It’s the ideal time of the year to review the past year and make New Year resolutions for 2014. At the very least ask yourself where you want to be a year from now?
Are you looking to move within your organisation, sector or profession? What changes over the coming year may affect your role and organisation? What are the key drivers for business success in 2014 and are you well placed to help your organisation survive and thrive?
Time for a career MOT. Take some time for some personal reflection. Use a learning perspective and think of yourself as a “skills and knowledge investor”. Think about your strengths, consider your priorities, and review your progress.
Career planning
“You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you are going because you might not get there”, Yogi Berra.
Don't worry about the future, start planning. Think seriously about your career; focus your thoughts and decide what steps you need to take to achieve your goals. Ensure that you are moving in a direction aligned with your values and strengths.
Assess your career and what you want in the coming year; evaluate your current position and measure yourself against your goals; then plan to close any gap between where you are now what you want. Setting targets and hitting them creates positive feelings of accomplishment and achievement.
Strengths based approach
Talk to a trusted mentor or coach for some feedback. Successful career planning depends on self-awareness, in particular think about your strengths as part of your personal brand.
I favour a focus on strengths because it’s an approach that enables leaders and employees to feel well equipped and confident about their abilities. Strengths are "underlying qualities that energise us, contribute to our personal growth and lead to peak performance” (Brewerton & Brook, Strengths Partnership 2010).
Research shows that using our strengths at work is more likely to lead to positive performance outcomes. In career terms it your knowledge, awareness and acceptance of strengths (and skills) and how to make effective and appropriate use of them that is important for success at work rather than being a particular ‘match’ for skills or qualifications for a given role.
How can your strengths best be deployed in meeting your career plan? Can you use your strengths to better effect in your current role? There may be opportunities to develop and master those strengths to the benefit of your career.
Audit your achievements
Did you acquire new skills and knowledge in the last year? This is your stock in trade, you need to keep up to date and keep learning new things, that’s how you grow and develop. Learning is good for your mental wellbeing and will boost your confidence and self-esteem. Studies have shown that learning throughout life is associated with greater satisfaction and optimism, and improved ability to get the most from life.
Have you taken on more responsibility in the past year? If not, why not? You can’t afford to stand still. Seek out responsibility, it doesn’t have to be at work but personal development relies on this sort of growth. Are you up to speed with new technology? Could you take a volunteer role that would allow you to develop new skills?
We all know that we don’t always make good on our New Year’s resolutions – so perhaps use the postcard trick. Write your three key resolutions on a postcard and post it to yourself. Use it as a reminder of what’s important in 2014 – invest in yourself to fulfil your potential.
