Plans are pervasive in all parts of our life. We are either on a plan or part of a plan in most major portions of our lives. Game Plan, Lesson Plans, Medical Plans, Retirement Plans, Bonus Plans, Pension Plans, Financial Plans, Travel Plans, Strategic Business Plans. The most rare plan? The Career Plan. The most prominent area of financial benefit to a working human’s life has the rarest form of a plan. Can you see the misalignment? The career plan is so rare that there is no data on people who have one.
What is a plan? Webster’s dictionary defines a plan as a method of achieving an end or a series of actions that help you achieve something. There has been no way for the individual to build a real career plan encompassing the awareness of how professional and personal elements of life impact career.
The way some people work today is from a development plan structured by the company they work for. Or the company has a plan, but you are not certain what it is. The “end to be achieved” is for the company and often not to the benefit of the individual human. This isn’t a surprise and we shouldn’t be mad about this. Just because the individual doesn’t advocate for themselves with an individual career plan, doesn’t mean the company you work for should do more than a development plan to meet their goals and hopefully benefit you. But as we know – “Hope is not a plan.” So who should take ownership of your career plan? (This is where the obvious-ness of this moment makes everyone pause and say “duh”). Own your career! You need a career plan!
The stats keep coming about how employees are unhappy, lack purpose, lack of engagement at work, and/or desire development training. Our favorite data points from Learning Wave: 74% of employees feel they are not reaching their full potential…so much so that 72% are willing to pay for their own training. This is not to blame companies. Your holistic career plan is not their job. Yet, they would love to have all their employees come to them with well thought out plans to align purpose, increase engagement, become transparent, and build trust.
Companies can not provide or build your career plan. A good career plan is too holistic and unique to you. Companies shouldn’t be expected to provide you your career plan. However, they can help you achieve what’s in your career plan if you provide them the direction they need for alignment. Until today, creating a career plan that maximizes desired outcomes has been blocked by the individual talent being too reactive to their career options and unforeseen changes versus being proactive . In today’s market, the talent has the ability to own their career plan like never before.
A career plan takes into account your ability to maximize your unique talents while also considering the decisions you need to make to maximize financial outcomes and use of your available resources – primarily your time and energy of life. Because your skills will evolve and increase in value AND your goals for personal resources of time and money will change through different seasons of life, only you will be able to plan the outcomes you desire. Your plans at 23 will be very different than your plans at 30 or 38 or 47 and on. In each season, you have unique considerations but are a high potential everyday. The most unique feature to your plans are your values and the purpose for which you are motivated to fulfill. This is personal, but you must have people in your life to whom you can share and get feedback from continuously to inform your plan and growth.
For the first time ever, CareerTruth has built a Career Management Solution (CMS) with tools and exercises for you to build the best career plan for you. You will be able to do all of the following and more in your personal career management solution:
- Take account of your full PROFESSIONAL and PERSONAL inventories – this includes your PROFESSIONAL accomplishments, learnings, skills, competencies, and goals. At the same time, you will take full account of your PERSONAL goals related to your financial rewards, use of time for work or other personal activities such as family, friends, health, and/or community.
- Define and document your VALUES, PURPOSE STATEMENT, and VISION of success – most people do not put words to who they are and how they look at life. You are very unique in how your recipe of values and purpose match your professional and personal inventories. It is good to see them all and consider what success looks like in the future. In doing this work you begin to realize how you should grow and make decisions that fuel your career to achieve Mastery, Freedom, and leave an intentional Legacy.
- Build ACTION PLANS to meet your GOALS that fulfill your purpose and vision – making purpose driven, actionable plans that you can be held accountable to will allow you to always being moving forward. These action plans can be related to professional technical skills or leadership development that evolves with your career aspirations. You can also make sure your work/life flow is always in order whether you’re setting personal goals and action plans for financial outcomes or determining how you will use your time to achieve the legacy of your career – vision of success.
Your career plan starts with YOU. Once you build a plan, it is always there and evergreen through every season of your career. You can then update your plan as you have new experiences or change in priorities. CareerTruth also has many other exercises and tools to support your career journey and inform your planning decisions going forward, such as:
- Activating others you trust to support your plan to meet your purpose –
- Creating a board of advisors consisting of people you know and trust that can provide you feedback, encouragement, networks, and accountability to your goals. Mentors, Leaders at work, Peers – you will be surprised how honored people are when you ask them to be on your personal board, especially when they realize how easy it is in CareerTruth.
- Determine if you would like a Professional Coach to help you on a specific career topic or development plan.
- Access a community to ask questions and get feedback.
- A plethora of on-demand exercises and resources that are designed for you in the CareerTruth methodology to own your career and maximize your Mastery, Freedom, and Legacy.
- Creating the “Story of You” and building “Big Ideas” as your personal innovation strategy which becomes the currency of your networking strategy.
- “Open Networking” as the process of continuously meeting new people who can inform your career planning and development.
- The “Private Vault” where you keep all of your most important created works, assessments, reviews, Kudos, certifications, and career tools (i.e. resume, references).
Your career plan lives beyond the walls of any company and allows you the clarity and confidence to be authentic and transparent as you live your work life with purpose. Take the time to plan your career well and you will not be reacting to what happens to you, but owning your career proactively in a way that makes you valuable no matter the conditions. In other another word, FREEDOM. Your company will love the idea of aligning with your career – the business of your life.