While I was meandering through the early stages of my career, the last thing I thought about was my own professional growth and development. Fresh from graduate school down in College Station, Texas, I was only thinking about learning my new job and enjoying young adulthood with my new wife. Sure, eventually I would pursue a professional engineer’s license, which could serve as a milestone of sorts. But I wasn’t thinking about advancement, leadership, communication, teamwork, or anything else. I had just spent the last 20 years roughly in school. Wasn’t that enough? It turns out it wasn’t.
When I was at my third job out of college with a physical therapy company is when I had an interesting discovery. Thanks to a colleague who agreed to let me take him to lunch one day, my eyes were opened. He asked me what percentage of my professional development did I think was the responsibility of the employer and what percentage I thought my portion was. I had no clue. I probably guessed 50/50, but I may have even had the employer’s percentage higher. He said, no. The breakdown is more likely 90/10, me to the employer. Needless to say, I was floored. I believe I thought employers would simply pay for such training, development, and growth opportunities. Boy was I wrong.
I have since learned ways to seek and learn through development opportunities (some on my own and some through work). More importantly, I’ve learned that I am the very beneficiary of such efforts. During coaching training earlier this year, one of the things the instructor liked to say was “you are the golden goose.” This struck me as very real and applicable. If I’m to succeed, grow, learn, improve, then I should take the initiative, and the work towards these goals helps sustain my own performance and productivity (future, earnings, potential, development). And many of the concepts are not just applicable at work, but also in my personal life! They help both at work and at home.
When I work with people, I often refer to the concept of giving themselves a competitive advantage. Whether you’re trying to lead a team of different generations through change management or trying to navigate opportunities in a large, corporate environment, there are lots of ways to give yourself a competitive advantage. Working with career coach provides perspective and development through a sustained partnering effort to help you grow and learn where you are. No $5,000 conferences in Phoenix. No $3,000 seminar in Vegas. Right where you are through one on one, confidential virtual sessions. I strongly recommend working with a coach.
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