.
Self-Development
For your career to be fulfi lling, it’s important to actively manage your own
growth. Too often, people assume if they work hard, their career will un-
fold the way they hope. But because of the fast pace of global innovation
and change, professionals must update their skills and broaden their abili-
ties more frequently than ever before.
You are the best advocate for your own interests. Your manager juggles
multiple responsibilities and priorities, and may discuss your career as-
pirations only at an annual performance review. Your manager will also
appreciate your proactive willingness to set goals, keep your expertise cur-
rent, and ask for growth opportunities. While many organizations support
career growth through training and other programs, a lot of the work of
self-development will depend on what you make happen through your own
choices and actions.
For most people, the idea of a “lifetime” career is passé. Imagine, in-
stead, your career unfolding on a lattice, not a ladder. A lattice is a broad,
fl exible structure that allows for multiple routes to many destinations,
versus the simple “up” imperative of a ladder. This chapter will help you
progress along your career lattice by discovering your interests and values,
fi nding opportunities for growth, cultivating new skills in light of what
122Managing Yourself
QUESTIONNAIRE
Find your purpose
Think about these questions as you plan your personal and professional
development.
• What are you good at? How can you get better at those things?
What biases do you have about what’s worth mastering?
•
What do you enjoy doing? What activities or pastimes did you
especially love when you were a child, before the world told you
what you should or shouldn’t like or do?
•
How do you work best with other people? Do you prefer to
work alone or with others? What kind of relationship is most gen-
erative for you—as a subordinate, a supervisor, a peer, or a col-
laborator? Do you produce better results as a decision maker or
anadviser?
• Do you perform well in the presence of ambiguity? Or do you
need a highly structured and predictable environment?
your organization and industry will need in the future, and forging rela-
tionships within your company and industry.
Career purpose
The fi rst step in your self-development is articulating your career purpose.
What do you want out of your work? How should your career fi t into your
life overall? What do you hope to accomplish as a leader?
Clayton Christensen, a professor at Harvard Business School, says this
is the single most important thing he teaches his students each year—to
“keep the purpose of their lives front and center as they [decide] how to
spend their time, talents, and energy.” That’s because without a sense of
Self-Development123
• What are your values? What kind of person do you want to see
inthe mirror each morning? What organizational missions or cul-
tures are compatible with your values?
•
Where do you belong? What does all your self-knowledge tell
you about where you can be successful and happy? What type of
organization, doing what type of work, with what kind of people,
toserve what positive outcome?
•
What should you contribute? Think about your current work
andyour overall position in life. What needs do you see around
you? Given your strengths, your way of performing, and your
values, what unique and signifi cant contributions can you make
tofi ll these needs?
• Think about two of your most challenging life experiences.
How have they shaped you?
Source: Adapted from Clayton M. Christensen, “How Will You Measure Your Life?,” Harvard
Business Review, July–August 2010; Peter F. Drucker, “Managing Oneself,” Harvard Business
Review, January 2005; and Nick Craig and Scott A. Snook, “From Purpose to Impact,” Harvard
Business Review, May 2014.
purpose, you won’t know how to react to the challenges and opportunities
that come your way.
To develop your sense of purpose, think about important questions we
often sideline in our day-to-day work lives (see the box “Questionnaire:
Find your purpose”).
Nick Craig (president of the Authentic Leadership Institute) and Scott
Snook (senior lecturer at Harvard Business School) have trained thou-
sands of managers and executives. They recommend that once you have
answered questions like these, you construct a simple, positive statement
of purpose based on your responses. There is no one format or single right
approach to developing your statement of purpose. Just tap into what reso-
nates with you. It’s OK if the statement you craft doesn’t quite fi t on the
124Managing Yourself
fi rst try. As you revise, push yourself to make it more concise and direct,
and ask other people for their reactions. Does it sound like you? Does it
capture your essence?
Your statement of purpose will serve as the foundation for the self-
development strategy you’ll work on in the rest of this chapter. Return to
it periodically, when you’re making a big decision or working through a
particularly stressful period. And keep it in your back pocket as you con-
tinue to consider your own growth and development. Your purpose may
shift over time, so reviewing it periodically and adapting it to your current
thinking is very powerful.
Look for opportunities within your organization
Once you’re clear on your career purpose, begin to look for opportunities
to grow toward those goals. Maybe you want to expand certain skills with
your current role by taking on special projects or stretch assignments. Or
you may feel that you’ve accomplished what you wanted to in your current
role, and you’re ready for the next step in your career—a permanent role or a
tour of duty in which you learn about a different part of the organization.
Consider starting your search for more within your current company.
First, you’ve invested time and effort building your reputation, earn-
ing trust, and establishing credibility there. You’re also familiar with the
culture. Your strongest networks also operate within your organization,
which means you may have more access to opportunities in-house than in
the broader industry. Your company has also likely invested a great deal to
develop your talents; you have knowledge and experience it doesn’t want
to lose. In some cases, you’ll want to consider other organizations (if your
current situation is highly toxic or you want to learn how a different kind of
business operates), but it usually makes sense to start close to home.
Step 1: Investigate formal development
Begin with your company’s formal process for developing talent. Your su-
pervisor is responsible for helping direct reports clarify their goals and fi nd
appropriate growth opportunities, so make an appointment with them
Self-Development125
fi rst. Come prepared to talk about the direction in which you’d like to grow.
Ask questions about the opportunities available to you. If you feel comfort-
able, share your statement of purpose and ask for your boss’s reactions and
ideas.
Other sources of information at this stage could include:
• Your company’s human resources department
• Formal training programs, such as leadership training provided
by your organization, technical apprenticeships, or outside degree
programs that your company will underwrite
• Company job postings for current openings
• Internal networks that may support your development, either your
own web of infl uence or connections organized through HR
• Mentoring relationships, either formally organized by HR or
under taken through your own initiative
• Temporary assignments—for example, taking on new tasks during
a colleague’s maternity leave or sabbatical
Step 2: Conduct internal informational interviews
Informational interviews are a good way to gather more insight about any
of these options. For example, if you’re wondering if you’d want to transfer
to another department, you might ask HR to set up a conversation with
an employee or manager there. Or, if your boss knows about and supports
your ambitions, you could ask them to introduce you to someone there. Use
a referral when possible; hiring managers are especially open to meeting
with someone who’s been recommended by an acquaintance they respect.
(See also the box “Case study: When interviews yield offers.”)
When you sit down with your colleague, remember that you’re there to
learn, not to ask for a job (at least not yet). You should be prepared to lead
the conversation. Come armed with research and good questions. A good
place to start is with these fi ve questions based on work by career strategist
Daniel Porot:
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