Professional Development Series
This is Laura Lee Rose, a business and life coach that specializes in professional development, time management, project management and work-life balance strategies. In my GoTo Academy: Soft Skill Tools for the GoTo Professional continuous online coaching series, I go into professional development and real-world IT topics in detail.
If you are interested in more training in these areas, please sign-up for the continuing online coaching series.
There is a saying that “If you don’t know where you are going, then anywhere is fine.”
Steve Wynkoop and I were talking a lot about designing and managing our professional careers on a weekly interview on SSWUG.org. This episode was about what steps to change your position in the your current company.
The most important step is to clarify what you really want. As in any success strategy, clarifying your goals (in any endeavor) is extremely critical.
Visualize yourself in 5 or 10 years into the future. What are you doing? What is your yearly income? What type of people are surrounding and supporting you? Where are you living? What type of neighborhood, town, and leisurely activities are you enjoying?
For example: What if you see yourself campaigning for a senate seat in 10 years? Or you see yourself a partner and VP of Research and Development at your own company? Or you own a company with 100 employees in 10 years?
After you clarify your career vision and goals (5 and even 10 years into the future), do the following:
1) Clarify your career vision and goals. [For a dream sculpting worksheet to help clarify your career vision– check out the Worksheets for Success page]
2) Do a self assessment on the skills, attributes, and education required to achieve those career goals
3) Identify the skills and education gaps between where you are today and where you want to be.
4) Put together a 1, 3, 5, 10 year Individual Development Plan designed to achieve those goals and start filling in those gaps. [For a copy of a IDP worksheet – check out the Worksheets for Success page]
5) Include reasonable forcing functions, accountability partners and manager/mentors/coaches to assist you on your journey.
In my GoTo Academy: Soft Skill Tools for the GoTo Professional continuous online coaching series, I go into each step in more detail
For more worksheets (like the individual development plan) check out my Worksheets for Success at http://www.lauraleerose.com/worksheets-for-success/
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You are absolutely right, Dana. I currently have some free online courses on Udemy.com.
One of them helps with setting your Career Goals.
It is 10 Career Boosting Resolutions and can be found at: https://www.udemy.com/10-career-boosting-resolutions/ It’s a great time of the year to reflect and refocus on what you feel is important in both your personal and professional lives.
It interested, please check it out. In the meantime, have a great holiday.
Yes! If people wants to develop their career, they need to have a goal, if they are just working without any goal, they won’t be able to improve. Thank you for sharing this. I learned a lot.