Planning & Goal Setting

[Monirul Islam]

Once you've decided that professional development is right for you, it's time to create a plan and start setting some goals. But mapping out your future isn't necessarily an easy thing to do.

Career coach Hank Boyer notes that there are two kinds of professional growth; intentional growth and unintentional growth. "Intentional growth requires a plan while unintentional growth simply happens along life's career pathways," says Boyer. "Practical career planning should incorporate both."

Intentional professional growth
Intentional professional growth should be started by clearly identifying your desired career destinations, says Boyer. It's sort of like planning a trip; you start planning with the end goal in mind.

Identify your career goals

Consider what professional roles and positions, job responsibilities, income levels, and other factors define your desired outcomes. To do this, Boyer suggests speaking with professionals who are currently in the roles and positions you want.

"Grow your LinkedIn network and reach out to people who already occupy your target roles and positions. Once you're connected, you can request an informational interview to learn about the positives and negatives of the role, and the path that brought them to that role or position."

You can also explore professional organisations associated with your areas of professional interest, says Boyer. "On LinkedIn you can find several million 'Groups,' forums in which members share advice and are willing to speak to someone serious about professional growth. Try reaching out and requesting informational interviews."

Set a timeline and identify the steps you'll need to take

After you've clarified several career destinations, you'll want to establish a reasonable timeline for achieving milestones along the way, explains Boyer, and the advice you got from your informational interviews will help you set realistic timelines.

Compare where you are now with where you'd like to end up. To do this, Boyer suggests answering the following questions:

What specific skills will I need to acquire to reach my goals, and how will I acquire and develop them?

Which of my natural talents and abilities will I need to further develop and apply?

Who can help me, as a teacher, mentor or accountability partner?

What new relationships will I need to form, and what current relationships do I need to more deeply develop?

What specific experiences will I need to undergo to develop wisdom and expertise?

Once you've followed these steps, you'll be ready to create a strategic career plan in which you will establish monthly goals and objectives. "It should be a living plan," says Boyer. "Which means it will be in a state of constant refinement, but it does need to be committed to paper, and then followed."

Unintentional professional growth
As the name suggests, unintentional professional growth isn't something you map out in advance. "Unintentional professional growth involves being in a constant state of readiness and willingness to incorporate opportunities and experiences as they come along," says Boyer.

Opportunities may come in the form of education offered by an employer, professional or community organisation, or in the form of participation in volunteer organisations. Both of these are also great ways to expand your professional network.

"When an opportunity comes along, ask yourself how your participation will move you closer to your professional growth objectives. If the answer is not apparent, consider not participating."

Finally, Boyer notes that it's important to strike the right balance between intentional and unintentional growth. "If you put too much focus on intentional growth, you may become blind to outside opportunities that could accelerate your professional development," he says.

"On the other hand, if there is too much unintentional growth focus you may find yourself expending time and energy in enjoyable activities, but ones that may not yield enough progress toward your goals to justify your investment. The key is to remain flexible but fixed on the objective."

Source: https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/careers/professional-development