Stay Ahead: Evaluate Your Career Before Your Boss Does!

When I read about layoffs in the news, I hope people are well-equipped for any twists and turns that can happen. I've been through many varieties of career change myself —?It can be tough.

Regardless of how secure you may feel in your current company, it's valuable to always seek out an accurate picture of where you stand so you can make informed decisions and avoid surprises.

One of the best ways to prevent potential blind spots is to validate whether you and your boss view your performance through the same lens. This helps you confirm your perceived value, performance strengths, and create a development plan for any perceived weaknesses.

RESOURCES FOR INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

To find out whether you and your boss are aligned, I offer a free assessment tool (the Promotability Index ?) that you can use to evaluate your strengths and opportunity areas, and prepare for a powerful discussion with your manager.

I've also created a series of three videos with tips and simple step-by-step instructions to help you get the most value out of the PI (Promotability Index?) . Here are the 3 video shorts:

• Introducing the Promotability Ind ex? — “a SWOT analysis for your career” – Forbes (2m 16s)
• The 4 Steps to Increasing Your Promotability (1m 58s)
• Professionals: Catapult Your Career Conversations (2m 44s)

RESOURCES FOR TEAM LEADERS

If you are leading a team, there's no better way to demonstrate you care about your employees than to invest time in helping them design their career development. A recent Conference Board survey of working professionals found that 61 percent of women said they would leave their job if they didn’t receive development opportunities. And 55 percent of men made the same comment.

As a leader, it’s your responsibility to provide clear and fair feedback on growth opportunities and how your team’s performance is measuring up. There should be no surprises come review time.

The PI gives you a shared language that simplifies what can otherwise be a stressful discussion. Here are two videos just for leaders:

• How Leaders Can Use the Promotability Index to Inspire Trust and Grow Their Teams (2m 3s)
• Catapult Your Career Conversations: For Leaders and Organizations (2m 22s)

PREPARING FOR THE TOUGH CONVERSATIONS

If things have taken a tough turn and you expect a bad review, check out this Harvard Business Review article written by career transition coach Susan Peppercorn, “Expecting a Bad Performance Review? Here’s How to Prepare .” She was kind enough to interview me and include my thoughts.

READY FOR THE NEXT LEVEL?

If you’d like to explore working together, send me an email. I have two openings for executive coaching clients this fall.

Here’s to your success!

Amii