I’ve been asked by people in corporate training programs about how they should develop themselves in their careers and it strikes me as very surprising that companies, no matter how much they commit to developing their people, often fall short on a variety of factors, particularly in career development and progression.
Some organizations actually develop their top leaders but not their entry level staff because of the belief that there is little reason why they have to focus on their new staff. Mostly, it boils down to budget constraints and the need to focus on those who are creating the biggest value at the moment. Unfortunately, that’s an undeniable fact. Individuals, therefore, must step up to the occasion in order to develop themselves.
Here’s what you should do if you have just graduated and have not got a career development plan.
First, do a personality profile that focuses on your personality type (not traits). Personality typing is a far better and much more stable form of personality assessment than a trait based assessment because traits are affected by skills while type is not influenced much by skills. You need to know where you stand in order to do develop yourself.
Next, understand your organizational structure and the promotion prospects. In life, our paths are not really planned for us. It’s essential therefore that you learn how to plan your own progression and different ways you can reach your goals.
Next, identify the skills and capabilities required for you to achieve the next higher levels of promotion. These skills and capabilities are not necessarily the technical skills for the job alone. You often need to develop one or more of the following skills:
- corporate leadership, strategic thinking, business acumen
- team leadership, motivation skills
- sales and influence
- communication, empathy and rapport
- public speaking
- and many, many more
Eventually, once you have a list of all these, you still will need a coach to guide your thinking processes and your expectations for working within the corporate environment. For example, it is easy for someone new in a large organization to have unrealistic expectations of how others should respond to them. I’ve found that the naivety comes from an ideal mindset and a lack of preparation in taking on the working world, corporate politics and others’ expectations of you.
Therefore, it is important for the coach you select to be able to provide you this kind of support, share skills and seek opportunities to raise your capabilities and prove those capabilities to yourself.
For more information on career coaching in Singapore, click here.