CAREER PLANNING & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Career Planning begins with clarity about direction. Individuals occasionally find themselves in an unfulfilling career path. Offspring may choose to work in their family’s business out of a sense of obligation. Others fail to ever define their own dream.

In other scenarios, individuals do not have a programmatic approach to acquiring the knowledge and developing the skills they will need for their eventual roles. That role might be sitting as an owner/shareholder in a board of directors meeting. Or, that role might be as an owner of wealth responsible for managing investments and interfacing with advisors. For others the role will be that of executive and corporate leader. For each, a clearly defined process for acquiring the needed knowledge and experience is critical to success.

Being a high-performance leader in today’s accelerating marketplace is a complex multi-dimensional task. The following interconnected abilities and attitudes are vital in leadership development:

	•	Personal Effectiveness- The heart of leadership is personal effectiveness. Leaders maximize their own potential. They are clear about their values. Leaders are self-aware and speak their personal truths. They are curious, reflect upon situations and view events from a variety of perspectives before making decisions. Leaders are responsive not reactive. Leaders have integrity.
	•	Strategic Vision and Drive- Leaders know where they want to go and engage others in their vision. They infect others with their passion. Leaders have original thoughts and are willing to take risks. They inspire confidence and initiate positive and productive action. They excel and motivate others to do the same. Leaders persevere in the face of obstacles and learn from their mistakes.
	•	Interpersonal Competence- Leaders build relationships, communicate effectively and have empathy for others. Leaders evaluate ideas without discounting the idea-generator, the person. Leaders build teams and access intellectual capital. They tap into the imagination of others to harvest fresh ideas. They utilize differences and resolve conflict productively.
	•	Grasping Complexity- Leaders understand “systems thinking” with its focus on complex interactions and circular causality. Leaders track changes in their industry and others. They see and create opportunities. Leaders consider multiple options, focus on critical facts and grasp interdependencies. Leaders make and implement decisions that benefit the organization in the present and the future.

These leadership competencies, plus acquiring the knowledge and experiences key to the individual’s eventual role, will maximize his or her potential contribution.