Are you a driver or a passenger?

Many people are passive about how their career progresses.  Like Kate wrote in her post last week.  They wait to be “tapped on the shoulder” about opportunities.  First quarter is typically performance review season.  It is a great time of year to evaluate where you would like to see your career short term and long term.

If you love your role and are not looking for a new title or promotion in the next year, it is still important to set goals to keep you motivated and growing within your position.  Meeting the expectations of your responsibilities and finding some extra ways to contribute/lead will help you earn an increase in responsibility when you want to go after it.  

If you are looking for a new title or promotion within your company what are you doing to get there?  You can visit with people who have been promoted into those roles to learn how they achieved the role.  Prior to your performance review go through the past year and be ready to highlight your successes during your review and communicate what position you want to earn as your next career step.

If you are thinking about leaving your company for a new role then start networking with colleagues and recruiters affiliated with the brands and type of work you do.  Explore what opportunities might be a fit for you.

Whatever is next, wouldn’t you rather be a part of driving the strategy vs. waiting for something to happen?  Lay out your next year to be an amazing one by setting goals that you are excited about.  Write them down and track your progress.  We all have full plates so this can be as simple as a bullet list.  Some ideas:

·         Help someone you mentor earn a promotion.

·         Head up a project with a cross functional group outside of the scope of your day to day responsibilities.

·         Pick one or two of your company financial goals that are often set for you and decide you are going to focus on exceeding those.

·         Take some training/classes to enhance your skill set.

·         Read a book that you can apply to your work.

Do you know what you would like to do next?  When is the last time you set your own goals at work that you were excited about?