Step 6 (of 7): Pay it forward with your new (or old) domain of expertise with Project FLAT – my real-life plan

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Quick refresher: What the heck is “Project FLAT”? It’s the very specific self-authored professional development plan I put myself on during a pivotal growth moment in my career– It stands for?Financial?Literacy?Advancement?Training (to get excited, I had to market it to myself).?Did you miss the intro or the previous steps??Start here.?Over 7 days, I am breaking down each of the steps and sharing exactly what I did.?Let’s dive into step 5 (of 7) shall we?

Remember, I already completed these steps:

1. Identified my gaps
2. Owned my professional development
3. Did. The. Work.
4. Networked like crazy along my learning journey
5. Applied my learns along the way and let others know what I was working on

So it's on to step 6:

6. Pay it forward with your new (or old) domain of expertise with Project FLAT – my real-life plan

Remember alllllll that time others spent with me as I worked through my year-long?Project FLAT??If you’re serious about professional development, there’s a duty to pay that forward. Doing so creates an environment where everyone can grow, innovate, and thrive. It solidifies a leader’s role as both a steward of the company’s current successes and a shepherd guiding its future.

1. Giving Back: After benefiting from mentors and experiences during your own journey, sharing your expertise is a way to give back to the community and sectors that shaped you.
2. Personal Growth: Teaching and mentoring others can further refine your own understanding of the domain. By articulating complex concepts to someone else, you can often gain new insights yourself.
3. Building Stronger Relationships: Sharing expertise helps build deeper, more trusting relationships. It demonstrates that you’re invested in the growth and success of others, which can foster loyalty and camaraderie.
4. Broadening Perspectives: Engaging with individuals at different career stages can provide fresh perspectives, helping senior executives stay adaptable and innovative.

PS: just because you master all the finance jargon (or marketing jargon, tech jargon, or whatever your jargon du jour is) does not mean you’ve become an effective communicator, leader, or problem solver in that domain. You have to apply your competencies in practical terms and speak to business operations and financial matters in simple words.

I’ll plug another book?Straight Talk Your Way to Success?by Dan Veitkus whom I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. It “exposes the difference between spending time, energy, and intellectual firepower trying to sound smart and savvy versus the more effective choice to speak and operate deliberately in order to avoid confusion, frustration, and wasted time to improve productivity”.?C’mon, I bet you totally relate to a meeting you sat through riddled with jargon and groupthink without anything productive coming out of it. Are you smiling? Was it earlier today?

Project F.L.A.T.?Download, tweak, and make it your own. Conquer your professional development. I’m your champion rooting you on. You got this!

I'll be back tomorrow as I spill the beans on the final Step 7: Don’t stress about the sunk cost fallacy if you want to change course down the road?

Did you miss the intro or the previous steps??Start here.?

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