Simplifying Career Development: The 4 Stages of Growth | Weekbook #6

Career development is a term that is thrown around and often looks completely different at every company you go to. Complex career paths and frameworks can be daunting for you and your team, but they don’t have to be. In reality it is as simple as a four stage development cycle that blends career development with personal development, because they’re the same thing.

Furthermore, it is essential that an individual’s development journey is generalised. It shouldn’t relate to their current role or company, rather the goals they want to achieve more broadly. As such, if you use the following framework with your team, there are two mandatory rules that you must follow:

1. Care personally — people can tell when you don’t truly care about them, it is instinct to want to feel wanted. Developing your team is not about ticking a box in your job description, it is about helping them become the best version of themselves. If you can’t care personally about your team and their development, perhaps people leadership is not for you.

2. Let your team be human — separating personal and professional life is impossible. Stress and anxiety from one element of life will inevitably creep into the other. Create a space where your team feel they can be humans, not robots.

Stage One: Discovery

Before planning your career development it is important to spend time analysing your journey so far, your present situation and your future aspirations. Take some time by yourself, or with a mentor, to think about each of the following areas:

Past

1. What is your story so far?

2. Which experiences did you enjoy the most and which did you enjoy the least?

3. What lessons about yourself have you learnt?

Future

1. What are your dreams for the future?

2. What does success look like to you?

3. What do you need to do to get there?

Present

1. What skills do you currently have and what skills do you need to reach your goals?

2. Does your current role give you the opportunity to learn the skills you need?

3. Is there anything you can do today to put yourself on the right path?

Stage Two: Planning

Using the output from the discovery stage you can form a personal development plan. Your plan should list the focus areas that you want to develop to achieve your future state. Each focus area should contain measurable goals, each detailing your current skill level and your success criteria. To maintain disipline, time box each goal and create a detailed plan of the resources you can leverage to help in your development.

You can find a personal development plan template here.

Stage Three: Reflection

One of the most underutilised tools in your arsenal is self-reflection. Carve out an hour each week to dedicate to reviewing your progress. Additionally, this is an opportunity to review your personal development plan and ensure that your goals are still fit for purpose. During each session, answer these questions:

1. What did you learn this week?

2. What did you do to progress towards achieving your goals?

3. Are your development goals still serving your vision of success?

4. What opportunities can you take next week to further your development?

If the option is available to you, schedule a monthly 1:1 with your mentor, manager or coach to review your personal development plan progress and any key takeaways from your self-reflections.

Continue in the reflection stage until your personal development plan is complete.

Stage Four: Growth

Once you’ve completed your personal development plan take this opportunity to review your journey. Think about where you started and where you are now.

Career and personal development are endless cycles but they don’t have to be complicated and daunting. It is crucial that you dedicate time to focusing on how far you have come, rather than focusing solely on all the goals you still want to achieve.

When you are ready to take your next step, repeat the cycle.

Book Notes

All notes are from the books I am currently reading, Radical Candor by Kim Scott.

• “When you criticise someone without taking two seconds to show you care, your guidance feels obnoxiously aggressive.”

• “It’s not mean, it’s clear.”

• “A great way to get to know somebody and build trust is to offer radically candor praise and critisism.”

• “Challenging others and encouraging them to challenge you helps to build trusting relationships.”

Try This Podcast

Ending Quote

“Be a life long learner” — Unknown

Thank you for reading Here to Where. This post is public so feel free to share it.