Where on the fork are you (or your staff?)

As association professionals, we have a unique fork in the road when it comes to career development. We can select to walk down one of three paths:

• Association Professional


• Industry Professional


• Position Professional (i.e. marketing, training, sales, etc)

Yet I'd be interested to hear how many managers sit down with their staff or (vice versa) and go over this fork to make sure the road you think your staffer is walking down is the same they want to be walking down. If you haven't had this conversation, you should.

For example, for me to truly begin to excel in training, I'd have to either become an industry professional or a training professional. My goal was to become an association professional. This meant I was being prepared to take over roles that I didn't see myself taking over.

So I sat down with my manager and CEO and clearly laid out my career goals. I told them I wanted to be an association leader and in order to do that I'd need to work in different areas of the association. I was lucky enough to have leadership that listened, thus my move into marketing.

See there are 3 reasons I can see as to why staff and managers need to be on the same fork:

• Morale - the more engaged staff are the higher the morale which can infect other staff


• Career Development - developing staff in the areas they are engaged in further increases morale and also increases productivity stimulates point three


• Innovation - I'm more likely to innovate and go beyond the call of duty in an area I find engaging than an area I cornered myself into (or was cornered in)

It's worth the time. And remember, the question itself isn't the answer. It's how you, as the leader, respond.

Thanks for reading,
bob

P.S. Fellow Yappers, don't wait until management approaches you to have the conversation, if you seem fine on the fork you're on, management may have no reason to think otherwise.