changed the way people listed to music and used their mobile phone. With a little help from your technological lever, you, too, can accomplish change.