05/01/2015

Taking Responsibility for Your Own Professional Career Development

By Xue Lee

Brian Tracy, CEO of Brian Tracy International shared: “If you wish to achieve worthwhile things in your personal and career life, you must become a worthwhile person in your own self-development.”

This is a statement that I strongly believe for myself and others. In my current role, I learned that if I do not invest time in my education and training then I will not advance in my career. Many people become consumed with responsibilities to fulfill another person’s vision; only to forget their life purpose in the process. Through forgetting to focus on their own needs they fail to develop professionally and become stagnant and isolated. They also fail to realize that it is up to them to take the initiative to seek help. I have met plenty of frustrated students and clients that felt trapped in their jobs. My question to them is: “What have you done to improve yourself and to expand your options?”

In overcoming obstacles in earlier years, I became obsessed with finding ways to hone my administrative leadership skills. I sought out mentors, accepted any opportunity given to me to go to conferences and training workshops, and to read as much as possible in order to learn from successful leaders.

I attended a 2015 academic advising conference in Louisiana which allowed me to listen to Dr. Katrice Albert, one of the conference’s keynote speakers. Dr. Albert, Vice-President for Equity and Diversity of the University of Minnesota System gave insight about eight game changer tips to challenge people with regards to their career growth. Her profound advice has motivated me to want to apply it within my personal life and my work with students and clients:

1. Know Your Leadership Style: Appreciate your life and professional experiences that have molded you. Let your leadership style be principle-based; mine is servant-leadership. I was born to serve and that is my calling.

2. Know no room for error: Always strive for excellence. Set the gold standard for yourself to create excellent work - let the content of your work speak for itself. There are and will be times when I am wrong, but I own my mistakes. In turn, I aim to correct them if I can.

3. Chart your own course: Go out and make your life happen; don’t wait for it to happen to you. I realize that my dreams will not come true if I sit around and wait for things to happen instead of taking action. I make time to study, learn, and to practice. These are things that I do to take ownership in developing myself.

4. Activate the power of gratitude and mentoring others: While working to be the best, help others as well. Give back what others have given you. I give back to my community by volunteering. I serve by giving of my time to mentor young adults in high school and college because I have been privileged to have incredibly, supportive mentors. I believe as what Dr. Albert states, “when your hands are open to giving, you are opening yourself to receiving; when closed, you are not able to receive.”

5. Create career maps: Write and keep a written document of where you see yourself in 5, 10, and 20 years; this is your life map. Your career map keeps you honest and accountable. Be as specific as possible because this determines your outcome. Don’t be afraid to move out of your comfort zone. This is something that I have to force myself to do more regularly. My vision board reminds me of what I am working toward—what I want my future to be.

6. Become effective communicators: Learn to write well and develop great public speaking skills. Leaders have excellent communication skills because they use active listening. Active listening is a requirement for me to do daily not only with students and clients but also with family and friends.

7. Keep your sense of humor: You can take your work seriously, but you can’t take yourself too seriously. In stressful situations, I remind myself to take a deep breath and laugh.

8. Live authentically: Find things that make you smile so you can live authentically. Be true to yourself otherwise there will be others to lead you astray. One of my core values is integrity. I use this value to guide my actions. When people meet me, I want them to be able to see that I am an ambitious and creative problem-solver who exceeds their expectations; someone who lives out her values everyday.

In an advising session, I met with a young lady who expressed concerns about having been an administrative assistant for over 10 years. She wanted to know how she could move up to a management position after she completed her Associate’s degree. From these tips, I encouraged her to be proactive with putting together a portfolio to showcase her finest work products. Additionally, I recommended she create a career map outlining her goals and values. She previously did not have one-on-one meetings with her supervisor, therefore I suggested that she requests for those on a monthly basis to allow her to communicate about her career goals. Afterwards, she stated she felt more empowered to take action.

Finally, Dr. Albert also spoke of radical self-care. People have to slow down to be able to speed up. Take measures with the radical self-care that you need for yourself whether it is physically, mentally, and/or spiritually. The things and people in our lives require not only our ultimate sacrifices, but also our ultimate health. Therefore, I deliberately choose to follow these eight game changer tips and share them consistently with my students and clients.

References
Albert, K. (March 5, 2015). National Academic Advising Association Region 7 Conference. Baton Rouge, LA.

Tracy. B. Retrieved from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/career_2.html

Xue Lee, MS, is an academic advisor with the Northwest Arkansas Community College. She has been advising students for over four years. Xue completed her Bachelor of Science in Organizational Management and Master of Science in Leadership and Ethics from John Brown University. She loves to challenge, inspire, and help people to develop themselves professionally to their highest potential through education, training, and holistic advising. Xue has a strong interest in career development; therefore she is planning to expand her knowledge and expertise in the professional training and development field. She can be reached at xlee@nwacc.edu