Grow your career…
Do you remember believing growing your career meant a prestigious job with a big company, having an office, a salary of several thousand dollars, and benefits and perks that others would envy allowing you to just coast?
Maybe you did not have that view of working, but I did. I felt that once I had my own office, a job title I was proud to tell people about, and was making greater $50,000/year, that life would be easier (please do not judge me. Face-to-palm).
What I came to realize was that a question I was not asked, nor did I ask myself was, “what does career growth look like for me?” You see, the importance of the question rests on being intentional about how you are developed to reach that next level AND what the next level looks like for you - you alone.
"Growth is the great separator between those who succeed and those who do not. When I see a person begin to separate from the pack, it is almost always due to personal growth." - John Maxwell
Having extrinsic measures is fine, but it is our intrinsic needs that fulfill our purpose and meaning. When it comes to career growth, consider two things and their definitions. First, career growth is increasing your scope and responsibilities. Second, career development is a process of transforming and continuous improvement of yourself and knowledge, skills, and abilities.
Growing in your career is a both-and approach. It is pursuing roles that afford you greater responsibility, people leadership, and an expanded scope of influence. You also need to identify the developmental opportunities that improve your people skills, emotional intelligence, and ability to effectively delegate and motivate others.
You might want to work in a silo; however, the reality of your career progression is based on how well you influence, interact, and uplift others, in addition to your ability to do the technical aspects of your job well.
If you want to grow in your career, here is the recap:
Define how you want to grow. What responsibilities do you want to take on as you progress?
Identify and participate in development opportunities that allow you to improve your knowledge, skills, and abilities.
Improve your emotional intelligence (EQ) and interpersonal skills.
Is career growth simple? It depends on your perspective. Looking at challenges as opportunities to develop parts of you that need tuning, then it does become easier when you look at situations as ways to get better. If you see your career growth as an entitled part of having shown up for the day, then the road ahead will be more challenging.
I am here when you are ready to grow in your career, make a career change, or understand what it is that you do well. Contact me, and let us make the time.