Posts

Showing posts from 2021

Having Career Conversations

“What’s your 3-5 year plan?  Where do you see yourself in a few years?  What do you want to accomplish?”  Unless you’re in a massively trusting setting (e.g. a spouse or best friend), who wants to answer these kinds of questions?  You might feel put on the spot.  You might feel ashamed at not having an answer or that the answer might somehow be graded.  Am I ambitious enough?  Am I humble enough?  Is it ok to say “If it were open I’d like to have your job”?  Is it ok to say I want to start my own business even though that may imply leaving the company?  Stumbling for an answer you might mutter a platitude such as “I see myself seeking gradually increasing levels of responsibility while maximizing my positive impact on the dynamics of the business...” (zzzz)  So on the receiving end, we see these conversations as challenging.  When we ask these questions of those that we mentor or manage is it any wonder that they don’t always go so well? What is the desired outcome of exploratory discu