Make Career Development Important To How You Manage

Perhaps it goes without saying, but I want to underscore that today no longer are employees content to earn their salary, do a good job, and primarily enjoy their lives away from work with their families and friends. Today the skilled employee wants to excel at what they do as a measure of their worth and as a way to enjoy their life. And they want to know that their future holds promise both professionally and financially.

So your role as a manager, in order to excel at what you provide for the people who report to you is to see them as multi-dimensional in their time with you—helping them grow and improve in what they do for you currently AND helping them prepare to move ahead, get promoted, grow in their professional skills and confidence.

Not only will your team members appreciate your care, concern, and help, they will want to mirror back your belief in them by providing ever growing excellence in their work.

5 Tips For Basic Career Development

#1 - In your 1-on-1 meetings be curious about what the individual wants from their career as they move forward. “I don’t know” needs to be challenged and probed.

#2 - Provide a primary goal for professional development each time you meet with your direct reports after reviewing how they’ve come along with the last assignment you gave them.

#3 - Ask your reports to list the top three professional skills they are comfortable owning. Point out skills that they may need to put closer to the top of their list. Then discuss areas for professional growth that support their advancement.

#4 - Review each of your report’s ability to ask for help. Challenge them to get even better at it no matter how well they do it now.

#5 - Discuss gaps in your reports’ leadership skills. How well do they speak up at meetings, support others on your team, write professional reports, all with an emphasis on how these skills impact their professional future.

The fact that you are expressing belief in your team members current abilities and helping them to advance their future growth will go a long way toward building a lively, productive, and positive team!

What else would you add to this list?

(Photo: HP Manager Regine Pohl by innovate 360/Flickr)

Judith Sherven, PhD and her husband Jim Sniechowski, PhD https://JudithandJim.com have developed a penetrating perspective on people’s resistance to success, which they call The Fear of Being Fabuloustm. Recognizing the power of unconscious programming to always outweigh conscious desires, they assert that no one is ever failing—they are always succeeding. The question is, at what? To learn about how this played out in the life of Whitney Houston for example, and how it may be playing out in your own life, check out their 6th book: https://WhatReally KilledWhitneyHouston.com

Currently consultants on retainer to LinkedIn providing transformational executive coaching, leadership training and consulting as well as working with other corporate and private clients around the world, they continually prove that when unconscious beliefs are brought to the surface, the barriers to greater success and leadership presence begin to fade away. You can learn about their core program “Overcoming the Fear of Being Fabulous” by going to
https://OvercomingtheFearofBeingFabulous.com

Their 7th book, short and to the point, “25 Power Speaking Tips That Will Leave Your Audiences Wanting More,” is available in kindle at: https://tinyurl.com/25PWRSPKGTips

And if you are involved in marketing, you may be interested in their 5th book “Love Your Customers and They Will Love You Back” https://tinyurl.com/lovecustomersbk