People often get tired of working on the same place or doing the same job over and over again for long period of time. In some instances, maybe you have outgrown your current role and want to look for new challenges. I see this happening every day. I had happened to me as I just went through a career change - after working for over 10 years in the eCommerce business I wanted to do something different and test my leadership skills in a different area doing something new where I could mobilize all the experience I have accumulated through my entire professional career.
Although I am not a career coach - I am a mentor and often people ask for my advice about career planning.
For some people the first step in the career planning process is to understand the relevance of their career goals in terms of their multidimensional Priority Wheel. But if you are like me and have already determined to make a change then let’s talk about some fundamental things that you should do.
1) Define your career goals. What are the things you want to do next? What attributes are you looking in your next role?
Sometimes career coaches in the organization will ask to mention what specific role you want next. However, I prefer to think in terms of attributes of the role rather than the specific roles because some of the roles you will enjoy could exist in another area of the organization that you are not aware of or will become available in the future.
2) Perform a self assessment of your abilities. Do you have the skills needed to perform this next role?
Good if you are already but if you don’t have all necessary skills then you will need to set realistic expectations and timeframes to develop these abilities or you will need to revise your goals.
3) Network with a career goal in mind. Do you know people that can help you or guide you to get into this new role? Do you have a mentor?
Do not underestimate the power of networking. Do your homework, develop a professional network and find connections that can help you get into your next role.
Last week attended the HITEC Latina IT Executive panel in Disney World where I shared my formula for success which I call the “4 P” and has helped me achieve multidimensional success.
4 P= Planning, Preparation, Perseverance and Passion
Develop a formula for success that will help you to connect your dots and plan for your next career move.
Showing posts with label mentoring programs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mentoring programs. Show all posts
Friday, July 2, 2010
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Mentoring Programs Toolkit
Mentoring continues to be a high priority for me and with the publication of my book "Connecting My Dots", I have been able to inspire many leaders to dedicate time and effort to mentor junior associates and emerging leaders across their organizations.
Now that I am taking a short time off from Corporate America, I can advise organizations on how establish successful mentoring programs.
Few weeks ago at the LISTA 2nd Annual Technology forum on the Hill, I had the opportunity to award a copy of "Connecting My Dots" to US Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis. During the event we discussed the importance of setting mentoring programs to promote STEM careers and develop emerging leaders for the new global economy. We talked about the importance of role models for Latinas and emerging leaders in STEM professions.
On June 2009, we successfully launched the NCTA WISE professional mentoring program for women in STEM in the Charlotte region. The program is running as a pilot this year and women from over 10 different organizations are participating in the program. Through the mentoring program we have identified the right mentoring relationship based on needs, preferences and career goals.
If you are looking to establish a mentoring program in your organization here is a summary of the critical steps you will need to consider:
1) Problem Definition
a. Initial step to define the need, goals and objective of the mentoring program
b. Define success metrics and expectations
2) Data Gathering
a. Survey managers and potential pool of participants to understand expectations for the program
3) Determine mentoring model
a. The mentoring model must fit the needs of the organization and participants. Mentoring programs that are tailored to the needs of one department tend to have more structured than mentoring programs that go across organizational boundaries.
b. Questions to ask when developing the model:
i. Duration of the formal program and Frequency of the interactions
ii. Level of engagement from Human Resources (career coaches, training courses)
iii. Mentor/mentee ratio
iv. Roles and responsibilities of Executive sponsor, Program manager, HR consultant, mentors and mentees
v. Select training materials (e.g. Personality tests, Career assessments, etc)
4) Recruiting participants
a. Self-selected
b. Nomination by managers
5) Application process
a. Both mentors and mentees need to submit an application requesting the participation in the program. Mentees will need to obtain approval from the direct line manager to dedicate time to the program during working hours.
b. The application form should contain the following information:
i. Career objectives and expectations from the program
ii. Preferred communication style
iii. Personal preferences
iv. Approval from line manager (for mentees)
6) Matching process
a. This is a critical step in the process and should be conducted by the mentoring program managing team (e.g. program sponsor, program manager, HR consultant)
7) Implementation and Communication
a. Develop a communication plan to executive sponsors and participants
Post a question to Get additional advice about connecting with a mentor.
Now that I am taking a short time off from Corporate America, I can advise organizations on how establish successful mentoring programs.
Few weeks ago at the LISTA 2nd Annual Technology forum on the Hill, I had the opportunity to award a copy of "Connecting My Dots" to US Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis. During the event we discussed the importance of setting mentoring programs to promote STEM careers and develop emerging leaders for the new global economy. We talked about the importance of role models for Latinas and emerging leaders in STEM professions.
On June 2009, we successfully launched the NCTA WISE professional mentoring program for women in STEM in the Charlotte region. The program is running as a pilot this year and women from over 10 different organizations are participating in the program. Through the mentoring program we have identified the right mentoring relationship based on needs, preferences and career goals.
If you are looking to establish a mentoring program in your organization here is a summary of the critical steps you will need to consider:
1) Problem Definition
a. Initial step to define the need, goals and objective of the mentoring program
b. Define success metrics and expectations
2) Data Gathering
a. Survey managers and potential pool of participants to understand expectations for the program
3) Determine mentoring model
a. The mentoring model must fit the needs of the organization and participants. Mentoring programs that are tailored to the needs of one department tend to have more structured than mentoring programs that go across organizational boundaries.
b. Questions to ask when developing the model:
i. Duration of the formal program and Frequency of the interactions
ii. Level of engagement from Human Resources (career coaches, training courses)
iii. Mentor/mentee ratio
iv. Roles and responsibilities of Executive sponsor, Program manager, HR consultant, mentors and mentees
v. Select training materials (e.g. Personality tests, Career assessments, etc)
4) Recruiting participants
a. Self-selected
b. Nomination by managers
5) Application process
a. Both mentors and mentees need to submit an application requesting the participation in the program. Mentees will need to obtain approval from the direct line manager to dedicate time to the program during working hours.
b. The application form should contain the following information:
i. Career objectives and expectations from the program
ii. Preferred communication style
iii. Personal preferences
iv. Approval from line manager (for mentees)
6) Matching process
a. This is a critical step in the process and should be conducted by the mentoring program managing team (e.g. program sponsor, program manager, HR consultant)
7) Implementation and Communication
a. Develop a communication plan to executive sponsors and participants
Post a question to Get additional advice about connecting with a mentor.
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