Master your career journey: The power of intentional growth
Unlock your potential with purposeful development, strategic planning, and a mindset built for success
Our professional growth often happens organically as we gain experience. But what if we approached it more intentionally, actively improving areas we want to elevate by focusing on them and working with an organized, structured plan?
This article explores the concept of growth, highlighting how investing in your development can boost job satisfaction and contribute to your overall career success. I’ll also share some practical strategies for effectively planning and implementing growth.
Understanding growth
Growth is a mindset that involves a commitment to the continuous process of enhancing skills, knowledge, and expertise.
In the fast-paced field of product design, it’s essential to stay updated with new technologies and methodologies, refine your craft, build resilience, enhance problem-solving skills, foster creativity, and drive career advancement.
There are several types of growth paths:
Professional: Improving craft and technical skills in product design (e.g., usability testing, user interviews, UX writing, etc.)
Personal: Improving soft and personal skills (e.g., communication, problem-solving, resilience, etc.)
Leadership: Transitioning into a leadership position.
Crafting a growth plan
When building a plan, it’s crucial to recognize that you play an active role, while your manager can offer guidance, assist with selecting the right path, and help track your progress.
Start by assessing your current skills, strengths, and weaknesses to identify areas you want to improve.
Tips:
⚬ Feedback is a gift; embrace it and learn how to receive it effectively.
⚬ Embrace discomfort — growth often happens outside your comfort zone.
⚬ Resilience and persistence are key to overcoming setbacks.
⚬ Be patient; meaningful growth takes time.
Step 1: Setting your growth goal
A well-defined goal transforms vague aspirations into concrete, achievable milestones, in alignment with your career plans, and identifies specific skill development.
Assess how far you are from your goal and identify potential obstacles you may encounter along the way (consider blockers like time, knowledge, people, logistics, etc.).
Finally, determine the support you’ll need from your manager and peers throughout this journey.
Tips:
⚬ Build a short term plan with a relatively modest goal
⚬ Try to align personal growth with company objectives for mutual benefit.
Step 2: Creating an action plan
Growth is a continuous journey, not a one-time event. While learning and growth often occur organically, whether through our daily tasks or by trying new things, a structured approach can accelerate our progress.
An action plan sets clear timelines, and provides a framework for tracking progress. By focusing on specific tasks and measuring outcomes, we can optimize our learning and ensure consistent development.
The 70/20/10 framework is a well-regarded model for learning and development, particularly in the context of professional and leadership growth. It emphasizes focusing on concrete actions and suggests that the majority of effective progress comes from day-to-day tasks that lead to achievement. Combined with mentorship and formal education, this structured approach transforms aspirations into achievable outcomes.
With a goal in mind, create a plan using these key components of the model:
- On-the-job experiences: 70% of Learning comes from experience through challenging assignments and special projects.
- Learning through others: 20% comes from mentorship, industry professionals and feedback.
- Formal education: 10% of learning comes from workshops, articles and e-learning materials (e.g. podcasts, video lectures).
Step 3: Tracking your progress & Way forward
Regularly seek and utilize feedback to ensure you’re on the right track. Reflecting on this input helps you make necessary adjustments and stay aligned with your goals.
Clearly outline both your immediate and future steps to continue building on your progress.
Tip:
⚬ The plan is dynamic — Regularly reflect on your progress and adjust your strategies.
Step 4: Reflection and achievements
This last step is all about reflection, where you review the activities you’ve completed and assess whether you’ve achieved your goal. It’s your opportunity to acknowledge your progress, learn from the process, and, most importantly, celebrate your achievements.
Tips:
⚬ Teach others what you learn — it reinforces your own understanding.
⚬ When a plan is achieved, celebrate!
Growth isn’t just about reaching a destination — it’s about the progress you make along the way. Your growth journey is yours to shape, and with the right mindset and approach, the possibilities are endless!
Check out my article: ”The secret ingredient for team success — Personal connections”
Edited by Aoife Geary
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