How do you create a career development plan that supports your professional growth and aspirations?

One thing I think can be really helpful when career planning is to consider your life holistically. For example, what do you want your lifestyle to be when you are 70 years old? What do you want your relationships to be like? What legacy do you want to leave? From there you can consider how your career could support that vision for the future. This is another way of defining what success means *to you* in a very personalized way and can help combat the tendency to compare ourselves to others.

Utilizing AI-driven career assessment platforms can provide personalized insights and recommendations, streamlining the process of identifying your strengths and career aspirations.

Harnessing virtual reality (VR) simulations for career goal setting can immerse you in realistic scenarios, enhancing your ability to visualize and refine SMART career objectives.

Check to see if your employer offers "success profiles" that outline the critical skills, knowledge and experience needed to be successful in the desired role. Identify one or two critical development areas for yourself and take active steps to close the gap.

Utilizing gamified learning platforms and immersive VR experiences can make skill development more engaging and effective, closing the gap between your current abilities and future career aspirations.

A robust development plan is a mix of education, experience and exposure elements. Education - what courses you are required to take to learn new technical areas or leadership competencies Experience - what kind of assignments, projects or job rotations you need to do to get ready for your career goal Exposure- what kind of visibility you should have today and how you learn intangible skills through networking or participating in right kind of meetings, forums and conferences.

You can also share your career goals and plan with another person who can hold you accountable. This person can be a Mentor, a Coach, or a peer in a similar situation. A few years ago, I experimented peer-to-peer mentoring on career topics with a couple of friends. We found a great way to go through the whole process, from identifying gaps, setting SMART goals and putting together an individual action plan that we shared with each other to keep accountability.

Always remember you own your own career and should work proactively on developing and communicating your career plan with your Manager, mentor and HR. Many employees leave this important job to the Organization thinking that the Company will make a career plan for them and often wait to hear from the Company what their next career moves be like. This just doesn’t work! Employees must leverage the resources provided by the Company to create a robust career and development plan and should take the charge of their own career growth.