This is not about your job, it’s about you and what you want to do. This career planning document is designed to really dig into what you care about, where you are, and find a way to move in the directions most interesting to you with just a few tweet-sized statements about yourself.
This doesn’t replace a 360 performance evaluation or a career ladder framework, but it helps you pick what you actually care about in the broader sense of your career (even when changing jobs).
(click image to view document)
It’s best to find a good peer you can fully trust when you have completed this document to fully challenge you. Your peer should not ask you to do a different task or aim higher, but simply look for inconsistencies or issues in the scope of your own plan.
Aspirational inconsistencies: If you think you want to become a manager but every item in your plan focuses on non-management topics it is worth taking a second look at it, maybe there’s a different job or role you are after.
Trying to impress your boss: If your list of values is things you think your manager wants to hear but nothing that actually gives you satisfaction, it should be fixed before going deeper. Learning a framework is not really a value, but working with people who can show you new ideas is. Wanting to spend time with your family is a value.
Opportunity Inconsistencies: If your mentorship goals and opportunities have no relationship to how you see yourself, ask why. It might inform the need to change these, or identify goals you need.
Over-investing emotions in the plan: This is just a google doc. If you wake up one day next week and want to try something new, there’s no big consequences, nobody will be upset with you, just try again. You can change it as often as you want. If ideas are only rough guesses, it’s still better than nothing, and rough ideas today are better than waiting for perfect ideas next week.
A proper review is a slow and meaningful conversation, it can take you a full hour or two to do it the first time. You should revisit the document every month and check if your goals are progressing, and if you can rework any 1-year aspirations into topics that roll into the next 3-month topics.
Look for opportunities to mentor someone who is 1 level below you. Mentoring is one of the best ways to firmly cement your own skills and improve.
Look for people 1 level above who act like the mentors you want, and try to learn from them. You want to become their peers on the topic you are interested in.
You should also consider getting active feedback from everyone around you to better refine the accuracy of your self-image.