# data[].attributes.headline
HBR.org |6 Ways toTake Control of Your  Career Development If Your Company Doesn’t Care About It

# data[].attributes.subject
HBR.org |6 Ways toTake Control of Your  Career Development If Your Company Doesn’t Care About It

# data[].attributes.headline
Only 47% of employees strongly agree they know what is expected of them at work. 

# data[].attributes.subject
Only 47% of employees strongly agree they know what is expected of them at work. 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
2% of CHROs Think Their Performance Management System Works

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A Gallup survey of CHROs from Fortune 500 companies reveals a pressing need to build performance management systems that actually inspire employees.

# data[].attributes.headline
Ted | How to Get Better at Receiving Feedback

# data[].attributes.subject
Ted | How to Get Better at Receiving Feedback

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This post is part of TED's "How to Be a Better Human" series, each of which contains a piece of helpful advice from people in the TED community; browse through all the posts here.

For leaders at any level, the single best way to grow is to lead and then get feedback. It is to act and interact with your team and learn what can be improved upon through feedback. Feedback is a better teacher than books, academic journal articles, trainings, speeches and even TED Talks.

And I say this as a writer who translates research from academic journal articles while giving trainings, speeches and TED Talks.

After you reach a more senior role, people tend to minimize any unpleasant or less-than-positive feedback or don't want to offer you any constructive criticism at all.

But there's a problem with receiving feedback once you reach a more senior role. The nature of feedback changes - people tend to minimize any unpleasant or less-than-positive feedback or don't want to offer you any constructive criticism at all. And your response to feedback may also change; you may not internalize feedback because you don't see the whole picture or you could get defensive.

Here, I'll outline four steps you can take to get better at receiving feedback in order to grow as a leader and grow as a team.

Step #1: Start with thank you

The very first response to give when someone gives you feedback should be a response of gratitude. Don't get defensive. Don't offer to explain what they might not understand. And don't even jump further into what you should change (we'll get there). Instead, take time to offer your thanks for the gift you just received - the gift of feedback.

While feedback is a gift, it's even more so a risk. When a team member speaks up to offer you feedback, they're taking a risk with how you'll respond.

Why should you do this? Because while feedback is a gift, it's even more so a risk. When a team member speaks up to offer you their feedback, especially critical or constructive feedback, they're taking a risk with how you'll respond. They're risking potential damage to the relationship or retaliation. Or they're risking wasting their time by giving feedback to someone who won't receive it. Starting with "thank you" lets the other person know that risk was worth it and you will listen.

Step #2: Restate what you heard

Whether it's praise, criticism or some other type of feedback, take the time to restate to the person giving it what you heard them say. Just a quick "What I hear you saying is _____" can have a powerful effect on your conversation.

Restating their feedback lets them know that their opinion matters and makes it more likely you'll get additional feedback in the future from this person.

Restating the feedback does two things. The first is that is checks your own understanding of the message, so you don't risk taking in the wrong lessons. But more importantly, restating the feedback you heard allows the other person to feel heard .

It lets them know you were really listening and - just like the first step - that this conversation isn't a waste. It lets them know that their opinion matters and makes it more likely you'll get additional feedback in the future from this person (and anyone else they talk to about this conversation).

Step #3: Mention what you're changing

Listening to feedback by alone doesn't bring about growth; it's only when feedback is used to figure how to act differently (or start or stop acting) that growth actually happens. And if you're going to be making changes as a result of the feedback, why not share those changes with the person or people who helped you discover what changes to make?

Once you've figured out how to apply feedback, be sure to share it with those who gave it.

However, you don't need to tell those who give you feedback what you're changing right away. It's OK to circle back later on, re-thank them for their feedback, and then mention what you're changing. But once you've figured out how to apply feedback, be sure to share it with those who gave it.

Step #4: Seek out more feedback

Feedback isn't a one-and-done intervention; it's a process. You're growing, changing and improving all the time - and to do that you'll need more feedback.

So make sure you're developing a habit of seeking out more feedback. When you finish stating what you'll be changing, ask if you can set a date with that person or group to re-evaluate how the change is going.

Not only will you get better at receiving feedback over time, but people will also feel more comfortable giving it to you.

This does two things. First, it will guarantee more feedback at a later date. But more importantly, it will signal how open you truly are to receiving feedback and make it more likely you get unsolicited feedback at any time. And unsolicited feedback from those you trust is often the most potent.

Feedback is an ongoing process, and it may be difficult the first or second time you're in a feedback conversation to meaningfully hit all four steps. But it will get easier over time. Not only will you get better at receiving feedback, but people will also feel more comfortable giving it to you.
This article originally appeared on DavidBurkus.com and has been adapted with the author's permission. Watch his TEDxUniversityofNevada Talk here:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This post is part of TED's "How to Be a Better Human" series, each of which contains a piece of helpful advice from people in the TED community; browse through all the posts here. For leaders at any level, the single best way to grow is to lead and then get feedback.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We all receive feedback from time to time. But are we able to process it and make the most of it? Not always. Processing feedback goes far beyond listening to it in the moment and implementing it; it involves continuous reflection, conversation, and practice. While much of this happens because of th…

# data[].attributes.headline
Buffer: How Individuals Advance at Buffer, Without Becoming Managers

# data[].attributes.subject
Buffer: How Individuals Advance at Buffer, Without Becoming Managers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Buffer: All-you-need social media toolkit for small businesses

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The concept of a career path at Buffer has changed a lot over the past seven years.

We've gone through various phases as an organization: beginning as an early-stage startup where everyone did a bit of everything, then to a period when we decided against having managers and leaned into a flat structure, and now to a lean level of management within a more traditional structure.

Currently, we're an 80-person team. And we're expecting to grow some, but not rapidly in the coming years.

As such, we've been asking ourselves, "What does a career path look like for someone at Buffer?"

At the core of this question is the unspoken acknowledgement that it's often unclear how to level up when your team size isn't scaling up. Not everyone can be a manager, especially when the team isn't expanding. So how does a teammate grow beyond her or his current role?
Is it possible to grow horizontally rather than vertically?
To answer this, leaders on a few of our teams have come together to create a formal career framework that includes growth opportunities beyond the traditional management track. We'd love for individual contributors to have an equal path for furthering their career and developing their skills. Here's what we're trying, what we've learned so far, and how you can get started on your own multifaceted career framework.

A Maker & Manager Career Framework

The two-path framework we've adopted at Buffer

Our previous career framework placed a lot of emphasis on typical career growth paths - moving from one level up to the next, all within clearly benchmarked role descriptions. We didn't have as adequate a solution for managers (of which we had few when Buffer was smaller). And we didn't have clear career progress events for makers who have less interest in traditional people management paths.

Here's a basic look at our previous career framework:

Now we feel we've made some good strides for both managers and makers, as well as giving our teammates more opportunities to be recognized for the great work they're doing.

Our latest version of a career framework includes paths for makers (individual contributors) and for managers, and in addition to traditional, vertical career levels, teammates can now also progress horizontally with steps.
Here is an overview of our current career framework:

To give a couple examples, a newly-promoted Customer Advocate II might be a Maker at Level 2 and Step 1. (Everyone has at least Step 1 on the horizontal Step chart. There is no Step Zero.)

And if someone is an Engineering Manager, they might be a Manager at Level 4, Step 3.

About Levels and Steps
With this latest version of our career framework, we've introduced the following definitions for Levels and Steps.

For a teammate to go from one Level to another is a large and distinct jump in terms of area knowledge, role complexity, and overall scope. It would be what a typical promotion at most companies looks like, and was the traditional framework we were previously using. A change in Level happens through a calibration process and involves our People/Finance team for guidance.

The second part of our framework, the Steps, are horizontal in nature, and there are four housed within each level. These Steps serve as smaller milestones of growth in terms of ownership and initiative. They are not a "progress bar" and are not necessarily meant to be a strictly linear progression; a teammate could potentially advance multiple Steps at once. A change in Step can happen at anytime through each area director's discretion and requires no approval or discussion outside of the area.

Building the Framework

Details on how we determine each teammate's level and step

Below are excerpts from our role leveling and step progression guides. Many elements of these charts have been adapted from Radford, our provider for compensation and role benchmarking. The Step charts are adapted from our own area frameworks as well as other public tech frameworks from likeminded companies like Fog Creek, Medium, and Rent the Runway.

Each chart is reprinted in its entirety below, just as we have it in our team handbook. If you'd like to adapt any of these charts for your own use, we've made them all available in a doc here.

For Makers

While the Level charts are meant to be thoroughly discussed with our People/Finance team before making a move, the Step charts are suggestion only, and area directors can interpret them and/or build onto them, to create area-specific guides with examples and principles that resonate for the work each teammate does.

For Managers

We use a similar chart to assess where a teammate falls on the manager career framework. Here are the four manager levels and what goes into each consideration:

In addition, Managers have a series of Steps, just like Makers. Here is what goes into the Steps for Managers at Buffer.
We'd love to hear about your experience with all things career frameworks in the comments!

Do you have a clear career framework at your company?

Did the Buffer frameworks feel like good solutions to you? What do you like most or what might you do differently?

If you're up for sharing, what level would you put yourself in right now?

(Ed's note: We've updated this blog post from its original 2017 version when our career framework looked different than it does now. If you're looking for that older version, you can find the archived page here. Thanks!)
If you'd like to adapt any of these frameworks for your own use, feel free to copy and paste from the free doc file of the Level and Step charts here.

Over to You
Get started now
Creating career frameworks is part of our work to make sure that Buffer is an equal and fair place to work for all of our teammates, and that everyone understands exactly how to move ahead and grow in their career.

Try Buffer for free

140,000+ small businesses like yours use Buffer to build their brand on social media every month

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Individuals Advance at Buffer, Without Becoming Managers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Our newest career framework includes many growth paths for makers and for managers alike. See how we've combined horizontal and vertical growth.

# data[].attributes.headline
Forbes: Conquer The End of Year Slump with These 3 Questions

# data[].attributes.subject
Forbes: Conquer The End of Year Slump with These 3 Questions

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
CESANA SAN SICARIO, ITALY - FEBRUARY 23: Carolyn Treacy of the United States of America lays ... [+]
Getty Images

As we enter the final weeks of 2023, the pace of work will slow down for many workers. We are distracted by holiday planning, interrupted by travel and visitors, or simply thwarted by collaborators who want to delay and circle back in the new year. Some of us are just tired and ready for the year to be over. How can you maximize your productivity when things seem to be winding down?

As an executive coach, I utilize three questions to conquer the commonly experienced "end of year slump." I encourage leaders to take advantage of the slower operational tempo and use the following three questions to assess their own progress or to close out 2023 with their direct reports. Invite your DR to coffee for an informal conversation, use a journal for personal reflection, or find a work buddy and share your responses with each other. Each question has three follow up questions to push you a little deeper to build more awareness.

Question 1: What Was The Most Difficult Challenge You Faced At Work This Year?

What made it so difficult? How did you respond to the challenge? What did you learn about yourself and leadership from this experience?

Question 2: What Did You Find Most Satisfying About Work This Year?

Why was it so personally fulfilling? What does that say about the kind of person you are? What do you want to do to expand on this in the coming year?

Question 3: What Do You Want Professional Growth To Look Like For You In 2024?

How would working on that advance your vision for your career? What resources will you need to achieve that growth? What is the one thing you need to do to get started on that journey?

Many of us struggle to get off the hamster wheel of productivity and know that we need time for strategic thinking and purposeful conversations. But the tyranny of the urgent usually wins out. Wise leadership requires shifting our perspective and valuing the lessons that emerge from times of reflection which can feel less productive. Leaders who embrace this mindset are capable of approaching future challenges with greater awareness and agility.

David Kolb's well-known cycle of experiential learning involves four stages that include concrete experience, reflection on the experience, abstract conceptualization, and commitment to trying new things in the future. Leaders who are committed to ongoing professional growth ascend this developmental spiral by extracting lessons from the past and integrating them into present knowledge and skills.

The year isn't over yet and we can choose to finish strong. As you close out 2023, take time to ask yourself these three questions and remember the words of John Dewey: "We don't learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on our experience."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Conquer The End of Year Slump with These 3 Questions

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Conquer the end of year slump. As we enter the final weeks of 2023, the pace of work will slow down for many workers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Get a daily email featuring the latest talk, plus a quick mix of trending content.

By subscribing, you understand and agree that we will store, process and manage your personal information according to our Privacy Policy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In every workplace, there are three basic kinds of people: givers, takers and matchers. Organizational psychologist Adam Grant breaks down these personalities and offers simple strategies to promote a culture of generosity and keep self-serving employees from taking more than their share.

# data[].attributes.headline
HBR: When Your Boss Gives You Bad Feedback, Badly

# data[].attributes.subject
HBR: When Your Boss Gives You Bad Feedback, Badly

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
When Your Boss Gives You Bad Feedback, Badly

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It’s difficult to manage your feelings when getting feedback that feels too harsh, overly nice, or somehow dishonest. We all struggle with feedback, so extend a little grace to yourself for having strong emotions, and to the other person for initiating a difficult conversation. The authors present t…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The secret to giving great feedback | The Way We Work, a TED series

# data[].attributes.body
If you don't see your role, please email me | beth@talentlab.live | and I will generate & add it to this page.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Created through SkillAI.IO, below please click on a path to open find some of the fabulous learning plans created by a simple prompt!

| Power Skill Learning Paths | Technical | Functional Learning Paths | | --- | --- | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/6f7e364a-2316-4ad7-ad52-8a8e129b8230 | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/64837764-03af-44ba-8a23-2886c65a03a2 | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/794fe9cd-c687-4a7d-aaa6-93807df70789 | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/89b31909-44bd-4931-a055-cb9fba25a826 | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/2f57e005-b8e2-4549-ba44-06d4023484d5 | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/a5466c03-5985-4f7d-83b4-8deaf37650d1 | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/8923f2f7-3c57-4828-95f0-fd5608da6918 | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/00a453cb-73e7-42e3-a480-6112d045c848 | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/b00b7c91-3c06-46b0-ab0c-b8a5b0c2f09f | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/f9ec0a8b-63e7-4c9b-973a-4fe67ab11cab | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/5ae94b5d-002e-4006-bdee-d970ffd14632 | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/e08838c0-c6ad-4c34-bdce-be4d8d37e2b6 | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/9356b2c3-197c-4e8c-87c2-eadced3ad549 | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/5f8cc793-5871-4069-abcb-755987850c2a | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/ef97c544-448b-4f78-9f5e-9d5a9dc59604 | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/74b67e2d-4ab9-48cd-9a25-9ac5b06905e1 | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/a15f03fc-a891-4ac8-a7c6-8166a7dbf575 | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/6b995879-f5c9-4d70-918c-fe99823c3728 | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/ef97c544-448b-4f78-9f5e-9d5a9dc59604 | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/c6b37d40-a6d1-41d6-ba22-80847a5df72b | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/a1303f8a-a77b-4d67-a2a8-e18e9feaa309 | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/ee687778-9fb9-4470-8464-1e572d804c85 | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/e72a6213-f2bc-4a1a-9050-5d7fc2863d8d | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/7654bedd-6374-416f-b828-3152388daedd | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/ab2bc7c3-8083-493a-a4f1-2bb722569be1 | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/b4b0fe6c-541d-4e51-89b4-a26cd4728c74 | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/b336aa7d-cdb4-4705-9687-112d1e195f93 | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/b0a9d3bb-354c-4e37-8e12-5d13a1554c98 | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/077421a8-2f41-4405-9184-9591a82f5d76 | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/5edb6198-f391-460c-9a35-4d4173b903eb | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/ec844973-8f6b-4a8f-be85-1b69c6190110 | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/25351a25-faa6-4f0a-b896-f35bddf7cb1b | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/6348adf9-e5e1-48af-bd80-521d29f795df | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/bc7a1dc7-18b5-4132-90cd-800e2fe20fba | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/5c351e7b-5870-435c-94cf-5d1a0f18014b | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/67b7cfaa-8cc1-47a3-99ad-c0739bc81e31 | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/c4bedd2d-053a-4af8-8396-5ed637dbfe4a | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/78f705b4-e74a-4522-8836-ec77183e8598 | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/2a22ff00-8385-499d-afb4-cc533d7ffe38 | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/b71ecbdc-ed55-4991-bebf-28d7719ef0bf | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/1dbb6586-f2aa-4d42-b240-0455dc63f84b | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/6375b62b-1e88-4d17-a24f-aef1e2f1308e | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/ca5b2e33-5a83-45ef-a353-5774cb7d3143 | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/269b6422-68b8-4fa9-b4d0-371c9a16e017 | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/6e529b16-2a5d-45bf-81a7-e4af2255632a | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/e1781fef-6b71-4af0-a88a-432203f0c906 | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/461f72c3-eea9-4788-aae2-d45c08c44aaf | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/0b4c4920-616c-4477-993d-102f209a346d | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/1a991b67-fd5c-405b-a61b-bebaa3400823 | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/9fa0d2c1-7f75-433f-963e-cd684cd973eb | | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/b0bc8295-1db4-49f6-b523-b759de5e637a | | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/a9811c3c-fea7-498e-84c2-b86ab632014c | | | https://skillai.io/public/learning-path/ca99180e-15f8-41ff-81de-2ea238c9da82 | | | |

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Created through SkillAI.IO, below please click on a path to open find some of the fabulous learning plans created by a simple prompt!

# data[].attributes.headline
SHRM: 5 Sure-Fire Tips for Great Career Conversations

# data[].attributes.subject
SHRM: 5 Sure-Fire Tips for Great Career Conversations

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Managers inspire, guide and support career development. Career conversations between managers and employees are the single most important factor in building, motivating and developing a highly skilled, professional workforce. As important as ever, these career conversations are becoming more difficult.

Why? We are living in tumultuous economic times. Job loss, corporate restructure, and worrisome finances are taking a toll on career plans. Strategies and tactics continue to change rapidly in organizations, which affects career options directly. The workforce is far more diverse-multicultural, multigenerational, global, technically diverse.

Motivators for working people are necessarily quite different and not always readily apparent. Employees feel stressed by their workloads and lack of job security, making career conversations more challenging yet far more important. Some managers admit that they are afraid to have career conversations with employees because they don't feel confident that they have the answers to their questions any more.

1. Anticipate Tough Questions. There will always be some tough questions employees throw out. If managers don't have immediate answers, postpone answering and suggest revisiting those issues later or try brainstorming answers with the employee. Prepare for questions such as:

Will my job be here tomorrow or in six months?"

What options do I have to be secure at work?"

How can I possibly achieve my career goals in this economy?"

What can I do to recover from mistakes I've made and repair my reputation?"

How can I talk about my accomplishments without sounding arrogant?"

How do I learn about other options in the organization without turning off my manager?"

How do I stay current with all the changes in this business? Who do I need to know? What do I need to do?"

Managers should place themselves in the shoes of their employees and anticipate their concerns. It's more important to anticipate the questions than have all the answers. The object is to create an honest and authentic dialogue with employees.

2. Follow a Process to Determine Objectives. There are five critical keys to opening an effective career conversation with an employee: Appreciate, Assess, Anticipate, Align and Accelerate.

Appreciate Uniqueness. Help employees recognize their unique talents, skills, abilities, personality traits, passion and accomplishments to make career choices that fit.

Assess Capabilities. Help employees discover their capabilities, build reputation and assess individual and team performance in order to build strong networks in their industry, organization, profession, job and personal life.

Anticipate. Help employees consider and anticipate trends in their industry, organization and profession, and how the trends will affect choices.

Align Aspirations. Help ensure that individuals see how their aspirations, talent, goals and passion are in "sync" with the mission, goals and strategies of the organization.

Accelerate Learning. Connect individuals to mentors, projects, and learning opportunities to help achieve their goals and support long-term organization strategies.

3. Ask Questions-Get Personal and Real. The best way to get to know an employee (and to help one understand himself or herself better) is to ask powerful questions.

Appropriate questions will prompt thinking and self-reflection. When a manager asks the right questions, employees realize that their manager is prepared. They know that their manager cares, which establishes confidence and trust.

The manager and employee learn new things about one another that will establish a bond of respect and open doors of opportunity. It's not until one really knows someone that they're able to give advice as to options and next steps available to help craft a career.

Managers can't give advice to employees on options if they don't know the individual's interests, skills, passion and aspirations. Together, they should thoroughly explore the questions "How am I unique?" and "How is the world of work changing?" Employees' career choices must be related to the changes that can be predicted in their industry, profession and organization. Once managers and employees see and understand these elements, new goals will appear on the horizon (i.e., a new project, position, or change to another division or profession that couples uniqueness to opportunity).

4. Plan How to Start a Conversation. If a conversation is started thoughtfully and with an objective in mind, managers will be amazed at the conversational journey they'll have. Examples of starting questions:

How am I unique? When the employee has a really good day at work, what talents and personal traits do they draw on? What are their most important values, and how does work fit in with those values? If they had to choose between working with people, data, things or ideas, which mixture would they choose? What would be their ideal job?

What are my capabilities? What are the critical skills in the employees' job, and how would they rate themselves? Choose three people who can rate their work; what feedback would they expect from them? What are some ways to get feedback about their reputation at work? Which skills are most and least valued by the team or organization? Which ones do they have?

How is the world of work changing? How have the changes in the organization affected them? Where are the best opportunities? What are the key issues driving the company? How can each employee help solve them? What are the major industry trends, and how will they affect the employee's job? What are the skills they will need?

What are my aspirations? What career goals do they have? Which ones are realistic? Which fit into the organization and why? What goal do they want the most? Which goal will position them best for the future? Where do they see themselves in 10 years?

How can I accelerate my learning? How do they learn the best? What would they like to do to increase their skills? What is the perfect learning job? What training or learning program interests them? Who would they like as a mentor, and how can you, as their manager, help them get that support?

5. Tell the Truth-Engage Employees as Partners. If you don't know the answer to a question, tell the employee the truth. Don't pretend to know. Don't make up stuff. Don't make promises that can't be kept. Turn a lack of knowledge into a joint exploration and shared experience. Talk about working together to get an answer. Have a discussion in which the two of you can figure out how best to answer difficult questions.

Use these discussions to appreciate and honor your career. Each career discussion enables individuals to evaluate their career by asking themselves the sampled questions:

What are my three greatest strengths? What accomplishments have I achieved that support these strengths? How would I describe my reputation? Who is important for my reputation? What profession am I in? What level of mastery have I attained? What are my aspirations? What contributions would I like to make this year using my unique strengths and experience? What do I need to learn to make an even greater contribution to the organization? What training do I need to attain in order to broaden my career options?

Share concerns and challenges with employees where appropriate. There's an organic life to these questions that can open up thoughts about future choices and provide some nice soul-searching for both parties and open some doors in thinking about one's own abilities and future aspirations.

Never lose sight that career conversations are aimed at building, motivating and developing employees. Career conversations help open doors for career choices, build trust, and engage people to realize the mission and strategies of the organization.
Caela Farren is founder and CEO of Adapted with permission from MasteryWorks, Inc. © (2009) MasteryWorks, Inc. All Rights Reserved. MasteryWorks, Inc., a career development solutions firm based in Falls Church, Va.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Five Sure-Fire Tips for Great Career Conversations

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Managers inspire, guide and support career development. Career conversations between managers and employees are the single most important factor in building, motivating and developing a highly...

# data[].attributes.headline
Axios: Simple Workpace Principle | Assume Positive Intent

# data[].attributes.subject
Axios: Simple Workpace Principle | Assume Positive Intent

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
There is a simple workplace principle at Axios that increasingly spills helpfully into my personal life: Always assume positive intent.

Why it matters: So much misunderstanding, tension and turmoil flows from thinking the other person is a dope, dishonest or out to get you. So stop assuming the worst.

It's shocking how often the explanation is so much simpler and more benign.

The big picture: Dig deep enough into rotten relationships or business cultures, and you often find bad assumptions in the roots. Telltale signs are suspicion, backbiting or score-settling.

The big caveat: Yes, some people actually are rotten, or dishonest, or truly out to get you. You shouldn't ignore patterns of toxic behavior. But most people are simply stressed, or clumsy with their words, or innocently screwing up.

Here are a few ways to think about shifting to an assumption of positive intent:

1) Ask, don't think. Most of life's problems can be solved instantly if you calmly and clearly ask someone who offended or irritated you what they intended to do or say. Don't ask in a condescending or aggressive way.

Then listen.

Do this one thing in person and you'll ease lots of tension.

2) Talk, don't text. Typing words is a terrible way to capture the nuance of human emotion. You cannot resolve tension at work or in your personal life on Twitter or in texts. Pick up the phone or go old-school and actually talk to a person, in person.

3) Don't talk crap. At Axios, we make it super-clear that we're intolerant of anyone talking about colleagues behind their backs. It's a fireable offense. You're expected to take your grievances directly to the person, honestly and respectfully.

The only thing worse than assuming negative intent is gossiping about it and spreading the problem. That's how Small Things become Big Things.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Simplest workplace principle: Assume positive intent

# data[].attributes.headline
The Muse: 8 Questions You Should Be Asking Your Boss

# data[].attributes.subject
The Muse: 8 Questions You Should Be Asking Your Boss

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When my client Sarah contacted me to work out some issues at her job, I didn't think it would be a very tough assignment. After all, she was bright, good at what she did, and committed to being successful.

What's the best job for you?

Use The Muse to find a job at a company with a culture you love. Select the career path that aligns with you:

How many years of experience do you have?

What company benefits are most important to you?

Calculating your job matches...

The trouble, she explained, was her difficult boss: She saw him as an obstacle that she had to work around to achieve her goals, rather than an essential part (or, frankly, any part) of her success.

But as I continued to ask questions, I was surprised at how little she really knew about her assignments, her boss' expectations, and overall, how to work with her manager effectively. In fact, she tended to make assumptions about what her manager needed or thought, based solely on her observations-without any real facts. No wonder she was struggling!

If you're having similar issues seeing eye to eye with your manager, take the advice I gave Sarah, and initiate a one-on-one meeting to ask these eight essential questions. With the answers you receive, you'll better understand your manager's point of view, be able to work together more effectively, and, ultimately, create more opportunity for success-for the both of you.

1. "What's the Most Important Achievement You Hope to Accomplish in Your Current Role?"

This question will give you insight into your manager's short-term motivation, which will give you a better idea of what your goals and objectives should be.

Managers, unfortunately, aren't always clear with employees on their goals and plans, but if you understand a bit more about what your boss is focused on, you can better prioritize your own responsibilities and position yourself for success in your boss' eyes.

For example, perhaps your organization is in the middle of an acquisition and your manager's goal is to create a smooth transition for the newly merged department. With that information, you should be aiming to help her to succeed in that, whether that means spending a few weeks beefing up company documentation or simply volunteering to assist with training.

2. "What Are Your Career Goals?"

While similar to question number one, the answer to this will give you insight into your manager's long-term goals. Does she want to be a VP by age 35? CEO by 50? Does she want to start her own business one day? Knowing her long-term plan will help you understand why she might make certain decisions.

For instance, maybe she volunteers your department for a project that doesn't seem important to you, but it puts her squarely in the visibility of top executives-which could put her in the perfect position for a promotion.

By having insight into her goals, you'll better understand why she manages your team the way she does, instead of doubting her strategies.

3. "What Is the Most Important Thing Your Boss Cares About?"

Unless you're working for the CEO, your boss reports to a manager, too. So, asking this question will help you learn more about what the upper level of your organization expects. And finding out these higher-level goals will give you a deeper sense of meaning in your work, since you'll see exactly how you and your team fit into the bigger picture.

Plus, getting your finger on the pulse of the company's higher-level projects may give you the opportunity to volunteer for initiatives you otherwise wouldn't have been aware of.

4. "What Can I Do to Make You More Successful Today (or This Week, Month, Quarter, or Year)?"

This should be a question you ask on a regular basis-because you should always be trying to make your boss as successful as possible.

When you're able to get a straightforward answer to this, you'll be able to focus your energy in the right places-because you'll know exactly what tasks need to take priority.

(And as a bonus, it will also remind your boss that you're truly invested in his or her success.)

5. "What's One Thing I Could Do Differently?"

Having clear expectations is the key to delivering winning performance-and this question is a sneaky way to find out those expectations.

For example, if your manager says he'd like you to make more of an effort to actively participate in meetings, you'll know that he values a collaborative environment of ideas-rather than coming up with every initiative himself. And knowing that can help you perform exactly to his expectations.

6. "What Should I Know About Your Work and Management Style?"

Does your manager expect you to be available 24/7? Respond to emails on weekends? How does he or she handle stress?

Asking this straightforward question may not get you all the answers (for example, a micromanager may not readily admit to micromanaging). But even if you get just a tiny bit of insight, you'll have a better sense of what to expect and how to handle it.

7. "How Would You Like to Receive Feedback From Me?"

No matter what, you won't agree with your manager on everything. But, you don't have to simply simmer in frustration-as long as you know how to present your gripes in the right way.

To prepare yourself for an eventual point of contention, ask how your manager prefers to get feedback-you'll get a much better response if you play by his or her rules, whether that means scheduling a one-on-one meeting, rather than catching him or her off guard in a hallway conversation or summarizing your thoughts in an email.

Once you know how to deliver your constructive feedback, you'll be much more prepared to ask for what you need: Whether you'd like more frequent updates on deadlines, regular one-on-one time, or faster decision-making on projects, it's important to be able to feel comfortable making these requests.

(And if you're nervous to do it, here's how to give honest feedback that isn't scary.)

8. "Why Did You Hire Me?"

When you get a new job, you're often so excited that you forget to ask why you were selected over all the other candidates. But this is an important question to ask, because it will help you hone in on exactly how your boss believed you would make the team better.

Perhaps your boss will say that you demonstrated your ability to present complex data in a simple way better than any other candidate. And so, now you know that's a major part of what your boss expects you to deliver. (Plus, since you probably do this better than anyone else on the team, it's your chance to really shine!)

By spending some time in your manager's shoes and asking these questions, you'll be able to smooth out any rough edges of your professional relationship.

OK-it might be a little intimidating at first, but give it a try. As you build that rapport, you'll stop seeing your manager as an obstacle and start seeing him or her as an essential part of your mutual success.

Lea McLeod is an experienced manager, career consultant, and job search coach. Formerly a director-level manager at HP, Lea helps you learn skills to build confidence and competence at work and to deal with tough situations that can be super frustrating. In her articles for The Muse, Lea empowers readers to confidently identify and tackle just about every dilemma at work, from challenging colleagues and bad bosses to interviews to career changes and professional development. Her writing has also appeared in Forbes, Business Insider, and other outlets. Find her on Twitter and LinkedIn or visit her website. She authored The Resume Coloring Book, a simple and color-coded guide to writing a solid resume.

More from Lea McLeod

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
8 Questions You Should Be Asking Your Boss

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When my client Sarah contacted me to work out some issues at her job, I didn't think it would be a very tough assignment. After all, she was bright, good at what she did, and committed to being successful. What's the best job for you?

# data[].attributes.headline
Forbes: A Year-Round Guide to Self-Advocacy

# data[].attributes.subject
Forbes: A Year-Round Guide to Self-Advocacy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Speaking up for yourself is not a once-a-year event, only to be brought up during the performance review cycle. As a matter of fact, that is probably the worst time to start talking about your accomplishments, because it can be lost in all the shuffling and positioning that happen during that time period. Most of your colleagues are tooting their own horns and falling all over themselves to impress the boss.

Women are not great self-promoters. Girls are taught at a young age not to draw attention to themselves. A Women in the Workplace study led by Sheryl Sandberg's LeanIn.org and McKinsey consultancy concluded that women fall short of men in getting their first promotion. And that trend continues as women advance in their careers. There is not just the gender pay gap, but a gender mindset gap.

Think of self-advocacy as a public service. The people around you need to know what you can bring to the table. Why do you exist? What value do you bring to the organization? Your managers should not have to prove your value, which is what most managers do during annual review time.

You have a responsibility to understand and justify your place in the organization. You have a responsibility to yourself and your family to make sure that your value is recognized and rewarded appropriately. Not speaking out does not do you or your organization any favors.

Self-advocacy should go beyond the interview. People have no problem talking about their accomplishments when applying for a job. (Interestingly, an internal Hewlett-Packard study reveals that women apply to jobs that they are 100% qualified, while men go for jobs where they meet only 60% of the qualifications.)

Going after a promotion is just another job interview; you are applying for your next job. It entails impressing upon your manager why you should do more and that you could do more.

First, you need a positive sense of entitlement and healthy dose of confidence.

Entitlement because you have earned it with your hard work, your skill-sets, and your track record. Confidence is not about knowing what you have done, but knowing what you CAN do.

"Confidence is the stuff that turns thoughts into action," said Richard Petty, psychology professor at Ohio State University, who has spent decades on the subject of confidence (The Confidence Code, Katty Kay and Claire Shipman).

Volunteering for special assignments is also a form of self-advocacy.

It is telling others that you can stretch yourself. This will help you to learn new skills and get special recognition.

Special assignments are a great way to expand your network and work with people outside your normal circle. It also expands your circle of influence, since most special assignments involve change and decision-making. Special assignments will make you stand out.

Get uncomfortable, often.

Leaders must learn to adapt, to change, and to lead people through change. You cannot grow by being afraid of new things. How is this self-advocacy? You have to show people what you are made of, and to do that, you have to go outside of your comfort zone.

The surprising fact about self-advocacy is that you need to recruit other advocates. Your voice is powerful, but add other voices and it is not just a boast, but a referral.
[Related: How to Seize the Driver Seat of Your Career]
Raise your profile among other managers and execs.

"Rank and yank" is not a popular concept, but organizations practice some type of methodology to share the annual merit and bonus pot. If your boss wants to promote or reward you, she will have a stronger case if other managers recognize your value as well.

Other managers are also putting forth their own candidates in the race, and if they do not know who you are, they are likely to support a more well-known contributor. Your manager is just like any other human being. She wants and needs validation from others that you are worth fighting for.

Give credit where it is due.

Chances are your successes came from a team effort. Do not be afraid to recognize your team members. Share the spotlight and your team members will remember you fondly.

Support begets support. It is not just good karma; it is the decent thing to do and is good for overall team morale.

Lastly, know what you are worth.

Update your resume every year, or every six months. I encourage my staff to take the mid-year and annual review cycle to document what they have accomplished and freshen that resume. I know that if they feel confident about themselves and their jobs, they are happier in those jobs.
[Related: Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Visibility in the Workplace Trinh Abrell is the Director of Project Delivery at Paysafe Group. She loves getting people to move in the same direction, envision the same goals, and accept or embrace change. ]
Do market research on your job in your industry and region. Glassdoor and other career sites allow you to do preliminary market analysis for free. You can even request your manager conduct a market survey through your HR department. Knowing your worth is a confidence booster and also helps your manager advocate for you.

Self-advocacy does not come naturally to some people, as they feel like it's bragging or not being a team player. And it can come across as arrogant or conceited if it is not based in facts and a measure of self-worth. You have to build your credibility and reputation year-round and help others advocate for you.

-

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Women are not great self-promoters. Girls are taught at a young age not to draw attention to themselves. Addressing the gender pay gap means also addressing the gender mindset gap.

# data[].attributes.headline
Fostering Quality Connections - Employee Guide

# data[].attributes.subject
Fostering Quality Connections - Employee Guide

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Quality Connections: Employee Prep Guide

# data[].attributes.headline
ATD: 6 Vital Skills Essential for Career Development in 2024 & Beyond

# data[].attributes.subject
ATD: 6 Vital Skills Essential for Career Development in 2024 & Beyond

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
6 Vital Skills Essential for Career Development in 2024 and Beyond | ATD

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In a world buzzing with rapid tech advancements, it’s crucial for employees to keep polishing their skills to stay on top. Standing still is a one-way ticket to falling behind. Skills must evolve. Mastering digital literacy, adaptability, critical thinking, and more isn’t a feather in the cap—it’s e…

# data[].attributes.headline
CNBC: People Who Make Time for This at Work are 21% More Likely to be Happy Than Those Who Don't

# data[].attributes.subject
CNBC: People Who Make Time for This at Work are 21% More Likely to be Happy Than Those Who Don't

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
People who make time for this at work are 21% more likely to be happy than those who don’t

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
New research by LinkedIn shows that professionals who spend five or more hours a week learning are less stressed, more confident and feel more successful and happy at work than peers who spend less than a hour learning each week.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
[Quiz] Which productivity method is right for you? Get a personalized recommendation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Proven systems to organize your tasks, manage your time, maintain your focus, stop procrastination, and achieve your goals. Take the quiz to find the one that fits you best.

# data[].attributes.headline
HBR: 4 Ways to Create a Learning Culture on Your Team

# data[].attributes.subject
HBR: 4 Ways to Create a Learning Culture on Your Team

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Research from LinkedIn has shown that half of today's most in-demand skills weren't even on the list three years ago. As a result, there is now a premium on intellectual curiosity and the desire and ability to quickly grow and adapt one's skill set. How can you create a learning culture on your own team or in your organization? First, reward continuous learning. Note that rewarding curiosity is not just about praising and promoting those who display an effort to learn and develop; it's also about creating a climate that nurtures critical thinking, where challenging authority and speaking up are encouraged, even if it means creating discord. Be sure to give people meaningful and constructive feedback - it's hard to improve on anything if you are unaware of your limitations. As a manager, practice what you preach. And finally, hire curious people. It's easier to augment potential than to go against someone's nature.

Technology is disrupting every industry and area of life, and work is no exception. One of the main career implications of the digital revolution is a shift in demand for human expertise. For instance, LinkedIn's talent research shows that half of today's most in-demand skills weren't even on the list three years ago.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
4 Ways to Create a Learning Culture on Your Team

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Research from LinkedIn has shown that half of today's most in-demand skills weren't even on the list three years ago. As a result, there is now a premium on intellectual curiosity and the desire and ability to quickly grow and adapt one's skill set.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Working Styles Assessment - Free Work Style Assessment

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Discover your work style with our Work Style Test. Explore your preferences and how to be more fulfilled at work. Practice for the Amazon work style assessment.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Online Survey Software | Qualtrics Survey Solutions

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Qualtrics sophisticated online survey software solutions make creating online surveys easy. Learn more about Research Suite and get a free account today.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Listen to this episode from TED Radio Hour on Spotify. Humor can lighten the mood. But it can also provoke, cajole, and inspire. This hour, TED speakers share how we can wield humor as a tool across all aspects of our lives.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Listen to Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris on Spotify.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
You can join a free 5-day program that helps you create new habits in your life. It’s easy and fun. This program was created by Dr. BJ Fogg, a Stanford Behavior Scientist.

# data[].attributes.headline
HBR: When a Tough Question Puts You on the Spot

# data[].attributes.subject
HBR: When a Tough Question Puts You on the Spot

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Amidst the economic and global uncertainty that surrounds us, handling tough questions is an ongoing part of a leader's job. In this piece, the author outlines strategies to answer difficult questions so that you can maintain the trust of your clients and colleagues, keep your relationships intact, and weather any storm.

We've all experienced that moment when someone asks us a question and we're caught unprepared. Maybe a direct report raises a challenging question about layoffs during a town hall meeting, or a client calls you unexpectedly and wants to know what is going to happen in the markets. How can you maintain relationships - and - when you don't have the answers people are seeking?

Difficult Interactions Course

Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning's online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Difficult Interactions. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.

Learn how to resolve those inevitable workplace conflicts.

Learn More & See All Courses

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
When a Tough Question Puts You on the Spot

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Amidst the economic and global uncertainty that surrounds us, handling tough questions is an ongoing part of a leader's job. In this piece, the author outlines strategies to answer difficult questions so that you can maintain the trust of your clients and colleagues, keep your relationships intact, and weather any storm.

# data[].attributes.headline
LifeLabs Learning: Watch Feedback Delivered 3 Different Ways

# data[].attributes.subject
LifeLabs Learning: Watch Feedback Delivered 3 Different Ways

# data[].attributes.headline
8 Lessons on Building a Company People Enjoy Working For

# data[].attributes.subject
8 Lessons on Building a Company People Enjoy Working For

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Get a daily email featuring the latest talk, plus a quick mix of trending content.

By subscribing, you understand and agree that we will store, process and manage your personal information according to our Privacy Policy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Patty McCord: 8 lessons on building a company people enjoy working for

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Most companies operate on a set of policies: mandated vacation days, travel guidelines, standard work hours, annual goals. But what happens when a company looks less to control and more to trust? Patty McCord, the iconic former chief talent officer at Netflix, shares the key insights that led her to toss the handbook out the window.

# data[].attributes.headline
INC: Emotionally Intelligent People Know How to Listen. Here Are 5 Things They Do Different

# data[].attributes.subject
INC: Emotionally Intelligent People Know How to Listen. Here Are 5 Things They Do Different

# data[].attributes.headline
GAINSIGHT: Dos & Don'ts for Performance Cycle Conversations

# data[].attributes.subject
GAINSIGHT: Dos & Don'ts for Performance Cycle Conversations

# data[].attributes.body
Love this fun video put together by Gainsight. Watch this all the way through - it's fantastic!

# data[].attributes.body
Goal Setting | Accountability

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
FutureMe: Write a Letter to your Future Self

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Write a letter to the future and read the public (but anonymous) letters from others. FutureMe has been delivering letters to the future for millions of people since 2002.

# data[].attributes.headline
Create Your Manual of Me (See my sample here)

# data[].attributes.subject
Create Your Manual of Me (See my sample here)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
has created a Manual of Me to explore and explain how they work best with you.

# data[].attributes.headline
Lluna Pop: Personal Operating Profile (Make Yours)

# data[].attributes.subject
Lluna Pop: Personal Operating Profile (Make Yours)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What is a Personal Operating Profile (POP)?

Think of a POP like a user manual for a person!

POPs can include information such as working styles, work/life preferences, skills, goals, and even personal information that makes a person unique.

POPs are simple to create and will quickly unlock connection and belonging for your team.

(get started in as little as 5 minutes)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Create your free Personal Operating Profile (POP) today with LLUNA.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
How to Debate Ideas Productively at Work

# data[].attributes.headline
HBR: How to Debate Ideas Productively at Work

# data[].attributes.subject
HBR: How to Debate Ideas Productively at Work

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Not long ago, I gave a speech at a company that had been recently acquired and since gone from 300 employees to 1,400. Rapid changes are hard for any organization, but when I asked these leaders what their biggest challenge was they didn't say "scaling our tech infrastructure" or "hiring good people fast enough" or "integrating with our parent company."

They were worried about how many damn fights their people were having. The company had "a culture of arguing," they said - starting at the top - and, given the group's ballooning size and new ownership, they were worried those patterns of behavior weren't sustainable or productive.

I told them that arguing could be a very good thing - perhaps the key to their success - if they could train people to do it in a healthy way.

Research tells us that cognitive diversity makes a group smarter. Two heads are, indeed, better than one, and many heads are even better, especially when everyone is willing to share their expertise and opinions.

Studies also show that most mergers and acquisitions don't fail because of conflict. They fail from the " organizational silence" that stems from the fear of conflict. This is the same reason that, if you're looking for signs that a romantic couple is about to split, "not talking" is a better leading indicator than "fighting a lot."

While diverse thinking and disagreements can be uncomfortable, they are more likely to lead partners or a team to make progress, innovate, and come up with breakthrough solutions than consensus and "nice" conversations in which people hold back what they think.

In theory this means that a group such as, say, the U.S. Congress, ought to be pretty good at solving problems. The hundred members of the U.S. Senate come from 50 different states and several generations and should thus have a variety of viewpoints. (Perhaps they still don't have enough variety, but we'll leave that discussion for another day.) And boy do they argue. But the way they argue is rife with intellectual dishonesty. And the "rules" that govern their debates, especially on television, are ineffective at encouraging productive debate.

Unfortunately, most of the rest of us fall into similar pitfalls. We get sucked into trying to "win"- so we look good or don't make the group we represent look bad - which leads us to ignore logic and evidence that go against our original beliefs. And so we fight without making much progress.

We can change this dynamic, moving toward more effective discourse (exchanging diverse ideas) and debate (arguing honestly for and against the merits of those ideas), by training people to adopt the right habits. Here's how:

Remember we're all on the same team. Just about all debates fall into one of three categories: The kind where the goal is to persuade people you're right; the kind where the goal is to look better than your opponent; and the kind where the goal is to find better solutions together. The third is the one that helps us get the most out of a group's cognitive diversity. To steer people in that direction, set the stage by kicking off the discussion with a shared goal, a spirit of inquiry, and emphasis that everyone is on the same team. Offer these reminders:

We're here together in the spirit of inquiry, as comrades, not adversaries.

Our shared goal is to find the best way to do [x].

All viewpoints in service of this goal are welcome.

There is no "winner." The team wins if we make progress.

Everyone is an equal participant; there is no hierarchy or special weight given to one person's viewpoint over another's.

Keep it about facts, logic, and the topic at hand. One of the most difficult - and crucial - elements of a productive debate is keeping it on one track. Arguments tend to fracture, especially when people feel like their ideas or identities are coming under attack. Unfortunately, when people feel strongly about their opinions, they tend to, often subconsciously, resort to logical fallacies, question dodging, bad facts, and outright deception. Or they bring in outside issues to bolster their points and distract people from counterarguments. It's important for leaders (and participants) to be vigilant, so none of these bad behaviors sneak into debates. Tell people to follow these rules:

The debate is not about who cares more, who's loudest, who's most powerful, or who's most articulate.

No tricky rhetorical tactics.

Distinguish between facts and interpretations (stories people have about the facts).

Identify logical fallacies, and rewind.

Check the validity of assertions of fact, and analyze the quality of the evidence, not just the evidence.

If the debate veers into other topics, acknowledge it and reset.

Don't make it personal. Arguments tend to fracture when people feel like their ideas or identities are coming under attack. Emotion and ego begin to play a much bigger role and everyone becomes less likely to appreciate others' points of view, which greatly reduces the potential for innovation or problem-solving. To ensure that debates don't get sidetracked in this way, we need to explicitly depersonalize our arguments. In other words:

No name calling or personal attacks.

Stay away from questions that cast judgment on people, rather than their ideas. Instead of questions like "how could you believe that?" or "why can't you see?", pose "what" questions instead, such as "what makes you feel that way?" or "what has led you to that conclusion?"

Give people the benefit of the doubt. Assume that everyone's intentions are good.

Nobody loses face for changing their mind.

Reward people for carrying the group forward, rather than being "right."

Be intellectually humble. For a debate to truly be productive, participants need to be willing to respect every viewpoint and change their minds when necessary. This is what psychologists call intellectual humility, and it's one of the most important skills a good leader - and productive debater - can develop. This rule breaks down like so:

Don't take things personally.

Listen to and respect every person and their viewpoint, even if you disagree.

Admit when you realize you're wrong, and cheerfully concede when others have good points.

Be curious. Even bad ideas can be useful; they can help us find new and better ideas.

It's important for everyone involved in a discourse - whether it's a one-on-one over coffee or a public discussion in a board room - to exemplify these habits. But leaders (or whoever has the most power in the room) should be the first to hold themselves accountable to them.

The key to breakthrough problem solving isn't getting along well. It's not getting along - well.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Debate Ideas Productively at Work

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Research tells us that cognitive diversity makes a group smarter. Two heads are, indeed, better than one, and many heads are even better, especially when everyone is willing to share their expertise and opinions.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
One of our values at Amazing If is to make the things we share as useful as possible. We've creating this 'knowledge navigator' as a way to help you find the resources you need for your career.

You can download this PDF and click through to Squiggly Careers podcasts, podsheets, our 10 minutes tools and lots of other free resources.

We hope this is useful!

Sign up to our newsletter

Be first in line for amazing career tips, news and exclusive offers. Delivered straight to your inbox.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Squiggly Career Knowledge Navigator | Amazing If

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
One of our values at Amazing If is to make the things we share as useful as possible. We've creating this 'knowledge navigator' as a way to help you find the resources you need for your career. You can download this PDF and click through to Squiggly Careers podcasts, podsheets, our 10 minutes tools and [...]

# data[].attributes.headline
On Deck: How to Position Yourself for Promotion as a Senior Leader

# data[].attributes.subject
On Deck: How to Position Yourself for Promotion as a Senior Leader

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
has a long career as an executive and led multiple divisions at Bridgewater Associates and Moody's Analytics. He now runs a management accelerator where he trains and coaches leaders. His insights on how to navigate promotion, especially at the senior level, stem from his unique mix of experience as both a senior leader and a coach. This essay draws from a conversation we had with Dave, in which he shared his thoughts and insights with the On Deck Journal.
If you're looking to advance your career as a senior leader at a company, you might think that what's given you success so far will continue to move you forward.

This is an easy mistake to make. On one hand, at a fundamental level, the way you get promoted as a senior leader is the same as how you got promoted throughout your career.

No matter what level you're at, getting promoted is typically a function of your ability to create unique value by leveraging your skills, abilities, experiences, and anything else about you that gives you a competitive advantage and lining it up with what the company needs.

If your company's needs are aligned with what you uniquely do, it's a recipe for moving up.

On the other hand, things do become more nuanced at a senior level, where you are competing against a higher tier of candidates to be promoted into fewer roles, and where promotion cycles are both less frequent and less predictable.

This guide covers some general principles of career advancement as well as how to move ahead once you do reach the senior levels of a company. For senior leaders, promotion doesn't happen by accident. It's about positioning yourself for promotion by carefully executing a good strategy, and making sure you have the skills and experience to succeed when you do land the role.

‍

Why career advancement is different at the senior level

As mentioned earlier, no matter what level you are at, but especially as a senior leader, to position yourself for promotion you want to try to align your unique ability to create value with what the company needs

There's a narrow version of that which is as simple as observing that you have marketing skills and that your company needs a CMO - and expecting to be promoted accordingly. However, the more effective executives are typically more creative than this.

Firstly, they're not necessarily positioning themselves for an executive role that the company needs today; instead, they're looking to position themselves for an executive role that their company may need in the next 2-5 years. Having that type of lead time is necessary to cross the chasm of getting to the C-level and accumulate the relevant experiences you'll need to take the next leap (more on this later).

Another of the things that gets harder when you seek a promotion at a more senior level is that there are less spots to fill and the people who are competing for them are increasingly accomplished.

For example, if you have a company with 500 analysts as an entry-level role, and 25% of analysts are promoted to associates, then you'll have 100 people who make the first leap to that second rung. But the further up the career ladder you move, the smaller the fraction of people who will make it up to the senior rungs - and you'll be competing against five, six, or seven people who have made many leaps. In theory, the best of the best.

Because opportunities for promotion at a senior level are fewer and competition is more stiff, the things needed to take the next leap also become increasingly hard to measure, unlike things which matter lower in the leadership ladder such as technical competency which are easier to compare quantitatively.

At the senior level, moving forward instead rely on qualities like:

What does your following look like within the company?

Are you able to galvanize people with your leadership, or do people chafe working under you?

How well are you able to pull your peers together and foster collaboration? How do you connect other senior leaders?

Do you generate a lot of creative, unique ideas?

However, there's no universal formula. What matters is finding that fit between who you are, what unique attributes you bring to the table, and what the company uniquely needs. The stronger that fit, the better positioned you'll be to be promoted.

Additionally, while it's not always enough to "just work hard and ask your manager" for advancement no matter what stage of your career you're at, once you reach the senior level, good effort and being able to ask for what you want become table stakes.

You typically will not advance to the senior level in the first place unless you were already doing those things - now it's about differentiating yourself against other people who are also hard-working and willing to ask for promotions.

Another issue is that once you get to a certain level, there's no longer anyone left to ask, because you've gone from having someone to ask (i.e. the person above you) to the person being asked.

A final big difference is that, at the senior levels, all the things that got you great grades and school and made you stand out as a junior IC or manager start to actually become liabilities, because the type of work you need to do and the skills you need to have become different.

‍

Mastering The Leadership Ladder

One way to conceptualize the way that skills are valued differently at different levels of seniority is with a "leadership ladder" that breaks down your career into roughly three tiers of what is valued according to your level of seniority.

Tier 1: Early on, you get rewarded for the work that you produce and for things like your technical competency. But as you start to manage and become a leader, you are valued for your ability to work through others.

Tier 2: The skills that increasingly become the most relevant at the mid-level and more senior positions are your ability to prioritize, delegate, judge and hire talent and then coaching and motivating them, etc.

Tier 3: Once you approach the highest levels, it's about your ability to build alliances within the company, identify strategic partners, raise funding, choose a vision and a path and eliminate the 20 others you shouldn't go down, etc.

‍

‍

Notice that what creates value at the third tier - like identifying strategic partnerships - is very different from running an excel model which is what you were evaluated on earlier on.

To get a promotion at a senior level, you have to be able to cultivate and display mastery of the third tier of skills in order to differentiate yourself. Be able to showcase that you've developed the properties of an effective executive.

There is a very high correlation between really effective executives and a devoted following or fan base within the company. These are people who would be willing to follow that executive to other divisions within the company, or even to other companies.

If you can develop an almost rabid fanbase within the company, that's a key differentiator for you at a senior level.

Mastering the third tier is also about cultivating deep, meaningful, trusting relationships within your company - fueling people's growth such that they feel that they're going to rise with you as you rise. This can also help differentiate you.

‍

Crossing the chasm to your next promotion

At a senior level, the distance between you and your desired role can increasingly feel like an uncrossable chasm - often, this happens when you're looking to move up from the 2nd to the 3rd tier described above.

‍

‍

Let's say you're a VP and your goal is to be promoted to a C-level role. The distance between where you are and your goal might look like a huge gap - maybe you now have a team of 10, and you look up at the C-levels at your company and they have teams of 1,000.

That chasm can seem very intimidating, and as a result you may feel tempted to resign yourself to where you are.But what you have to realize is that the people in those roles you're targeting got there from where you are now because at some point they started to build the bridge to cross the chasm, brick by brick.

So instead of being intimidated by the distance, break it down step by step. What experiences do you need to collect to go from here to there? Here are some examples of the "bricks" you may need to lay to cross the chasm:

‍

‍

Managing managers - One thing you can see is that, at the C-level, instead of managing 10 individual contributors, you're going to have to know how to manage managers. Figure out a way that you can start to manage managers at a smaller scale.

Adding functions - you may notice that at the C-level, there are functions that you don't have experience with. Look for projects and rotations that expose you to those functions.

Building relationships - Look to build relationships with the people who are going to be able to influence the decision of whether or not you're going to be tapped for the role not only today, but three years from now. Cultivate relationships with the three or four people who might decide. You're going to have to make these bets based on your own best judgment, since you can't see the future.

What I find when coaching is that when I'm talking to people about crossing a chasm to get a big promotion or job down the road, everything gets twisted up in your head and it's like you're frozen. It's often a very powerful exercise to put the individual pieces down on paper, and lay each step needed to cross the chasm out in writing.

When you actually map it out in this way, it can have the effect of making you realize that they're not as big and daunting and crazy as they seemed to be when they were all swirling around in your head.

What you'll then realize is that while it might be hard to go from VP to that C-level, and it might take a good amount of time to elapse before you can get there, and it may require you to iterate with trial and error, it's not an unknowable list and certainly not an undoable list.

Getting into this headspace of focusing on the individual actions you need to take can actually be quite energizing and have a galvanizing effect that you need to get started.

‍

Making Promotion Inevitable

Once you've mapped out your route to the role you're seeking in terms of the experiences, skills, and relationships you need to add, it's also a good idea to make sure you are on the same page as the leaders you report to.

First, it's about setting expectations and creating alignment with your higher-ups where you state a goal as the starting point of self-advocacy, e.g. "I would like to be VP Product in 3 years."

Then, have a conversation with your boss or the CFO / CEO where you ask what it would take for that to happen. There might be some equivocation in response as they try to avoid promising too much - to put them at ease, you can respond by asking what objective criteria it hypothetically would take to make it very obvious that you would deserve that promotion.

Once you've set and aligned on those expectations, you can break it down into the smaller steps it'll take to fulfill them and keep checking in to see if the expectation has changed at all. If you keep at this for a reasonable period of time, you'll make it inevitable that either A) they will give you the job or B) you will acquire the qualifications you need to get that job somewhere else.

Average employees do what they're told. Good employees do better than what they're told. People looking to rise to the highest ranks will actually tell you, as their boss, what they're going to do and then do more than what they told you.

If people in this third category know that typically their role expects that they do X, they will come in and say I'm going to do X, and also things Y and Z that you didn't even know you needed. Proactively defining a high bar and then beating it is a big differentiator.

The idea is therefore to be proactive in laying out your path to advancement, deeply align on what's expected and then deliver value that's well above that.

‍

Common mistakes in career advancement

Why don't highly qualified people always get promoted as they might feel they deserve?

If you have the qualities we've discussed so far - you have a unique brand, you're impactful, you have a stellar track record, and you've mastered the skills at each tier of the leadership ladder - but you're still not able to advance, it probably comes down to you not being a great self-advocate.

You have to come to terms with the fact that you need to be your own advocate, and that the thought that you "shouldn't have to" is wishful thinking. People with reasonably strong self-advocacy tend to win the ties. If you've been advocating and marketing your impact, you're more likely to get promoted than someone who has had the same impact but hasn't taken the step of making other people aware of that impact.

This is one of the most common mistakes people tend to make that holds them back. That's why creating visibility for yourself was emphasized so heavily earlier in this guide; it's probably the area to focus on most if you feel you're in a similar situation.

Another mistake in a similar vein that tends to hold people back is saying "I don't play politics ".

I think this attitude is short-sighted. Now, this doesn't mean that you need to be involved in backdoor dealings or be a backstabbing, deceptive Machiavellian at work. You should be authentic to your brand and competitive advantage that you've built over your career.

But at the same time, you need to be clear-eyed about the power dynamics of your organization. I've worked at many different companies - Bridgewater had a culture of radical transparency, Moody's had a century of tradition. But in every company, there's inevitably a power structure or hierarchy that exists; and it's a mistake to pretend that it doesn't.

Doing so is the senior executive version of the "I'm sure they'll recognize my good work" fallacy mentioned earlier. To operate effectively and advance at the senior levels of a company, you need to know:

How do things get done?

How do decisions get made?

Who is really influential in the room?

Who is influential, despite not having a fancy title? (hint: it's usually the Chief of Staff to the executives and long-tenured producers).

If you just dismiss all this with the attitude that you "don't play politics", you'll miss all of this opportunity and nuance. It's not that you're not playing politics - it's that you're misunderstanding the reality of the environment you're trying to navigate.

‍

Avoid Over-promotion and overreach

Sometimes, whether moving up internally or taking a job externally, people can actually move up too fast for their own good. If you're offered an opportunity you might not be ready for, your ego can often get you excited even though it outpaces what you're actually capable of at that point in your career.

Moving up the leadership ladder requires you to stop along the way and acquire the new competencies required as you rise to the next tier. If you neglect to do this, it can come back to bite you down the road - if you skip building the skill of prioritizing and delegating work, for example, eventually you'll get to a place where you will just get stuck or even fail.

According to Harvard Business Review, 60% of US executives (CEOs and board members) fail within 18 months of being promoted or hired.

Keep in mind that these are the most highly vetted and experienced people, with tons of support, coaches, executive assistants, chiefs of staff, you name it. They're typically people who are 15 - 30 years into their career, and yet they still have worse than a coin flip's chance of succeeding when they are promoted into an executive role.

The lesson from this should be that managing and leadership at the highest levels is just extremely difficult, even for people who are very good at what they do. The biggest mistake for most people advancing at a senior level is to be in too much of a rush and get ahead of their skis.

The other issue is that the leadership ladder only goes one way - if you get ahead of yourself, it can be very hard for people to ask you to take a step back to the appropriate "rung". If you make the mistake of overreaching beyond your capabilities, the next step is often that you will be asked to step off.

There's nothing wrong with being ambitious and taking advantage of opportunities, but it's important to do so strategically and know your own limits. A career is a marathon, not a sprint. Make sure that each time you advance, you are prepared and you aren't setting yourself up for failure.

‍

Creating visibility & owning your own brand

One of the big mistakes people make, especially when they're a senior leader looking to level up their career, is naively believing that good work will be recognized on its own merit alone. In reality, this doesn't happen just as often as it does happen.

Just because you're doing good work doesn't mean people are seeing it. If you're one of 10 people working for a manager, for example, you might be doing a great job without anyone truly noticing.In fact, if you're doing great work, your manager likely had their attention on the people not doing great work and there's a good chance they didn't fully notice what you've been doing.

One of the reasons there can feel like there's such a promotion chasm when you get more senior is that you don't have enough ownership of your internal brand. Typically, you have to go through the process of owning your own brand and raise visibility for yourself at your company if you want to get ahead.

A framework I use when coaching people to help them raise their visibility at a company is to use the following 3-step framework:

1. Tell them what you're going to do.

2. Tell them you're doing it.

3. Tell them when you've done it.

Tell them what you're going to do: If you're going to take on a big project, or a new role, or bring a new initiative to light, you want to tell the story of:

What the initiative is going to be.

What it can change.

How you're going to do it.

Tell them you're doing it: Next, you want to provide frequent, compelling updates of what's working and what's not - whether you're on track or off track, on budget or under budget, etc. This will help set expectations appropriately while also maintaining visibility for the project you're working on.

Tell them when you did it: When the project is complete, be sure to celebrate what you've achieved and recap any surprise wins, like coming in ahead of time or growing faster than expected.

This framework makes it so that your company is associating you with a victory through the entire process - it's a framework that can scale to any initiative, whether it be making an excel model or leading an entirely new division of a company.

‍

Authentic ways to self-advocate

One issue that people often run into when it comes to creating visibility for themselves is overcoming an internal obstacle.

When some people hear the term "self-advocacy", they often imagine running up and down the hall waving a flag and trying to get everyone's attention. In fact, there are much more subtle and impactful ways you can self-advocate even if you tend to be introverted or less prone to self-promotion.

The way to overcome this is to find ways to authentically provide value in ways that also raise your visibility. Here are some ideas you can use to help build visibility by creating an impact instead of being self-promotional:

Teach. For example, if you're deeply competent at something, you can teach your department or other departments and share your expertise - this helps others level up their skills, helps your company have more engaged and knowledgeable employees, and also helps your brand as you will become someone associated with being highly competent.

Solve a problem. Solving a problem in the company can also shine a light on you. For example, a lot of companies I've worked with in the past don't tend to have particularly good goal-setting or an OKR process.

Imagine you're at that company in the middle ranks and you're striving to become a senior executive - could you be the one who both solves the problem of having a coherent OKR system and in the course of doing that, more people now get visibility into your impact via those OKRs. You're therefore creating visibility for yourself at two levels - one by showing your ability to create beneficial organizational change, and two by showing your competence in your current role.

Another way to do this is to "go find a piece of pain" - a problem that is shallow in its individual impact, but wide in how many people at the company it impacts (something broken that is annoying to most of the company, but not a critical problem for any one person). This is the type of thing that always tends to get put off or pushed down the road. If you can be the one to make that go away, it can create a lot of positive visibility for you.

I once worked at a place where 50% of the time when I tried to print, it didn't work. When we hired a CTO, he could have tried to unveil a sweeping change about our approach to AI or something. Instead, his first action was he moved us all onto one platform and made printing work every time. Even though it was not a critical problem, this helped create an association with him at the company that "this is a person who makes problems go away."

Whatever you choose to do to help raise your visibility, instead of trying to get eyeballs to point at you, go where the eyeballs are already pointed.

In general, this means it's a good idea to try to be in one of two places within the company to fast-track your career advancement: either the engine that generates cash or the engine that generates growth. These are the places which tend to have the most attention, and so it's easier to create visibility for yourself if you're situated there.

‍

Focusing on what you can control

If you follow the frameworks offered in this guide - mastering each tier of the leadership ladder before moving up, building a bridge to cross the chasm, and aligning your skills and experiences with what your company will likely need in your target role 2-3 years from now - you'll be well positioned to advance your career, either by getting your target role at your company or by having the qualifications to get it somewhere else.

But the last thing you need to understand is that at the senior levels, you don't have complete control over the outcomes, and getting promoted is not as deterministic as it might have been at previous points in your career.

To understand this, think about how the promotion process works from the point of view of the company and the decision-makers who will ultimately have control over the decision.

At the very top of a big company, the CEO gets hired by the board - which is its own distinct process that only applies to a very narrow set of people and is typically conducted differently by every company.

But a level below that are C-level roles, Directors, VPs, etc. Filling these roles is typically going to be driven by the company demand for the role based on organizational needs, budget realities, growth, etc. and matchmaking with the people available to step up to that role either internally or externally.

Many times, companies will look externally to fill senior roles with "proven" people and weigh this option against pulling up an internal candidate and giving you a chance at the role for the first time.

Ultimately, the decision involves a lot of individual factors of the leaders making the decision, like their risk profile and personal preferences. Sometimes, companies prefer to go external, and in those cases it can be hard to do anything about it on your end.

That said, companies typically see more success promoting people from within because it de-risks a lot of factors about their career aspirations, personal life, culture fit, etc. If you're comparing an external person with someone who has spent 10 years at your company, you know a lot more about the internal person - good and bad.

Despite this, there's a tendency to put a halo on outsiders and look at all the amazing things they've done, purely because you have less visibility about the unknown risks and negative characteristics, which can make it an unfair comparison.

So keep this in mind and don't get discouraged if you've done everything in your control and still get passed up. Remember that the experiences and skills you've accumulated in your attempt to cross the chasm don't go away - and even if the path doesn't lead you to the exact destination you thought it would, you've made real progress towards your ultimate target.

Ultimately, rising to the top ranks and becoming an executive means being able to stomach failure and keep trying. It may be helpful to adopt Winston Churchill's dictum that "success is moving from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm". As previously mentioned, 60% of execs fail.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Position Yourself for Promotion As a Senior Leader

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
has a long career as an executive and led multiple divisions at Bridgewater Associates and Moody's Analytics. He now runs a management accelerator where he trains and coaches leaders. His insights on how to navigate promotion, especially at the senior level, stem from his unique mix of experience as both a senior leader and a coach.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Don't Let an Indifferent Boss Hold You Back

# data[].attributes.headline
HBR: Don’t Let an Indifferent Boss Hold You Back

# data[].attributes.subject
HBR: Don’t Let an Indifferent Boss Hold You Back

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
If you want to advance but your boss isn't invested in your professional development, it can be demoralizing and frustrating. I know because I've been there. In the early stages of my career, there was a phase where I felt invisible and like there were no opportunities to reach for. One summer, there was an extended period where my annual performance review was repeatedly cancelled on short notice. This happened multiple times, and it eventually got to the point where I silently conceded defeat and stopped reminding my manager to reschedule it.

No one noticed that my performance review for that year hadn't taken place. At the time I thought, "If no one else is bothered, why should I keep pushing for the meeting?" So that year I let it slide, but I quickly realized that was a mistake. By allowing my appraisal to be passed over, I was putting a ceiling on my growth and earning potential. I learned from it, and I never made that mistake again.

If you're feeling underutilized and underestimated, remember this: Your career is yours - and yours alone - to define and navigate. It's essential that you know your worth, even when it's not being reflected back to you.

Through my work as a career coach, I've learned that while our managers should be advocates for our advancement, that's not always the case. Here are four approaches from my book Prep, Push, Pivot to move forward without your manager's support.

Focus on What You Can Control

Your mindset and actions are your keys to success. It's not your boss's actions (or inactions) that are pivotal to your advancement. How you decide to respond to a situation - and what you do next - is what truly matters.

When you have a boss who isn't invested in you, there are two options: You can shrink and pull back, like I initially did when I allowed my annual performance review to lapse. Or you can continue to push forward and find ways to be visible.

Option two accounts for the fact that bosses come and go, but your career is yours forever. Don't allow someone else's behavior to derail your goals, and don't allow your feelings about work to be decided by someone else.

Embrace a positive mindset - that's a proactive choice you can make no matter the circumstances. Continue to do your best work for your boss, endeavor to exceed expectations, keep lines of communication open, and be a positive, engaged team member. At the same time, remain laser focused on your career objectives and next steps.

Make Your Own Career Commitments

Creating a personal set of commitments enables you to be intentional and impactful when setting your goals and planning the next steps for your career.

To do this, reflect on the next 12 months that lie ahead of you. Ask yourself:

What do I want to do more of?

What do I want to be known for?

What skills do I want to acquire?

What do I want to start doing that I haven't tried before?

Where do I need to be visible?

Next, look at your responses and assign one immediate action item to each one. Then, decide what you'll work on first. Use your responses to create a career roadmap that aligns with your goals and puts you in the driver's seat.

Broaden Your View

Having a boss who is fully engaged and committed to supporting your career goals is an incredible experience. When this happens, savor the moment, and make a personal pledge to pay it forward in the future by being an advocate to someone else.

Even if you're in the fortunate position of having a supportive boss, due to the volatile nature of the business environment, there are often too many variables to rely on their unwavering professional development support. If you're feeling adrift, it's helpful to broaden your view.

There are so many stakeholders who impact how you work. Make a list of people who matter to your career, in addition to your boss. This list may include your peers, direct reports if you have them, and senior leaders. Explore how you can continue to cultivate relationships with them.

Creating this list and taking positive actions based on it will remind you that your career doesn't start and end with one relationship dynamic. Actions you could take include asking someone how they learned a skill you want to acquire or seeking opportunities to volunteer for initiatives that will broaden your knowledge. Remember, even if your direct manager is not investing in your professional growth, there will be other people who can impact your growth. Keep setting your intentions and exploring options, ideas, opportunities, conversations, and connections that can help lay the foundation for what you want to do next.

Forge Professional Relationships to Help You Grow

After you've made your "people who matter" list, think about any gaps in your network. The most important roles to consider are mentors and sponsors.

Do you currently have a mentor? If you don't, commit to identifying more than one. Is there a person at your company who could be a sponsor? If your boss cannot fulfill that role, consider who could become an advocate for you.

Assess your list of people who matter to your career and circle the names of senior leaders. Where possible, find opportunities to connect and have career-focused conversations. Be clear about your goals and ask for their feedback. If you're concerned that your interactions might be perceived as circumventing your manager, start with positivity. In preparation, think about a significant result your manager has achieved. When you reach out to other senior leaders, reference your manager's accomplishment and explain how excited you are to grow your career. In addition, you can also let your manager know that you're proactively seeking a mentor and ask if they would like to be updated on how that progresses.

When considering potential mentors, don't forget former bosses and coworkers: If there's someone you worked with in the past who was invested in you, stay connected. You can also leverage opportunities from professional associations to learn from and meet senior leaders in your industry.

. . .

If you and your boss aren't synched, it's not a great feeling, but it's not the end of your story. Your career is the most valuable - and the most personal - investment you'll ever make. It's essential that you reinvest in your potential during tough times by being proactive.

Embrace a positive mindset and keep reviewing your career commitments every quarter to track your goals, accomplishments, and insights. Continue to network and broaden your view. Be intentional about engaging with others and kickstarting career-focused conversations. If you can become your own best advocate, soon you'll look back on this moment and realize it was a catalyst that helped propel you forward.

Don't let an indifferent manager derail your ambition, career values, or goals. Align your actions with your ambition. If you know you can do better, commit to keep aiming higher. No one else will be truly invested in your career from start to finish, which is why you must continually invest in yours.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Don't Let an Indifferent Boss Hold You Back

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Don't let an indifferent manager derail your ambition, career values, or goals. Your career is the most valuable - and the most personal - investment you'll ever make. It's essential that you reinvest in your potential during tough times by being proactive.

# data[].attributes.headline
Learnerbly: How Managers Can Embed Development Conversations Into 1:1s

# data[].attributes.subject
Learnerbly: How Managers Can Embed Development Conversations Into 1:1s

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
One-to-ones are a great time to gauge where your people are in their upskilling journeys. They're important conversations to have as a manager because they show your support for your team and allow you to align business goals with personal ones.

But many managers don't know how to bring development into the conversation in an effective and impactful way.

If you're in the same boat, don't worry. By the end of this guide, you will:

✅ Be able to establish a better process for discussing development with your team

💪 Feel more empowered to have these conversations in a natural and effective way

🧠 Know the ins and outs of how these conversations can positively impact the business

Why Do So Many Managers Find It Difficult To Discuss Development?

If you find it difficult to communicate with your people then know that you're not alone.

In one survey, 69% of managers report feeling uncomfortable communicating with their employees and 37% find it challenging to give their people direct feedback.

Asking the right questions about career progression and creating personal development plans for each individual is challenging-especially if you have limited experience doing it.

To get the most out of development conversations, you also need to ensure that your people feel comfortable discussing their careers and the skills that they want to improve with you.If you find that your people struggle to openly discuss their development, it could be for a variety of different reasons.

It may be that your team members come from backgrounds where sharing this type of information wasn't encouraged or safe to do.

Or, it could be that the individual doesn't feel comfortable being vulnerable for their own personal reasons.

This is why it's important to evaluate whether it's your company culture that's to blame or the impact past cultures have had on your people. You may have to work on undoing damage and building psychological safety in your team.

If you don't, you'll struggle to feel comfortable having honest development conversations.

Before You Begin: Establish Psychological Safety

Before you can have genuine development conversations with your people, you need to establish psychological safety.

This is when people don't worry about criticism or judgement for making and admitting to their mistakes.

When psychological safety is embedded within your company's culture, your people will:

🧠 Feel comfortable sharing their goals with you during one-to-one meetings

🧠 Know that they are supported as they embark on their learning journey

🧠 Own their mistakes and feel empowered to learn from them

Remember, Development Conversations Aren't Performance Reviews

It's easy to get confused between a development conversation and a performance review.

A performance review focuses on evaluating a person's workplace performance and how it affects the rest of the company. The employee's self-evaluation is usually combined with wider feedback from their peers, as well as the manager's evaluation of their performance.

But the goal of a development conversation is to find practical ways to help an employee build on their existing skills and support them in achieving their goals.

If a direct report wants to develop new skills that help them progress in their roles, they can refer to their performance reviews or career development plans to guide them.

Another important difference is that personal development allows people to progress beyond workplace-related skills at their own pace. This could mean learning a new skill that's not directly tied to their role at your company.

Tips for Embedding Development Conversations in One-To-Ones

Now that you know a bit more about how development conversations are used, we can get to the best part-looking at ways you can build them into one-to-ones.

1. Start By Identifying Career and Development Goals

As a manager, one of your roles is to support, empower and develop your people.

However, you can't do that or help them find the right learning and development ( L&D) resources if you don't know what their personal or professional goals are.

It's important to remember that the best goals and development plans match the employee's needs with that of the company.

Once you understand what someone wants to achieve, you can create opportunities for them to get there, as well as brainstorm ways that the company can support them.

The key to identifying a person's development goals during a one-to-one conversation is to ask the right questions.

At Learnerbly, we like to use the "GROW" model to guide our goal-setting conversations.

‍

Some of the questions we may ask within this model include:

What would you like to accomplish?

What could you be doing to reach your goals?

Where are you now in relation to the goals you want to achieve?

What do you think you need to do to achieve your ideal outcome?

Do you feel like you're making progress toward your long-term goals here? Why or why not?

What resources can help you reach your ideal outcome or goals?

By answering these questions, you'll gain more clarity about what your direct report's goals are so that you can create personal development plans (PDPs).

This will help set the course for your people's growth and give them a better idea of what their development journey looks like.

2. Discuss Learning Focuses and Resources

Once you know what your direct report's goals are, you can steer the conversation towards discussing L&D resources that will help achieve them.

While some people will know exactly what they want to learn and know how to pursue it independently, others might be unsure and benefit from guidance.

This is where you come in.

Set aside time during the one-to-one to help your people find and choose upskilling opportunities that are aligned with their professional development plan and goals.

3. Set Regular Progress Check-Ins

One of the best ways for both you and your people to get the most out of development one-to-ones is to have them on a regular basis.

This is a great way to see what progress your direct reports are making towards their career or learning goals and if the resources they've chosen are proving to be valuable.

During these conversations, you can hold your team accountable with their L&D or help them find other resources and opportunities that will be more suited to their goals.

Some people benefit more from mentors or networking as a form of growing in their role or by taking on a project where they can apply their learnings on-the-job.

There is no one size fits all approach to how often you should be having development conversations during your one-to-ones.

Some managers even schedule a monthly meeting dedicated entirely to development in addition to setting aside a few minutes of every one-to-one for career development conversations. If you have four one-to-ones a month, you could make the fourth one about career development without adding another meeting into your schedule.
Remember:
⏰ The regularity of these discussions will depend on the size of your team and what works best for each individual.

⏰ Make sure that you schedule the development one-to-one as a regular calendar event for both you and your team members.

If your company allows you to set personal learning budgets (PLBs) for your team, a regular check-in is also a good time to see if they are making the best out of it.

You can use the one-to-one meeting to inspire your people to use their budgets more if need be and find out if it adequately supports their development.

If it doesn't, you can bring it up with your People team or Leadership team.

4. Use One-To-Ones to Carefully Consider Learning Requests

Many companies allow their teams to make learning requests that get sent to their managers for approval.

As we've seen in this article, having regular developmental conversations with your people gives you a better understanding of what skills they want to develop.

By combining that with wider company goals and PLBs, you can make informed decisions about which requests can be approved right away and what might need a quick catch up.

This is a great way to help your people ensure that they are engaging with resources that support their goals and where they may need a little help staying on track with their PDPs.

If your company uses learning requests, make sure that you carefully consider each one by asking yourself the following questions:

🤔 Will the learning resource help them achieve their goals?

🤔 Is it the best resource type for their goals?

🤔 Do multiple people have similar goals and does this create an opportunity for shared learning?

5. Use Development Conversations to Lead by Example

There's little use in talking about development in one-to-ones without you championing the organisation's learning culture.

At Learnerbly, we've seen first-hand that the more engaged managers are with L&D-the more likely their teams are to follow suit.

There are a few different ways that managers can lead by example:

✔️ Share your 360 feedback with your team and highlight the areas that you've chosen to develop during one-to-ones.

✔️ Suggest L&D resources that have helped you improve your skills during development conversations.

✔️Open up about a time you applied something you learned at work and how it went

These are great ways to show your people that you take ownership of your development and speak about it openly with others.

Hopefully, your attitude will trickle down to the rest of the team.

What Are the Benefits of Having Development Conversations?

Sometimes knowing how to have the conversation isn't enough to make sure you actually have it. So we want to make sure you know why it's important to discuss development with your team members.

And quite frankly, there are many benefits companies and their managers can enjoy when they prioritise development conversations and support continuous learning.

It Helps Keep Team Members Engaged

For many people, jobs are no longer just a means to an end. Alongside helping us pay our bills, a great job is one that inspires us to develop ourselves with the future in mind.

No wonder research shows 82% of people would be more engaged if their managers had regular conversations with them.

Having development conversations and encouraging your people to find opportunities to learn shows them you're invested in their growth. And when that happens, they'll feel more valued by you and more committed to the company.

These conversations can also boost individual and team performance, ultimately maximising your teams contribution to the company which is in everyone's best interest.

You'll Develop Better Relationships With Direct Reports

Development conversations, when done right, will help you learn more about your direct reports on a personal level.

Asking team members about their aspirations, interests and what they want to learn is a great way to show them you care about them.

As a manager, your job is to:

⭐ Understand your people's personal and professional goals

⭐ Support direct reports in developing their skills

⭐ Help team members find projects and learning resources that will help them progress in their careers

By discussing and learning about these things, you'll be able to build stronger relationships with your team and help them see you as a coach and mentor-instead of just a manager.

You Can Help Your Team and Company Become Future-Proof

Although your team may have the talent around now to be successful, there's a very good chance you'll need additional skills in the future.

Development conversations are a great time to explore potential needs within the context of your direct report's future career goals.

You can use one-to-ones to encourage your people to take active steps towards developing their skills so that they are equipped for any future job, industry requirements, or even to make their place at the company more secure. This is because ongoing learning helps companies and their people stay up-to-date with industry trends and even push ahead of them.

When your team has the skills in-house that it needs to keep up with the ever-changing world of work, you'll also save your company money on future hiring costs.

It Creates a Win-Win For Companies and Their People

The best managers:

💥 Find ways to get excellent performance from their teams while helping them grow

💥 Use their people's new and existing skills to create greater value for the company

One-to-ones are the ideal time to find out what your people's goals and learning aspirations are so that you can find ways to link this to the organisation's key business goals.

Doing this allows you to create sustainable career paths for your people within the company.

It will also help you ensure that your company is able to stay agile and competitive in an ever-changing working environment.

Development Conversations Help Boost Retention Rates

Many managers worry about investing time and resources into their people, only for them to leave the business in the future.

But, investing in development is one of the best ways to retain existing talent.

One survey found that 75% of people would be more likely to stay with their current employer if they had regular development conversations.

When team members feel like their managers value and support their development, they are far less likely to seek job opportunities elsewhere.

Having development conversations in one-to-ones also helps managers identify if one of their team members is unsatisfied earlier than if they hadn't. This allows you to better support the individual and hold onto your team's talent for longer.

Now It's Your Turn

Although having development conversations may seem overwhelming at first, the right process and questions will help you get the most out of them.

Not only will they encourage your people to think about their career goals, but you'll also be better equipped to help them find L&D resources to make those aspirations a reality.

And development conversations can be made easier still.

Take a look at this guide and discover how Learnerbly can enhance and support your development conversations.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Managers Can Embed Development Conversations in One-to-Ones (+ 5 Actionable Tips)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
One-to-ones are a great time to gauge where your people are in their upskilling journeys. They're important conversations to have as a manager because they show your support for your team and allow you to align business goals with personal ones. But many managers don't know how to bring development into the conversation in an effective and impactful way.

# data[].attributes.headline
TEDTalk: The Happy Secret to Better Work

# data[].attributes.subject
TEDTalk: The Happy Secret to Better Work

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We believe we should work hard in order to be happy, but could we be thinking about things backwards? In this fast-moving and very funny talk, psychologist Shawn Achor argues that, actually, happiness inspires us to be more productive.

# data[].attributes.headline
Goal Setting Toolkit: Why Behavior Change Often Fails & How to Set the Right Goals for You on Apple Podcasts

# data[].attributes.subject
Goal Setting Toolkit: Why Behavior Change Often Fails & How to Set the Right Goals for You on Apple Podcasts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This episode will help you set the right goals for you.

Goals matter. They make your life easier and they create a sense of purpose and meaning.

But most people don't set goals the right way, which is why they fail before they even start.

That's not going to be you.

This episode is a comprehensive toolkit that will help you set the goals that inspire you and make you feel excited about the year ahead.

And, it's part of our month-long series covering the foundational research and topics related to creating a better life.

Today, you're not only going to learn the correct way to set goals according to research, you're also going to identify 1-3 goals for yourself, and I'll be doing the same thing right along with you.

Have no idea what your goals are or where to even start?

Don't worry; you will by the end of the episode.

You'll apply the latest research every single step of the way.

And that's not all.

You can access a free companion workbook at melrobbins.com/goals that will walk you through everything we're talking about so you can go even deeper into this conversation.

Expect your goals to change as you listen to this episode, so don't worry about doing any of this "right."

By the end of this episode you will have even taken the first steps toward your goal.

How cool is that? I can't wait. Let's get started.

Xo Mel

For full show notes, including all research mentioned in the episode, go to melrobbins.com/podcast.

For a free worksheet that dives deeper into the episode and helps you apply what you learn, click here.

In this episode, you'll learn:
1:15: How do I set goals the right way?
2:56: Why setting goals is so important: the truth from research
8:24: The exciting new research about goals from Dr. Birkman that you need to know
10:56: My three goals for 2023
13:05: I'm answering your top question about goals
13:27: Four science-backed hacks to use when you're not sure what your goals are
16:20: Three qualities of the best goals
21:48: Two components of a goal that you've got to have in order to achieve it
27:07: What neuroscience says about why your brain needs these two components
31:25: The five mistakes we all make when we set and try to achieve goals
42:41: A powerful question about goals from Columbia University researchers that you should ask yourself
44:57: Why setting a "high-low range goal" will make you more successful
50:33: The most important thing you should do once you set a goal
53:06: Here's the crazy irony about achieving your goals

Disclaimer

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
goal setting toolkit: why behavior change often fails & how to set the right goals for you

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
‎The Mel Robbins Podcast: Goal Setting Toolkit: Why Behavior Change Often Fails & How to Set the Right Goals for You on Apple Podcasts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This episode will help you set the right goals for you. Goals matter. They make your life easier and they create a sense of purpose and meaning. But most people don't set goals the right way, which is why they fail before they even start. That's not going to be you.

# data[].attributes.headline
High Performance Podcast: Finding Your Voice & Speaking Up

# data[].attributes.subject
High Performance Podcast: Finding Your Voice & Speaking Up

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
E144 - Amanda Blanc: Finding your voice and speaking up

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Listen to this episode from The High Performance Podcast on Spotify. This episode is the start of our CEO Series, in which we will be deep diving into what it takes to be a CEO.Amanda Blanc is a Welsh businesswoman and the current CEO of Aviva, stepping into the role in July 2020.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A full version of this post with a "generic" career ladder is available in The Coding Career Handbook

"What will it take to get to the next level?"

Of course this is a very open ended question, but it can be nice to set some guide rails around what expectations are in a company. As an individual contributor, career ladders tell me what the company ostensibly values (and, by omission, what it doesn't value).

I recently compiled this list of career ladders and figured I would share it here. Some ladders include nontechnical jobs, I will just look at engineering and engineering management.

Rent the Runway ( spreadsheet): from 2015. Takes a fun D&D inspired Dex/Str/Wis/Cha stats based evaluation, corresponding to technical skill, productivity, impact, and communication/leadership. Management track is also included, with more focus on architecture, hiring, organizational skills, and leadership/salesmanship.

( spreadsheet): from 2019. Breaks down technical skills into code quality/testing, debugging, and scoping/project design, and nontechnical factors to collaboration, citizenship, leadership, and impact. Leadership is interestingly broken down into Autonomy, Judgement, Initiative, and Consensus Building.

( spreadsheet): one of the most well known ladders, detailed but not overwhelming. NOtably, one of the values assessed is Security.

Financial Times ( webapp). Even has an API! lol. Only 4 areas across Technical, Leadership, Delivery, and Communication are assessed. Feels manageable.

Meetup: splits roles into Makers and Managers.

Makers focus on Architecture & framework & software development, Best practices & architecture & code reviews, Technical skills evaluation & mentoring, Introduce new engineering tools & mentor adoption, and Recommend process improvements & support adoption.

Managers focus on Performance evaluation, Career growth, Recruiting & resourcing, Rollout process improvements & adoption of engineering tools and Organization & administrative.

( gist): has tracks for Mobile, Servers, Foundations, Web client, Project Management, Communication, Craft, Initiative, Org design, Accomplishment, Wellbeing, Career development, Evangelism, Community, Recruiting, and Mentorship! Phew!

Starling Software: Uses Big O notation to denote levels, which is a fun shibboleth. Skills are broken out to Computer Science, Software Engineering, Programming, Experience, and Knowledge. This one has a long record on Hacker News but is a good map of things that we can work on.

Brandwatch: explains levels at a high level, and then breaks it out for IC's and Management in this spreadsheet. A total of 15 attributes to work on!

Spotify: famous for its "Squad/Tribe" structure - emphasizes "Steps", with a simple list of five sets of behaviors they want:

Values team success over individual success

Continuously improves themselves and team

Holds themselves and others accountable

Thinks about the business impact of their work

Demonstrates mastery of their discipline

Chuck Groom - this is unusual - personal thoughts on a Job Ladder, though the author is a senior engineering leader at VTS. Good discussions on how having ladders helps, as well as descriptions of Anti-patterns. I love the Principal Engineer antipatterns:

Over-emphasis on scaling or high availability far beyond business needs. Spends too much time chasing the newest "shiny" technology. Doesn't collaborate or ask questions. Condescending. Has "pet" agenda. Pisses off senior leadership.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A list of the public engineering career ladders I've found