Episodes

In , I touched on the subject of . In that episode, I talked about how you can position yourself for advancement by transitioning from process oriented tasks to higher-level tasks that leverage more discretion and judgement. This week,...

Early in your career, advancement is generally easier and is just a matter of doing "more"……more tasks, bigger tasks, more responsibility. But, transitioning to senior levels may require a different approach - being more innovative. Senior members of the team are usually expected to bring new solutions, approaches, and ideas to the problems the team tackles. These expectations can best be met by those on the team that are the most innovative. Innovative solutions can often lead to improved effi...

Most companies, at least once per year, go through an annual goal planning process. As part of this process, you are expected to have some number of company-focused goals as well as some number of personal goals. Company goals are usually related to revenue, profit, sales, projects, or initiatives. Your personal goals, however, have more freedom in what they target. With the company goals, you'll want to start by analyzing how you can personally impact them. This may take a little bit of creati...

Periodically, I check back and highlight the last few episodes to remind you of things you can work on to help set you up for career success and this most recent group has a lot of solid content. Episodes 036 to 040 was a five-part series that covered the Individual Development plan in detail. It starts with an Introduction that emphasizes the importance of the IDP and is followed by episodes that describe the key sections: the Vision and Roadmap, the Assessment and Next Steps, and the Action P...

If your company has a hybrid policy, how can you best use your time in the office? Well, first you should make sure you understand and comply with all aspects of the new policy. Are there specific days that you must be in the office? Do you have a designated space or are you participating in Community shared desk system? Which days and what locations will most of your coworkers leverage when they work from the office? Most companies, as they roll out these return to office policies, state that ...

In several of my previous episodes, I've mentioned that one way to stand out is to produce status reports that are value focused instead of task focused. This week, I go into more detail about what that type of status report would look like. Purpose and Audience The first thing to understand about a status report is its purpose. By knowing who the audience is you can properly tailor the report to meet the purpose that they care about and summarized appropriately. For your clients and stakeholde...

This week, I'm going to talk about your personal brand and how you can build one. When you hear the term, what impression does that give you? For many, I'm sure you associate the term with celebrities, athletes, and social media influencers. But, I'm here to tell you that it applies to everyone. So, what is a personal brand? At the simplest level, your personal brand is the impression that others have of you -- your reputation. But it's more than just that. Your personal brand statement is a co...

This week, we're going to talk about a very critical subject, your mental health. Each episode, I talk about subjects that can help you advance your career and understanding and addressing your mental health is an important one. If you aren't able to be focused on your work because of things happening in your personal life, it's going to impact you. So, let's take a look at what you can do about it. First, I want to start by saying, no matter what anyone says, your health and your mental health...

There is a lot of corporate downsizing happening right now. In a future episode, I may go into more detail on that subject, but this week, I would like to talk about how you can take advantage of the downsizing to increase your responsibilities within the company. If you are one of the ones that remains when a company goes through any sort of organizational change, it is an opportunity for you to increase your sphere of influence and position yourself for increased visibility. Adding responsibi...

Over the course of the past four weeks, I've described the Individual Development Plan -- why it's important to your career and what the various components are. This week, I'm going to talk about how you can integrate an IDP into your development processes. Initial conversations Once you've spent the time creating your IDP, it's important to share it with your leaders and mentors. If you don't already have a recurring one-on-one with your manager, you should schedule one. In Episode 011, I cove...

The episodes for the past few weeks are part of a series where I take a deeper look at your Individual Development Plan. Episode 036 introduced the IDP and covered some of the benefits of creating one for yourself. Then, in Episode 037, I covered the Career Vision and Roadmap sections where you define the direction of your career. Last week in Episode 038, I talked about the Assessment and Next Role where you identify the areas of focus for career advancement. This week, we cover the final two s...

This is the third episode of a multi-part series covering the Individual Development Plan. If you have not listened to the first two episodes, go back and review them before listening to this one. If you need the IDP template, you can request on by dropping me a note via the contact form on the ManagingACareer.com website. In the first episode of the series, I go over the purpose and benefits of the IDP. The IDP provides a personalized plan that ensures that your career is fulfilling and you ma...

Last week's episode provided a high-level overview of the IDP and gave several reasons why it should be an important part of your career development plan. This week, we will cover the first two sections, the Vision and the Roadmap. And as a reminder, if you'd like to get my IDP template, go to the Contact form at ManagingACareer.com and drop me a note. Career Vision The career vision is a statement about where you want to be in your career as far into the future as you can imagine. For some, th...

The beginning of the year is often a time of renewed focused on planning and growth. When it comes to career development, the Individual Development Plan, or IDP, is my preferred tool for documenting that plan. Back in Episode 002, I introduced the concept and named the various components of an IDP and what type of information you include in them. For the next few episodes, I will be taking a deeper dive into the IDP. If you would like to follow along and create your own IDP as this series progr...

After every six episodes, I have a review episode to highlight some of the episodes you may have missed. This progress report covers episodes 029 to 034. Episode 029 - Building a Network covers several ways that you can grow your network. Much like Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon, you are only a few connections away from someone you can help you advance your career. Through formal professional organizations or local informal groups, the key to building your network is meeting new people. Make conn...

Let's start with a quick review of , but for the full details go back to that episode and listen there. We started by covering the key players in office politics. Decision Makers, Gatekeepers, Connectors, Influencers, Observers, and...

At some point in your career, you will find yourself in a position where you have to deal with office politics. Office politics aren't bad in and of themselves, but it is important to understand how they work and what your place is within them. First, we should put some clarity around what I mean by the phrase "office politics". They are really just the unwritten rules and informal structure of the organization. The key to navigating the political landscape is to understand the various roles a...

When I was talking to my relative the other day, he was describing how his bosses have gained a lot of trust in him and are giving him more and more responsibility and more and more autonomy. As someone who leads a team, everything he described and a few other factors pointed towards the possibility that he'll be considered for a promotion soon --- possibly even as soon as the next promotion cycle. But, my relative isn't really interested in the next role. I can actually understand his position...

At my job, I have the title of "Director" and I have responsibility for the team that builds an internal application that is important to the sales team of the company I work for. I also manage -- either directly or indirectly -- a team of around 40 software developers, none of which are in the same city as I am. There are not enough hours in the week for me to spend time on everything that I am responsible for. As such, I must delegate some of those responsibilities and TRUST that my team will ...

When you are looking towards career advancement, you may have heard advice along the lines of "say yes to every opportunity". And sometimes, that advice is perfectly fine. But today, we're going to look at when the better choice is to say "no". The first consideration is just your time in general. You might think that you need to say "yes" to everything to be seen as a team player - this is often the stance taken by those new to a job or team. But, you should also consider whether taking on add...

Networking is not about the quantity of connections, but rather the quality and depth of those connections. It's not just about amassing a hundreds of LinkedIn connections; it's about nurturing meaningful relationships that add value to both parties involved. Genuine connections can provide insights, support, and access to resources that would otherwise be out of reach. After all, your network is not just a collection of contacts; it is a web of potential collaborators, mentors, and champions wh...

As always, it's good to periodically look back and review your accomplishments and progress. So, every few episodes, we take a look back and call out the highlights of the recent episodes. In Episode 022 - Interviewing Candidates I cover how I evaluate candidates for positions by focusing on critical thinking and a desire to learn and share. As you progress through your career, it will often be necessary to help bring in new team members to take over responsibilities that you've progressed beyo...

When most people think about providing a status on their work, they usually think in terms of completed tasks. At some level, this is relevant to ensure that projects remain on time. But if you'd like to set yourself apart from others, consider framing that status in terms of value provided. Obviously, not every task is going to provide easily measured value in terms of dollars or time savings, but there should be some identifiable value to the company……otherwise, why are you asked to do it? Mo...

As we approach the end of the calendar year, it's the time of year when many employees are evaluated against their goals and considered for merit increases and potentially promotions. Have you positioned yourself to be one of the ones to be promoted this year? Let's take a look. The first question you have to ask yourself is whether you are ready for a promotion. Early in your career, this primarily means mastering your current role and having "paid your dues" in terms of time. Later in your ca...