92 / LEADING OTHERS
Managing careers
Charting your own career path
Self-assessment is an ongoing process
in career management. Successful
careers develop when people are
prepared for opportunities because they
know their strengths, their methods of
work, and their values. Self-directed
career management is a process by
which individuals guide, direct, and
influence the course of their careers.
This requires exploration and
awareness of not only yourself, but
also your environment. Individuals
who are proactive and collect relevant
information about personal needs,
values, interests, talents, and lifestyle
preferences are more likely to be
satisfied and productive when searching
for job opportunities, to develop
successful career plans, and to be
productive in their jobs and careers.
In today’s rapidly changing business landscape, managers need
to actively manage their careers and provide career guidance to
those they are managing. To determine where and how you can best
contribute, you need to know yourself, continually develop yourself,
and be able to ascertain when and how to change the work you do.
Driving forward
The first step in self-directed career
management is planning. Taking your
strengths, limitations, and values into
account, start searching the environment
for matching opportunities. Use the
information you gather to establish
realistic career goals and then develop
a strategy to achieve them. As you
progress through your career plan,
regularly undertake performance
appraisals to make sure that you
are remaining on track and that
your goals haven’t changed.
Ensure that those you
are managing have
reasonable workloads
MANAGING CAREERS / 93
In focus
CAREER STAGES
Individuals just beginning
their careers are usually
more concerned with identifying
organizations that have the
potential to satisfy their career
goals and match their values.
After settling into a job, focus
shifts to achieving initial successes,
gaining credibility, learning to
get along with their boss, and
Directing others
The most important thing you can
do to contribute to the career
development of others is to instill in
them the need to take responsibility for
managing their own careers. Then you
can provide support that will enable
those you are managing to add to their
skills, abilities, and knowledge, in order
to maintain their employability within the
organization. To help those you are
managing develop their careers:
managing image. Managers in the
middle of their careers are more
concerned with career reappraisal,
overcoming obsolescence owing
to technological advances, and
becoming more of a generalist.
In the later stages of their careers,
managers focus more on teaching
others and leaving a contribution
before retirement.
•
Keep your team updated about
the organization’s goals and future
strategies so that they will know
where the organization is headed
and be better able to develop a
personal career development plan
to share in that future.
•
Create growth opportunities for
your team, to give them new,
interesting, and professionally
challenging work experiences.
•
Offer financial assistance, such as
tuition reimbursement for college
courses or skills training.
•
Allow paid time off from work for
off-the-job training, and ensure
that those you are managing have
reasonable workloads so that they
are not precluded from having time
to develop new skills, abilities,
and knowledge.
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