go, put in place a plan to get there, and then start moving. Personal Development Planning is all about creating a long-term goal for directly in the PDF.
27 pages
384 KB – 27 Pages
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This e-book is published by Mind Tools Ltd. Copyright © Mind Tools Ltd, 2007-2014. All rights reserved. Version 2.0. This e-book is protected by international copyright law. You may only use it if you have downloaded it directly from MindTools.com, or if you have been provided with it under a corporate license. If you have received this from any other source please contact copyright@mindtools.com .fiMind Toolsfl is a registered trademark (US 4,566,696, EU 012473377) of Mind Tools Ltd. Cover image © iStockphoto/xxmmxx.
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You have probably come to Mind Tools because you care about your career and you™re prepared to work at building a happy, satisfying and successful life. Part of this involves thinking about what fisatisfactionfl means to you: after all, each of us gets ful˜llment and happiness from di˚erent things. That™s why you need to think about this for yourself, rather than following someone else™s pre-prepared plan. Another part of this involves making sure that you have the skills needed to take advantage of opportunities when they arise (as they will, if you work hard and think about what you™re doing). That™s why it™s important to take a systematic approach to developing your skills, so they™re ready when you need them. Creating a Personal Development Plan is the starting point for this. This workbook guides you through the process of creating your own Personal Development Plan. Within it, you™ll ˜nd a step-by-step process, supported by templates and instructions, that you can use to plan how you™ll develop the
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skills you need for a satisfying and successful career. Popular tools like SWOT and PEST Analysis, and techniques like setting SMART goals, are all part of it. When you use these to think about your own development, you will come away with a thoughtful and well-considered roadmap that you can use to reach your career goals. There are seven basic steps that you should follow to prepare your Personal Development Plan. We™ve split these into three sections: 1. Understanding Yourself. 2. De˜ning Your Career Objectives. 3. Creating Your Personal Development Plan. Each section builds on the previous one, so I encourage you to work through them in order. Enjoy using this workbook! James Manktelow, CEO, MindTools.com
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Are you fully in control of your career? Do you have a clear and inspiring vision of what you want to achieve in the future? And, are you actively taking steps to pursue the career of your dreams? If your answer is fino,fl then you risk being disappointed. If you put your career into the hands of others Œ your organization, your boss, your partner, or even your parents Œ you risk not going where you want to go, and not doing what you want to do. After all, if you are not working to realize your own dreams, you™re most likely working to achieve someone else™s. All too often, this abdication of responsibility for your career happens without you even realizing it. For example: Jim had been in his current position for three years, and his job was comfortable. He knew what was expected of him, his boss was great, and his teammates were his friends. Life was good. Another six months passed and Jim started to watch the clock. The 5.30 p.m. countdown became a daily ritual, and, by Wednesday each week, Jim was in Friday mode. He wanted more excitement and challenge: the status quo wasn™t cutting it any more, and he needed something to change! Surely he™d been with the organization long enough to deserve a promotion of some kind? Maybe a job reassignment? Or a change of o˜ce, at least? Unfortunately, Jim hadn™t ˜gured out that his boss and his company weren™t responsible for his career satisfaction. No one had let him in on the secret that if you do the same thing today as you did yesterday, the results are likely to be no di˚erent tomorrow. You have to be proactive, take charge and change the way you think about your career. When you take control, you will realize that the only way you‚ll achieve what you want, personally or professionally, is to think about where you want to go, put in place a plan to get there, and then start moving . Personal Development Planning is a structured way of doing just that. Ł First, you understand yourself and you set meaningful goals. Ł Next, you de˜ne these goals in terms of what you want to achieve and the steps you need to take to get there. Ł Finally, you identify gaps in your skills and experience, and you create an action plan to ˜ll them, so that you can move towards your end goal. Let™s start the process right now!
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Using the bullet points above, ˜ll out the Strengths section of the grid on page 5. Complete the Weaknesses section on page 5. Ł What do you do better than most people you work with? Ł What are you most proud of? Ł What experiences, resources or connections do you have access to that others don™t? Remember to ask your friends and colleagues to list your strengths as well. We can tend to be self-e˚acing, and we often downplay our own abilities, so this is a great way to get more ideas. When you learn where others think you excel, it can be a real boost to your self-esteem! Here, you think about the things that you™re not so good at, or the areas where you can improve your performance. When you list your weaknesses, you can reduce or manage them, so that they don™t stop you achieving your goals. Don™t fibeat yourself upfl about your weaknesses: we all have them. The trick is to recognize them and manage them appropriately. Also, don™t be too self-critical. If you™re fair and forgiving about other people™s weaknesses, make sure you forgive your own, too. To complete the Weaknesses section of your Personal SWOT Analysis, use the following questions as a guide: Ł What skills do you struggle to master? Ł What do you do only because you have to, in order to satisfy job requirements? Ł Are there one or two aspects of your personality that hold you back? Ł What do other people most often identify as your weakness? Ł Where are you vulnerable? Ł Where do you lack experience, resources or connections, where others have them? Unlike the Strengths section, don™t feel compelled to list every weakness you can think of. Limit yourself to the ones that can have an impact on your career. Now that you™ve re˛ected on your strengths and weaknesses, you need to focus on understanding the opportunities that are open to you. Ask yourself: Ł In what ways can you take advantage of your strengths? Ł What opportunities are open to people who do these things well?
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Here, we™re assuming that you™re already in the firightfl career, and that you™re thinking about your development within it. If you™re still exploring di˚erent options, consider visiting a local career counselor who specializes in your situation (a good starting point for this is to search for ficareer counselorfl or flcareer counsellor.fl) Even then, use your SWOT Analysis to inform your choice, and use our next tool, PEST Analysis, to review it. You can then use the rest of this document to plan your development. Complete the Opportunities section of the grid on the next page. Finally, re˛ect on the things that could derail your success. Although threats often can™t be directly controlled, they can be planned for. That™s why it™s so important to identify as many of them as possible. The more you know about them, the less likely you are to be fiblindsidedfl by something unexpected. You might feel that thinking about threats will cause you undue worry and stress. However, you will likely experience more anxiety if you don™t consider them, especially when they start becoming more signi˜cant. Remember, a threat loses much of its impact when it™s managed and prepared for. Ask yourself the following questions to uncover potential threats: Ł Are there any general threats that you need to think about? Ł If you don™t address your weaknesses, what problems could they cause? Ł What setbacks might you face? Ł What obstacles have other people overcome when they™re trying to get to where you want to go? Fill out the Threats section on the next page. Ł What would you love to do that you™re good at? Ł How can you minimize your weaknesses? If these no longer held you back, what could you do? Ł Where do you see the most potential growth for yourself: within your current company, in a di˚erent organization, in another industry, or in a separate career entirely? Ł What trends are having an impact on your current career, or on the one that you™re thinking about pursuing?
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Use the bullet points above to complete the Political Factors section of the Personal PEST Analysis on page 8. Then identify the potential opportunities and threats that these present. Next, you look at economic factors that may in˛uence your decision to pursue a particular goal. Think about the following: Ł What are the average compensation levels in the careers or industries that you™re interested in? Ł Are wages expected to rise, fall or stay the same? Ł Can you meet your economic needs based on the expected remuneration? Ł What is the current and forecast rate of employment or unemployment in these sectors? Ł What is the long-term demand for people in these careers? Ł What opportunities and threats do these changes or circumstances present? Personal SWOT Analysis looks at the factors within you Œ and the ones close to you Œ that can in˛uence your success. By contrast, PEST Analysis digs deeper into the fibig picturefl external factors that will either help or hinder your career success. Using it makes the di˚erence between choosing an exciting career that™s aligned with the forces of change in the world, and struggling for survival in a dying industry. PEST is an acronym for the Political, Economic, Socio-cultural, and Technological environments in which you function. To complete a Personal PEST Analysis, you first identify the external factors that can influence your career. Then, you analyze each of these to identify the opportunities and threats that they present. Here, you consider the in˛uence that the government and its policies may have on the opportunities you™re looking at. Consider these questions: Ł What new laws or regulations are likely to a˚ect these? Ł Are you aware of any policies or schemes that will boost or support any of these? Ł Will any of these policies a˚ect your ability to work in a speci˜c area, make a certain amount of money, or be reasonably secure? Ł Is there a change in government, or a change in policy, expected? Ł What opportunities and threats do these changes or events represent?
384 KB – 27 Pages