It seems that recently, I have had a number of conversations with former colleagues and students about career growth and how to navigate a path forward. It involves a strategic approach that pulls together networking, professional development, reflection, skill attainment, and a packaging of everything to present your best self. It also involves support from your current manager or supervisor. You should be meeting with your manager on a regular basis to discuss daily operations, challenges, achievements, etc. It is preferable that YOU run these meetings, i.e., you create the agenda (not to say your manager won’t have topics to discuss). An important part of these touchpoint or 1:1 meetings is to also discuss your career growth.

A good manager will understand that while they hired you for a specific role, part of their job is to help facilitate your growth into other more senior roles. But they can’t, and shouldn’t, do that in a vacuum. As an employee, you are responsible for your career trajectory and need to play the biggest role in growing your skills and experience, so you can move up. A key way to do this is by asking your manager, in your 1:1 meetings, the following questions:

Where do you see my areas of strength? This is a great question to help you gauge how your manager sees you. Often, others see strengths we don’t, and it can help you think more about your trajectory and how you can capitalize on those strengths. It is also good to ask for examples, which can be added into a resume and provide good information to be shared in an interview.

What skill gaps do I have? No one should take a job where they start with 100% of the skills or experience laid out in a job posting. You want to have room for growth. Generally speaking, you should understand where your skill gaps are when you begin a position, but as time passes, your ability to see your skill gaps, unless they are causing issues, may be more challenging. And again, your manager’s 360-degree view is valuable. For example, you may be writing great reports, but your manager sees a deficit in your ability to convey data visually. With this information, you can self-teach or you can ask to attend a class on data visualization.

Where do you see me in 3 years? This is a great question because it will give you insight into how your manager thinks about you and your trajectory. If a manager is not thinking about when you might leave – then, “Houston, there is a problem.” You want your manager to envision growth for you because that indicates they will support you in your goal to grow. Without that support, it can become more challenging to grow, get the recognition needed to get promoted, etc. The worst managers either are indifferent and don’t view your career growth as part of their responsibilities as a leader and others might actually put-up barriers to growth. In either of these cases, you might need to consider an external move to find a more supportive manager.

I’ve noticed that Joan is asked to work on interesting and challenging projects, what can I do to take on to be asked to participate in these? This aligns with the skills gap question, but it also shows initiative. You are asking for an opportunity to take on more challenging roles, while recognizing there may be some steps you need to take to get there. You may not have a skill gap; it could be that Joan asked previously and so the manager often just passes them along to Joan. If there are skill gaps, then your manager can share those with you or ask that you partner with Joan, so you can learn.

Can you talk more about your career trajectory and goals? Showing an interest in your manager’s career path not only helps to create a stronger bond between the two of you, but it allows you to see how easy or challenging their trajectory was. It also can provide you with a potential map, especially if their career growth has occurred within the same company or within the same industry. Understanding your boss moved from Associate to Senior Associate to Assistant Director to Director to Managing Director, shows you a potential growth path for you. It also gives you the opportunity to discuss how they learned the skills necessary or gained the experience needed for those promotions.

How have my skills evolved over the past year? I have spoken and written a great deal about reflection. My students know the value I place on this practice. However, the art of reflection is to take the deep dive while also pulling in observations of others and then reflecting more – for reflection to truly benefit you, you must seek input from others. Therefore, asking your manager how your skills have evolved over time is a great question to tease out your progress. Most companies and employees don’t approach performance reviews the right way, where time is taken to help the person grow and provide clear and attainable benchmarks. This often happens only when a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) is put in place, which is used when an employee is not performing up to expectation. So, asking your manager about your skills and how they have evolved is a great way to get a sense for whether you are meeting your manager’s expectations. Also, it opens the door to asking for assistance in developing skills or asking for more responsibility.

Have you noticed any habits that might hinder me from getting promoted? Let’s be honest – we all have bad habits! Some bad habits are not going to hinder us, while others might. For example, if you are a procrastinator, but your procrastination only impacts you, you are not leaving others constantly waiting, etc., then while it is a bad habit, it likely won’t have any impact on your career trajectory. If, however, you are moody and when under pressure, you snap at your colleagues, that might very well become an impediment. So, asking your manager if there are bad habits that are, or could be, hindering you, gives you some time and space to work on those bad habits before they become viewed as part of your persona.

在未来的18个月里，你认为这个部门有发展的机会吗？通过问这个问题，你打开了一个更具体的发展机会的对话。如果你的经理说“不行”，你可以问他们什么时候可以。你也可以询问他们是否认为其他部门会有发展机会。你一定要小心，不要暗示如果没有发展机会，你就会离开公司。你需要保持一种平衡，以确保你的经理支持你的成长和追求外部机会。如果你被认为是一个急于离开的人，你可能会错过内部正在酝酿或尚未公开的机会。这并不是说，当你认为自己已经准备好升职或跳槽时，你不应该追求任何机会，你只需要在考虑外部职位时把你的底牌藏得更近一些。如果你成为一个外部职位的有力竞争者，一个好的经理会支持你。

你越能创造对话——不是每次1:1的会议——而是提供空间和时间来围绕你的成长进行这些对话，你就越能理解你能从你的经理那里得到什么样的支持。一个对你的职业、你的成长等话题不感兴趣的经理最终不会支持你实现你的目标，所以你需要找一个能帮助你的导师。如果你的经理积极地试图破坏或设置障碍，使你难以成长和晋升，那么你就需要考虑尽快跳槽，这可能是一个横向调动。另一方面，一个愿意并想要与你进行这些对话的经理，会在你成长的过程中支持你，帮助你成长到最好的位置来实现你的目标。你可能并不总是喜欢你听到的话，但当一位经理希望你成功，并且已经证明了这一点时，你需要倾听并寻求他们的支持，帮助你获得所需的技能和经验。

As I mentioned at the opening of this post, planning your career trajectory must be a strategic exercise. There not one element, but rather a series of moves, like on a chessboard, that you need to control and maneuver to achieve your goals. Seeking the support and guidance from your manager is only one, but an important one.

Best,