A Step-by-Step Plan to Help Get You to the Next Stage of Your Professional Growth 

Many large companies have very well-developed career path programs, promotion ladders or well-structured competency models that outline – soup-to-nuts — what it takes to move throughout an organization. However, if you are like millions of others, you might work at a small-to-medium sized company that is either in the midst of developing these things, or doesn’t even have them on radar.  Does this mean that you are stuck, without a compass and a map, forever in the job you are in? Absolutely not!

Just because your company might be lacking the HR power to have the tools you need to get to “the next stage of you,” it doesn’t mean that you don’t have the power to drive a plan yourself. There are some key steps on how to get you there.

Have a Career Objective (a.k.a. Professional Mission Statement)

Without a destination in mind, it doesn’t really matter how great your GPS or map is, does it? It also doesn’t matter what route you pick, either, because you don’t have a place you want to go — you may just end up where you end up.  It’s the same with the professional arena: it’s important to start with your goal, but first but do it in small chunks.

So begin as follows: What do you want your career to look like today, three years from now, five years from now — and what does “success” really mean to you, professionally? For some, it is rising as high as fast as possible. For others, it means doing meaningful work for a company that embodies your personal values.

It could also mean growing into new areas, new functions or new industries every few years, on a path to having a breadth of experiences that enables growth and challenge. The point is, success means very different things, but it is critical that you identify what “it” is.

That said, don’t get caught up with setting a goal that you consider set in stone. Goals are fluid and meant to be living and breathing, and you may find that your goal changes because on the way, something else took you on a different — maybe even better — professional path. It’s okay; you are a living, breathing organism, and your career goals should live and breathe, too.

Competency List

This is akin to a packing list when you’re going on a trip.  What do you need to have in order to get to your destination or enjoy yourself while you’re there? Translated into the professional world: spend some time and come up with a list of knowledge, skills or abilities (KSAs) that would demonstrate that you have competency in your role.

Remember, each of these KSAs would likely grow as you have been in the role longer. So again, take it in small chunks: i.e. what do the KSAs look like today, for the role you want one year from now, three years, five years, etc.  Some of them may stay the same, particularly if your goal is to get deep knowledge in a functional area and become an “expert.”

However, while The KSAs for that type of role may stay the same, how they show up become more complex, and often with increasing responsibility, scale or scope.  So sit down with your manager, colleagues or other experts in your field, and confirm that these are the right set of things that would demonstrate your subject matter expertise in each of these roles. And just like the career plan, these can be dynamic and change as you uncover more about the role.

Quick Tip: Start somewhere and identify for each one of the competency areas, what it would look like if you were “fresh” in the role, or you were “expert” in the role. This will become useful as you assess where you are in that development path for that competency.

Learning Opportunities

The next step is to take each of the competencies and identify what kind of “learning” you can do to gain exposure or experience in each of those areas. For instance, if a competency for one of your roles is “Deep verbal communication skills and comfort in public speaking” – where would you get that experience? There are three types of professional learning: on the job, learning from others, or formal training.  So:

• What kinds of classes can you take to gain that experience?
• Are there organizations you can join to give you experience in that area?
• Are there volunteering opportunities that will get you speaking in front of others?
• What about on your job, today?
• Can you offer to develop and deliver training or “talks” to others about your particular role?

For each one of the competencies, identify one activity in each area (OTJ, Learning from Others or Formal).  Jot those things down — because you will come back to them.

Meet and Map

Once you have a Career Objective, Competency List and Learning Gains, you will start to see the shaping of a Personal Development Plan.  It is important to use these areas in a 1:1 meeting with your boss or a trusted mentor/colleague. So:

• Talk about the goals that you have – short-term (current or one year from now) and longer-term (five+ years from now.)
• Talk about the competency list for short-term and long-term roles.
• Identify where there are overlapping skills that will take you from today’s role to tomorrow’s role – and prioritize those first.

Talk with your manager or mentor about ways that you can build in the learning opportunities that you have identified – either in the work that you are currently doing, or with new things you are willing to take on. It may be that there is a budget for formalized learning and a plan was needed to use it, or perhaps, your manager can earmark it in the budget for you.

The important thing is to have the discussion – show that you have initiative, are driven, and more importantly, that you have a plan to get there.

Work and Revisit

It is important, once you have a draft personal development plan, not to get overwhelmed. You have spent considerable time identifying what you want, what it will take to get there – and now it’s important that you prioritize the learning in consumable pieces that you can take on with other things in your life.

As you increase learning, gain experiences and demonstrate over time the competency for roles in increasing scale and scope, this plan is a great tool to go back and have discussions with your manager about promotion opportunities. If you have agreed on these things ahead of time and together revisit this plan regularly, your manager will be aware of what is important to you, and what you have done to get to those new heights in your career development.

I have always said that no one can tell your story better than you. The same goes for your career.  You can’t depend on your manager or your company or anyone else to map out what is important to you, and what it takes to get there.  They can help clarify, streamline, prioritize and support a plan, but it is critical that you take those first steps. You’ll thank yourself later. Happy planning!