Navigating Your Career Path: How to Talk to Your Manager About Your Aspirations!

Hello Wonderers! ?

I hope you're having a wonderful day and are ready to kick off another week! ?? A few weeks ago, we began discussing the interesting topic of career paths. We focused on what a career path is, why it's essential, why it's crucial to consider it early in one's career, and how to start building a solid and flexible career path. Today, let's delve deeper into the topic and explore one of the most important aspects of career development: how to talk about it with your manager.

Some people enter the workforce thinking that their manager is solely responsible for their career development. They work hard, achieve results, sit back, and wait for a promotion. I can assure you that this approach won't yield significant results. Building your career path is something you can begin on your own, but your manager and the company you work for play crucial roles in this journey! I have learned it the hard way: you could be a top performer, but if your professional goals and ambitions do not fit with the organization’s vision and strategy, you won’t have a lot of chances to see your aspirations become reality. For this reason, I believe it's essential to actively discuss your development vision and career aspirations from the very beginning.

The Right Time Is Now

This is the first key takeaway: do not wait for the end of the year or your performance review meeting to discuss your expectations and ambitions. That moment could prove to be too late, and you might discover that what you have worked hard for months was a goal only for yourself, and not for your manager or your company. Another fundamental aspect to consider is not leaving anything "unsaid." Many times, I've heard of friends and colleagues who believed that their aspirations were in line with those of their manager and company, only to suddenly discover some changes in the company's strategy that no longer left room for their growth dreams.Clarifying the short-term and long-term goals of the company and your team from the outset allows you to understand immediately whether your growth expectations align with the broader ones of your company. The consequences of this could also be quite impactful: after an open and honest discussion, you will see if you should stay and pursue your career goals in the company or go somewhere else where you can achieve them. A good “side effect” though is that after such a talk with your manager you might also find a renewed interest and motivation in doing your job. ?

How To Start The Discussion?

Personally I have always found this the most stressful point when it comes to my career growth. It’s a matter of personality: discussing about me and my aspirations is very difficult if I don’t feel my manager is really interested. These are some points that proved helpful also for someone shy like me:

?? Prepare yourself before the discussion: the discussion is about you, so make sure you lead it. Try to get to that meeting with a clear idea in mind about your current position and your desires: where are you now? Where do you want to be in the future? But also: what were your achievements? What can be considered a proof that you are a good investment for the company? List your significant achievements and, if you can, give specific numbers.

? Choose the best time: the best moment to have a career conversation is not in the middle of a quick sync or any other update session, but when career development is the only topic on the schedule, and there are no distractions. Once the above is clear, request a one-on-one meeting to talk specifically about career development.

?? Be clear: it is crucial to be sincere and crystal clear on your aspirations, and highlight how you think this aligns with the company’s vision and strategy. Another good point is recognizing also the area where you’ll need to improve to get to a certain promotion. This will show that you are aware of your shortcomings and of everything needed for the next step in your career, but - once you demonstrate that you have acquired those skills as well - you will have an additional support element for your request of getting promoted.

?? Stay positive: while the results of a discussion around your professional development might be unpredictable, always think that you are doing what you are doing to improve as a professional, and this approach is always beneficial also for the company you work for.

Then What?

In most cases, you cannot expect immediate actions after discussing your career path and professional aspirations with your manager. You’ve provided your manager with plenty to consider, and it might take some time for them to get back to you. If you are lucky, your manager might propose revisiting the conversation in a week, when they might come up with a plan for you. In such a scenario, you can collaborate to outline the next steps. In some other instances, though, you might discover that your manager is not that supportive of you, or that your aspirations do dot align with your company’s plans.?What to do then? Well, the next issue of Working Wonders will be centred around this exact question: what happens when your professional aspirations do not match your company’s vision? What to do when your organization does not offer you enough opportunities or space to grow?I am eager to read your advice if you have experienced something similar! And as we prepare for the next issue of this newsletter, to anyone interested in the topic we just discussed I’d suggest this article by Antoinette Oglethorpe, How to Talk to Your Boss About Your Career Development. I believe it is incredibly helpful to those of us navigating their conversations about professional growth!

Stay tuned and see you in a couple of weeks, with Working Wonders #15? ?

Emma