Career plan.

How many of us plan our careers? Do you know what your career path is going to look like over the course of the next 2 – 5 – 20 years?

If not, why not? I don’t mean have every tiny detail planned out but it’s worth thinking about some goal posts. Once you have those goalposts mapped out then it’s much easier to think about the actions and behaviours you want to demonstrate in order to reach those goals.

Whether you are a director looking to step up into a c-suite role or a junior executive wanting to become a senior or a manager for the first time, have a think about your timeline. In the professional services marketing/BD sector it probably takes a minimum of 5 years’ experience (on average) to step up to a manager level role. So, once you have that set as your goal you can start asking yourself deeper questions.

• What behaviours and activities do I need to learn and demonstrate in order to become a manager?
• How do I develop that skill set so I can demonstrate my capability?
• Can I do that in this company or will I need to think about a move in order to meet my goals?

Same thing applies to your next career step, maybe senior manager, or Head of. What skills do those roles require, how do I make sure I gain the breadth of experience required to become the obvious candidate for that role when it appears? What about becoming a director? What about becoming a CMO or a COO? Etc.

Create a road map, understand what is required for each step in the plan and that allows you to think about how you gain that experience and reach the next marker on your career journey. Then you are in the position to hold yourself accountable for your own moves. As you go along, review the plan regularly. Ask yourself if you have put in place the actions required to stay on track and if not then do something about it.

Finally, and crucially, remember to ask yourself if your goals are still what they were when you first wrote it? Nothing is set in stone and as you experience new roles and life moves on then the chances are so will your priorities. Don’t be frightened to change it up if your circumstances have changed, this is just a tool to keep you moving forwards.  

It is never too late to start applying some thought to your career so if you want to talk things through and think about how you can move your career onwards then I would be very happy to discuss it and help you start creating your career plan.