Managing A Career

In several of my previous episodes, I've mentioned that one way to stand out is to produce status reports that are value focused instead of task focused. This week, I go into more detail about what that type of status report would look like. Purpose and Audience The first thing to understand about a status report is its purpose. By knowing who the audience is you can properly tailor the report to...

This week, I'm going to talk about your personal brand and how you can build one. When you hear the term, what impression does that give you? For many, I'm sure you associate the term with celebrities, athletes, and social media influencers. But, I'm here to tell you that it applies to everyone. So, what is a personal brand? At the simplest level, your personal brand is the impression that others...

This week, we're going to talk about a very critical subject, your mental health. Each episode, I talk about subjects that can help you advance your career and understanding and addressing your mental health is an important one. If you aren't able to be focused on your work because of things happening in your personal life, it's going to impact you. So, let's take a look at what you can do about i...

There is a lot of corporate downsizing happening right now. In a future episode, I may go into more detail on that subject, but this week, I would like to talk about how you can take advantage of the downsizing to increase your responsibilities within the company. If you are one of the ones that remains when a company goes through any sort of organizational change, it is an opportunity for you to...

Over the course of the past four weeks, I've described the Individual Development Plan -- why it's important to your career and what the various components are. This week, I'm going to talk about how you can integrate an IDP into your development processes. Initial conversations Once you've spent the time creating your IDP, it's important to share it with your leaders and mentors. If you don't alr...

The episodes for the past few weeks are part of a series where I take a deeper look at your Individual Development Plan. Episode 036 introduced the IDP and covered some of the benefits of creating one for yourself. Then, in Episode 037 , I covered the Career Vision and Roadmap sections where you define the direction of your career. Last week in Episode 038 , I talked about the Assessment and Next...

This is the third episode of a multi-part series covering the Individual Development Plan. If you have not listened to the first two episodes, go back and review them before listening to this one. If you need the IDP template, you can request on by dropping me a note via the contact form on the ManagingACareer.com website . In the first episode of the series, I go over the purpose and benefits of...

Last week's episode provided a high-level overview of the IDP and gave several reasons why it should be an important part of your career development plan. This week, we will cover the first two sections, the Vision and the Roadmap. And as a reminder, if you'd like to get my IDP template, go to the Contact form at ManagingACareer.com and drop me a note. Career Vision The career vision is a statemen...

The beginning of the year is often a time of renewed focused on planning and growth. When it comes to career development, the Individual Development Plan, or IDP, is my preferred tool for documenting that plan. Back in Episode 002 , I introduced the concept and named the various components of an IDP and what type of information you include in them. For the next few episodes, I will be taking a dee...

After every six episodes, I have a review episode to highlight some of the episodes you may have missed. This progress report covers episodes 029 to 034. Episode 029 - Building a Network covers several ways that you can grow your network. Much like Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon, you are only a few connections away from someone you can help you advance your career. Through formal professional organi...

Let's start with a quick review of last week's episode , but for the full details go back to that episode and listen there. We started by covering the key players in office politics. Decision Makers, Gatekeepers, Connectors, Influencers, Observers, and Champions. After that, we talked about strategies: Build a decision map, Build your network, Build your people skills, and Become "the one". But th...

At some point in your career, you will find yourself in a position where you have to deal with office politics. Office politics aren't bad in and of themselves, but it is important to understand how they work and what your place is within them. First, we should put some clarity around what I mean by the phrase "office politics". They are really just the unwritten rules and informal structure of th...

When I was talking to my relative the other day, he was describing how his bosses have gained a lot of trust in him and are giving him more and more responsibility and more and more autonomy. As someone who leads a team, everything he described and a few other factors pointed towards the possibility that he'll be considered for a promotion soon --- possibly even as soon as the next promotion cycle...

At my job, I have the title of "Director" and I have responsibility for the team that builds an internal application that is important to the sales team of the company I work for. I also manage -- either directly or indirectly -- a team of around 40 software developers, none of which are in the same city as I am. There are not enough hours in the week for me to spend time on everything that I am r...

When you are looking towards career advancement, you may have heard advice along the lines of "say yes to every opportunity". And sometimes, that advice is perfectly fine. But today, we're going to look at when the better choice is to say "no". The first consideration is just your time in general. You might think that you need to say "yes" to everything to be seen as a team player - this is often...

Networking is not about the quantity of connections, but rather the quality and depth of those connections. It's not just about amassing a hundreds of LinkedIn connections; it's about nurturing meaningful relationships that add value to both parties involved. Genuine connections can provide insights, support, and access to resources that would otherwise be out of reach. After all, your network is...

As always, it's good to periodically look back and review your accomplishments and progress. So, every few episodes, we take a look back and call out the highlights of the recent episodes. In Episode 022 - Interviewing Candidates I cover how I evaluate candidates for positions by focusing on critical thinking and a desire to learn and share. As you progress through your career, it will often be ne...

When most people think about providing a status on their work, they usually think in terms of completed tasks. At some level, this is relevant to ensure that projects remain on time. But if you'd like to set yourself apart from others, consider framing that status in terms of value provided. Obviously, not every task is going to provide easily measured value in terms of dollars or time savings, bu...

As we approach the end of the calendar year, it's the time of year when many employees are evaluated against their goals and considered for merit increases and potentially promotions. Have you positioned yourself to be one of the ones to be promoted this year? Let's take a look. The first question you have to ask yourself is whether you are ready for a promotion. Early in your career, this primari...

Today, we're tackling a question that's crucial for everyone navigating the professional landscape: how much faster does your career progress if you actively own it instead of waiting for your career to happen to you? To truly grasp the impact of taking control of your career, let's start by understanding the consequences of a passive approach. Imagine sitting idly by, waiting for opportunities to...

For many companies, the end of the year is a time when employees have their annual reviews. Today, we'll talk about the things you can do with what's left of the year to prepare. Review your incomplete goals. Start by looking at the goals that were set for you at the beginning of the year. If there are any that are incomplete, are you on track to complete them by the end of the year? How do your c...

During a recent one-on-one with a member of my team, the question came up as to whether someone can be successful when working remote. I'll start with the answer. Yes…..assuming your work can actually be done somewhere other than the office and if you put in the work, you can be successful working remote. But that caveat -- if you put in the work -- is the important part. So, for the rest of the e...

If you are in any of the LinkedIn groups related to your profession, you've likely come across posts that list questions and answers that are core to your field. These are the types of questions I would expect to see on a university or certification exam. These questions are intended to show a level of mastery but, as evidenced by the number of posts offering common examples, a candidate can study...

These past six episodes have covered a lot of good content. Have you spent any time implementing the ideas in your career? Episode 015 - Asking vs Guessing was about how some people default to Ask mode where they will ask for everything expecting to get a "Yes" only to the things that really matter. Whereas other people default to Guess mode where they try to guess when they will get a "Yes" and o...

If you're listening to this podcast in real time, the calendar has just flipped to October. This is often when discussions begin within a company that a reorganization (often shortened to "reorg") might be necessary. Many reorgs take effect as the fiscal year changes for the company and the fiscal calendar for many companies follows the regular calendar. With all of the holiday and vacation time t...