How To Build A Career Plan That Gets Results
How often have you thought about your career goals? In one year, three years, and five years, what do you hope to accomplish? Are your career goals aligned with your core values?
Having a career plan is not about luck or chance. It's having a plan and following through with it. In this episode, I am sharing with you a 9-step blueprint for creating a winning career strategy that works. This strategy has helped me and thousands of others achieve our career goals, and I know it can help you too. So click the link below for your free downloadable Career Accelerator Workbook, and let's get started.
In This Episode, You Will Learn About:
The 9-Step Blueprint For Creating A Winning Career Strategy
Free Downloadable Career Accelerator Workbook
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Individual Development Plan
You may have tuned into last week's episode when we discuss the annual performance review process and why now is the time to start preparing for it. I gave you a glimpse into behind the closed doors and the eye-opening experience that I had when I was a first-time manager over 10 years ago when I learned about what happens behind the scenes in preparing for that annual performance review and how you can set yourself up for success. Today, we're gonna dive into that individual development plan because that's part of the annual performance. It's looking at where you were last year, what were the goals, and how you measured up to the key strategic initiatives within the organization. Your individual development plan is where you want your future to go.
Why You Should be Motivated
The first step in the individual development plan is motivation. What are you motivated by? What are some specific areas within your life that you feel motivated to do more, and be more accomplished?
I'm gonna get one misconception off the table right now. It's okay to be motivated by money. For some reason, there's this stigma around money. And there's a stigma saying that it's not good to be motivated by money, but let me tell you—money can mean a lot to different people.
For me, for example, I didn't grow up with a lot of money. In fact, I was raised by a single mom who was waitressing during the day and going to school at night to get her bachelor's degree. I often shopped at thrift stores. I wasn't raised with a lot of money. It wasn't until later when my mom remarried, then we actually had kind of a stable household.
What money meant to me at an early age were security and freedom. And now as an adult, it's been a motivator because it gives me the opportunity to live a certain lifestyle in providing for my kids and their college fund and providing them a home. I moved 27 times before I was 30 years old. So to me, being able to provide a home for my family was a motivator.
So while we may put money, sometimes as this stigma, that we can't be motivated by money, but if we took it a step further and said, “Well, why does it motivate us? What does it provide for our family and our lifestyle? Does money give us the opportunity to give and give to our community?”
What to Write in Your Individual Development Plan
So, in your individual development plan, the first thing that you're gonna write on that workbook you're able to download for free is what are the three things that motivate you?
The second is how do you enjoy being rewarded and recognized for your accomplishments.
Do you like getting promoted?
Is moving up the corporate ladder a way of being rewarded for your accomplishments?
Is it earning that senior title?
Is it earning the president's trip?
If you're in sales, you know that most companies have a president's trip award. And with that often comes a lavish vacation. I'm sharing with you from experience. I've been on five president's trips in my career, and I've been able to explore extraordinary places like Costa Rica and Cabo San Lucas, and Jamaica. And because of that, I've gotten this bug deep down inside me as to why I love to travel. And I'm excited that I get to expose my kids to the same type of travel as well. So how do you enjoy being rewarded and recognized?
Three on your individual development plan—languages of appreciation in the work. If you're ever familiar with Dr. Gary Chapman's book, the five love languages, he talks about how we feel valued. He first wrote his book on how we feel valued in an intimate relationship. Then he took it a step further and he talked about the five love languages when it comes to parenting as well as in the military community. Because let's face it—if quality time is your love language, and yet you're separated for a year, we get creative as military folks. If you don't know this already, I am a military spouse. So it is a unique lifestyle. But he also wrote a book called the Five Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace. And if you wanna dive into this a little bit more, you can go to episode 17.
When I talk specifically about the five languages of appreciation in the workplace, it starts with words of affirmation. Do you feel appreciated when somebody tells you that you're doing a good job? Is quality time, a language of appreciation that you value when you get one on one time with your manager when you're in collaborative typesetting? Is it tangible gifts? If somebody is out traveling and they know that you collect Starbucks cups from the different places that you've been to, would you feel valued and appreciated if somebody brought you a Starbucks cup as well? Because they're letting you know that they are thinking about you. Is it appropriate physical touch? And what I mean by appropriate is, is a handshake or a pat on the back?
When you understand how you feel valued and you communicate that to your manager, it will help improve your relationship. Often we give what we receive. There are some people that are extroverts that are words of affirmation and they love it when they're being recognized on the main stage in a group email, while for others, words of affirmation are important, but maybe they're more of an introvert and they actually want to be recognized in a private email. One-on-one.
So knowing what your language of appreciation in the workplace is gonna help when you're communicating that to your manager, and vice versa, knowing theirs as well. Middle management is one of the hardest positions in the corporate environment. And very seldom do managers actually hear that they're being valued or appreciated for the hard work that they're putting in.
Let me tell you behind the scenes, you're putting out a lot of fires as a manager, you're working with a lot of different motions and you're trying to support each individual in the various steps that they're at in their career. You're onboarding, you're hiring, you're developing, you're putting out some of the fires that are going on at corporate. You're trying to translate the big corporate vision by also knowing what are the immediate needs of the team. What would it look like if you just spent some time telling your manager what you appreciate about them? It would go a long way.
The fourth step in your individual development plan is your core values. It's always beneficial to know what your core values are and to ensure that whatever you are doing aligns with your core values. Is it family? Is it faith? Is it accountability? Is it trust? Integrity? One of the exercises that I go through when I'm working on team building is we go through core values. And each person we identify what their six core values are. It's a step-by-step process and we identify what six core values are. And then collectively as a team, we look at where the similarities are as a team where the differences are. And collectively we come up with a vision statement based on the core values because one of the challenges that companies have in an organization is companies have vision statements.
They have mission statements, they've got core values, but that was created by the business owner. Not necessarily the people that are doing the day-to-day and growing the business. So it's important that if you were a team leader, understand the core values of each person on your team and maybe create a team mission or vision statement, and maybe have one for yourself as well. How do you wanna show up as a leader?
The fifth—pet peeve. We all have triggers. Each and every one of us has a trigger. Each and every one of us has a pet peeve. So I'm gonna share with you an example of one of my pet peeves and how it aligns with core values and how it can be beneficial for you to know yours as well as your manager to know yours as well.
So one of my core values is accountability and trust and integrity. Those are three of my core values: accountability, trust, and integrity. We are all going to make mistakes and that's okay. When team members would come to me and they would immediately say, “Hey, Danielle, I dropped the ball. I made a mistake. Here's what happened. And I don't know what to do,” or maybe, “I have some ideas, but I'd like to talk them through with you.” When people would immediately take accountability, it would go straight to the heart. It would soften my heart. And there was empathy that would immediately follow that when people didn't take accountability, because it was a core value of mine.
And it was kind of a pet peeve when people didn't, and then they would come and they would say all these excuses as to what happened versus just a short sentence that said, “I dropped the ball.” You know, I didn't get my expense reports on time. I got a speed ticket. I mean, some of these things that I've heard over the years are silly where if you just take accountability right from the beginning, It would've immediately softened my heart and been more than empathetic to the situation and working towards a common goal.
So when you understand your pet peeves, and you're able to communicate that to your manager, it opens dialogue as well. The same for your manager. You wanna know what your manager's pet peeves are? Again, the more you get to know each other, the better the communication; the deeper the relationship, the better the work.
The sixth step in your individual development plan is your expectations. What are the expectations your manager can expect from you? And what are the expectations that you have of your manager? Being very clear about expectations in an annual performance review are key strategic initiatives that we are all measured by. Those are the expectations of the organizations, but what are the expectations that you have of your manager and vice versa so that you better can understand how to support each other?
This seventh step in your individual development plan is your career goals. What are your career goals? Understanding that not everybody wants to move up the corporate ladder is okay. It’s okay to be happy and be fulfilled and enjoy your current role. But what does that look like in your current role? Does it mean taking on more leadership or mentorship roles and responsibilities within that current role? Does it mean that you wanna be involved in more special projects by being on the advisory board? Being promoted to a senior or executive level within that particular position? Or does it mean that you wanna get promoted to different roles within the organization? And if you do, communicate that to your manager, because 90% of your career is on you and taking ownership of what you want to achieve in your career, 10% of it is your manager guiding you through. Providing you with a list of mentors, sponsors, people who can guide you, and maybe some courses to take. So be very clear about what your career goals are with your manager so that they can help guide you towards that step. Eventually, we'll have a podcast specifically on what's the difference between a mentor and a sponsor, but for this sake, I'm gonna really hone in on individual development.
The eighth step in your individual development plan are your strengths and development opportunities. We all have strengths and development opportunities. So when you're writing them down:
What are three things that come very naturally to you?
What are you great at doing?
How do those three things align with your role or potentially the role that you wanna promote?
What are two to three development areas?
What are some areas that you want to develop to take you to that next level in your career?
And when you align, when you understand your career goals and you know your development opportunities, that round us up in the individual development plan for step nine, SMART goals. Smart goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. So if one of your goals is to get promoted within the organization, what is a SMART goal that you can align to that particular goal?
Let me give you an example. Your specific goal is to get promoted. So one of the action steps that you're going to take to be specific is you're going to align yourself with a mentor. The specific step is you're going to meet with your mentor once every other week, once a month for one hour call, for example. When I'm working with my clients and we're going through career consulting, or we're working on building their business, we meet for an hour every other week. It helps us create momentum, accountability, and guidance in achieving their goals.
And my clients have achieved extraordinary. Some of my clients have gotten new jobs. They've been promoted. They've launched businesses. Some of them have excelled in what they're currently doing, where they've historically achieved about a hundred, five to 110%. And for the first time, they've maxed out their compensation plan. Not only once, but twice, two quarters in a row. And as a result, they definitely com max out their compensation plan. They've earned more money. They're trending for president's club. But more importantly, they have another whole level of confidence that they've never had before. So they've built their confidence where now they feel like they can achieve any goal.
And they've been able to do it while providing balance in their life because I'm a big believer that you should be able to achieve your career goals without sacrificing your personal goals. So for example, your goal is to get a mentor. You're gonna measure it by meeting with them every other week or every month. The action steps that you're going to take is prior to every single call with that mentor, you are going to write down or email them three questions that you have that way. It gives them some time to prepare for that call. Maybe there's some research that they wanna do to best support you.
And then, is it a relevant goal? Does it align with the goal that you're doing? Does it align with the career goal that you have and that situation? And when is it timebound? How long are you going to be meeting with your mentor? Is it six months? Is it the year? Is it gonna be ongoing? The reality is I'm a big believer that everyone should have a mentor in various areas within their career. Some of them are within the organization. Some of them are outside the organization in different industries. Why a lot of people will eventually get a career consultant is because it creates a very safe space to be candid and talk truly about the challenges that you may be experiencing at work. Because what if your challenge is with your manager? It may not always be conducive to talk to your immediate peers in the organization. So having a safe space to have open dialogue conversation and be vulnerable and be authentic and talk about the challenges and get some guidance on how to approach that situation is why many people eventually get a career consultant.
So these are the nine steps to preparing for your individual development. Tune into last week's episode, where we talked about annual performance reviews and why now is the best time to prepare and also take into account the fact that you have the ability to download a free workbook with actionable steps on how to fill out your individual development plan.
