Career Development Planning Can Give You the Results You Want

Recently I learned about Big Cs and Little Cs from my friend, John Berkley, owner of Competitive Edge, an experiential training and development company.

Here’s how it works: You have a decision to make about your career, and you’re not sure what to do. If the consequence is low (little C), use trial and error. If the consequence is high (Big C), you need to plan more.

Career Development Planning Using a Little C Approach

The way I see most people approach their careers is through trial and error. They graduate from college and are just happy to get a job. They don’t really think about their careers, and certainly their managers don’t think about helping them. They go to work every day, do a good job, and collect a paycheck.

But it isn’t long before they stagnate, get laid off, are overlooked for a promotion, feel lost, get tired of working 24/7, doing the work of 3 people, and so on. And so they try to do something about it, but it doesn’t work. And then they just settle, and wind up miserable.

What happened? They thought the consequences would be low if they didn’t invest in career development planning. Maybe they didn’t even know about career development planning!

Career Development Planning Using a Big C Approach

The clients I work with view their careers as an extension of who they are – at their best. They may not start out thinking that way because they’ve been a part of a system that encourages them to be average; but deep inside they know they want more out of their life. They want to shine brightly and shine the light on others as well.

I know for sure that the consequences are high when it comes to making decisions about your career. If you hate going to work, you likely hate your life. If you don’t have the skills, education, or experience you need for the work you want to do, your self-esteem suffers. If you are unclear about what value you create, you don’t get the support you need. If you have gifts but aren’t using them, you become resentful.

And guess what shows up in our organizations, communities and relationships? Stress symptoms such as memory problems, poor judgment, anxiety, depression, anger, chest pain, nausea, alcohol/drug abuse, loss of sleep, overeating. You become poor at balancing work and life so your family suffers. Your energy is low, and you’ve lost your creativity.

These are the things people bring to work with them every day. Is this what we want to contribute to creating? I don’t think so. At least that’s what my clients are telling me.

The consequences of having a career you love can easily shift over to the positive side by simply investing in yourself through career development planning.

Career Development Planning Requires Strategic Thinking

One thing I love about John’s Big C/Little C tool is that it gets you thinking strategically. I believe that we’re all strategic, we just may not be aware of our strategies, and sometimes we choose the wrong strategies.

Let me explain. Say you’re in a job where you’re making a good salary but you don’t fit in with the culture. Your strategy is to stay where you are because you’re getting paid “good money.” You can live with the culture and just do your job, staying away from the politics. But then a new “sheriff” comes into town – boss, CEO, whatever. And that new sheriff decides you’re just not his cup of tea, so you get pushed aside.

How’s that “good money” working for you? You’re stressed out, you feel like a failure, and your talents are being wasted. Poor strategy!

Career Development Planning Requires Courage

It takes courage to assess your strategies and redirect your course! And it really doesn’t take that much courage. All it takes is getting real with yourself. Tell the truth about what you want. And push all those thoughts inside your head that say, “It can’t happen, there are no jobs, people don’t get paid to do what they want, you should just be grateful you have a job …” [Yuck! I got nauseous just writing that.]

Have the courage to ask for help so you can create new strategies, ones that are effective and align with who you really are and what you have to offer.

Career Development Planning Requires Persistence

After courage comes the hard part – the work. What is the work? The work is knowing and taking a stand for who you really are at your best, and then creating win-win opportunities.

I’ve seen some people get really, really close to discovering a great career path only to give up on themselves and stay in what they think is a safe job, or a job others think they “should be” happy with. And then they get sick – physically, emotionally, spiritually, or mentally. You may fool everyone else with your plastic smile, but you can’t fool your body. Big, fat consequence!

From my heart to yours, I want you to know that you are worthy of a career you love in a place where you talents are valued. And it will be easy because you will make it easy. You will make it easy because you’ll be clear about what you want, why you want it, and the steps you need to take to get there. And when the winds of change shift around you, you will not be caught off guard because you’re always working your plan to get exactly what you want.

Your career is an essential part of your well being. And career development planning is abundance personified through you.

Look Ma, No Hands!

Did you have a bicycle when you were a kid? If so, think about the day when you got the hang of riding your bicycle and one day, you let go of the handle bars, and said, “Look Ma, no hands.”

It wasn’t that hard. Just a little planning & practice, courage, and perseverance, and you were sailing down the street getting a taste of success and freedom.

So, hop on your Big C bicycle, and get that career development plan going.

Enjoy the ride! It’s awesome!

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