Your Continuing Professional Development: In conversation with Neil Von Heupt

In today's fast-paced and ever-evolving professional landscape, taking ownership of one's career development is more critical than ever. Yet, many Learning and Development (L&D) professionals find themselves overwhelmed by the myriad of opportunities available, often neglecting their own growth while focusing on others. In this insightful interview, we speak with Neil Von Heupt, a seasoned Learning Architect at the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), about his approach to Continuing Professional Development (CPD).

ILP: In your article, Your CPD, you emphasise the importance of taking ownership of one's career development. Can you share a personal experience where taking ownership made a significant difference in your professional growth?

Neil: I realised at one point that I had a gap in my skillset around eLearning, so I pursued an Articulate certification. A few years later, I applied for a role as an eLearning designer. Fortunately, the hirer recognised my learning design experience and was willing to teach me the eLearning side of things. My first storyboard was a shambles! But I learnt quickly and a lot, and now it's something I'm confident and capable in.

ILP: You mention the concept of 'tradie syndrome' in the context of career planning. Can you explain this and tell us how you overcome the challenges of 'tradie syndrome' in your own career?

Neil: 'Tradie syndrome' is where someone with high skills in a field faces a challenge (like a mechanic with a broken-down car or a plumber with a dripping tap) and they see so many options for what they could do that they get 'possibility paralysis' and end up doing nothing. I see it in L&D people all the time—they look after everyone else's CPD but are so overwhelmed with all the learning opportunities they could pursue that they neglect their own professional development. I have a specific rhythm in place to keep me moving forward. Each January, I take time to identify five key topics that I want or need to learn more about. I then work this into a plan, either within my work CPD or in parallel with it. I also find the top people in those fields and follow them on social media. This biases my brain so that when I'm scrolling through content, it picks out the topics I'm interested in.

ILP: Can you briefly explain your five circles? What is the concept and how does this apply to L&D professionals?

Neil: Briefly?

1. Ownership (it's your career, look after it)
2. Direction (where do you want to go?) and Priority (how much do you want to get there? Time and $)
3. Education, Exposure, Experience (or Formal, Social, Informal). Mix up how you learn to suit circle two.
4. Role, Industry, Profession, Career (Make sure you balance these four)
5. Go to 6, then juggle that with 2, 3 and 4, then come back to this one and plan 5 things
6. Head, Heart, Wellbeing, Skills, Purpose, Relationships (rate each one for how you're doing and their impact on your career)

Phew! That normally takes an hour!

ILP: In the first circle, you discuss the idea of ownership and the startling statistic that only 37% of L&D managers have a plan. What steps can L&D professionals take to ensure they are not part of this statistic?

Neil: Write a plan. Seriously. Pen and paper. Take some time for it. You're worth it. Pull some paper out of your printer and do it now.

ILP: Regarding the direction and priority concepts in the second circle, how do you personally determine and balance these aspects in your career planning?

Neil: I love what I do. It’s been in some wildly different environments, but the core threads of creating spaces for people to learn and designing for changed behaviour/performance have always been there. So, in one sense, my direction is set, but I still have options within that which I want to explore. In my CPD rhythm, that gap/interest analysis stage always sets the direction, and the prioritisation of options in the process helps me work out what I want to do, in the context of my work and life (noting that I think work/life balance is rubbish—life should far outweigh work).

ILP: In the third circle, you refer to the 70:20:10 model and suggest it might now describe 'what was' rather than 'what is.' How do you see this model evolving, and what alternative models do you find more relevant today? (Or has it evolved since 2017?)

Neil: People get so hung up on the numbers. They're not understanding that the ratios are fluid, expanding and contracting according to career stage, opportunity, budget, life stage, available time, job requirements, trends, and managers. There is no one way, no silver bullet, no perfect model. The evolution is to back away from the numbers (that was never the original designer's focus) and plan your development to use whatever options will work best. It's not just formal education that you can be intentional about.

ILP: In the fourth circle, you highlight the need to balance CPD activities across role, profession, industry, and career. Can you share an example of how you have ensured this balance in your own CPD?

Neil: There's always a steep learning curve when you shift industries. It's important to prioritise getting up to speed in your industry as you learn a new role, and then you can get back to your profession down the track. When I was at Social Media College, I did every course I could on social media marketing. At AICD, I've done a series of courses, eLearning modules, webinars, and professional reading all about governance and directorship. In amongst that, I've maintained my CPD and memberships in L&D associations, attended L&D events and conferences, and organised meetups. I think L&D people need to model continuous learning if they expect others to do it.

ILP: For the fifth circle, you ask participants to create a CPD plan. What key elements should be included in a robust CPD plan, and how can professionals ensure they stick to it?

Neil: The plan is very personal. I can't write yours because I don't know your direction, your priorities, your role, your career hopes, your life. The key is to consider ALL those things when you get down to writing (have you got that paper out yet?) your plan. And keep up—do some research about trends (check the annual listicles and surveys about what's hot, look through global conference programs to see what topics are getting stage time)—and make sure you're not caught with your pants down next pandemic when you can't teach face-to-face anymore.

ILP: You use the phrase "mind the gap" when discussing career direction and priority. Can you elaborate on how professionals can identify and address gaps in their career development?

Neil: There are two gaps. The gap between where you want to go with your career and where it is going (and it is going somewhere). The good news is that you can change direction or close that gap. Then there's the gap between how long you want it to take, and how much investment it needs (time, $), and how long it will take, and how much you are investing. Once you can articulate the direction you want your career to take, the gaps become clear. From there, it's about making a plan (have I mentioned writing it out yet?).

ILP: You ask participants to list their CPD activities in the last 12 months. How often do you recommend professionals review and update their CPD activities, and why is this practice important?

Neil: Sometimes we don't realise how much we do, but when we start listing things, we often find that there's more than we think. This is important because we need to be intentional about where we're putting our time (and not waste it on things that don't suit the direction and priorities we've set). Acknowledging all that we do is also important to demonstrate to our employers (present and potential) that we're serious about our profession, and that we're good at it.

ILP: You mention using various methods to document and map out CPD activities, like creating heat maps. How do these visual tools aid in effective career planning?

Neil: I used to do this exercise with people for the sixth circle, where each element was related to a teddy bear’s body part (I had a mis-proportioned Build-A-Bear for a visual) and then I asked them to draw a bear in proportion to how they were doing—it was, for many people, confronting. When I moved into a more corporate context, I toned it down to a pie chart (earlier contexts had clear trigger warnings and scope/professionals for responding to people leaving the room in tears).

Seeing things makes them real, and they connect more easily with our emotions than just words. Career planning is so personal and close to people's hearts. You need to tread carefully and respectfully and hold space for people to explore.

ILP: You discuss the cognitive dissonance created by 'bad maths' as a technique to engage participants. How do you use creative and unconventional methods in your training sessions to maintain engagement and drive learning outcomes?

Neil: I'm cautious about edutainment. And I'm equally cautious about boredom. Extremes of either don't create engagement and learning. You have to deeply understand your audience and tailor the level of creativity to your context. Social media marketing is a very different space to governance and directorship! I don't do a lot of training nowadays, but if I'm presenting at a conference, I can guarantee that you'll see my kombi at some point, and likely a circus prop! But that's me and my things. You do you, and don't leave your personality at the designing/training room door.

ILP: What practical advice would you give to L&D professionals to avoid common pitfalls in their career development?

Neil: Most people's careers meander from opportunity (that looks interesting, headhunted, start up your own thing) to crisis (retrenchment, dismissal, business failure). But I think you can be much more intentional with your career if you give some time and brain space to career planning and professional development. Pick your phone up. Put in an annual block of time for it with a repeating reminder. Check out your work LMS. Set a habit or rhythm to do some weekly CPD (the first thing I do every Monday is 15-30 minutes of reading/watching/listening). Be deliberate, purposeful, and intentional about your career, and invest in your career's best asset—you!

Special thanks to Neil for spending the time with the Institute for Learning & Performance Asia Pacific to bring you this informative article. This interview is based on Neil’s original LinkedIn article ‘Your CPD’ which you can read here .

Connect with Neil on LinkedIn and check out his blog here.