Throughout reading this book, I couldn't stop thinking – I wish every manager I encounter during my career would read this important book.
The book presents the crucial role of the manager in helping employees take responsibility for their careers and emphasizes the importance of career conversations - even when they are challenging for the manager. As employees, we tend to focus on the "here and now," on important and urgent tasks. However, career growth, like life in general, lies in the ability to allocate time and emphasize important things that are not necessarily urgent - and that's exactly where career conversations and personal development come in. In the "important but not urgent" category are the strategic conversations that will lead to your next significant breakthrough. The book is intended for managers of people in organizations of all sizes and sharpens the importance of career conversations for both the employee and the manager. It demonstrates how engaging in employee career development is within the manager's circle of influence and how critical it is to achieving business goals. It's important to remember that the employee is also expected to be involved and put this important topic on the table in various conversations with the manager. Key points from the book:
The main task is simply to talk about it. As a manager, you need to find the time, but the task itself is relatively simple - not writing complex plans, but simply having an open dialogue.
Integration into routine: There's no need to wait for quarterly or annual evaluation talks. Even 10 minutes within each bi-weekly update meeting can be enough.
Focus on the employee: The dialogue should be biased towards the employee, with the manager's role mainly being to ask the right questions that encourage thinking about future development directions.
Important to remember:
"Hindsight wisdom": Identifying what worked well and what the employee likes to do in order to mark future goals.
"Foresight": The manager, familiar with the organization's needs, can identify opportunities for the employee and provide real-time feedback.
"Insight" which can also be expressed through mental flexibility: The employee should be open to adopting new capabilities to adapt to the changing work world.
In conclusion: Career development in today's dynamic world doesn't have to be just "up and forward". Sometimes, a horizontal move or a change of field can be the right step. As written in the book: "Onward and upward had been replaced by forward and towards". The world is moving towards positions based on capabilities more than degrees. For example, a salesperson with strong interpersonal skills might find their way to HR roles or other positions requiring similar skills. Your employee wants to feel seen. Even if they don't aspire to be the next CEO, they want to know that you care about them and their development, in the place where they spend most of their day. For career conversations, dear managers, there is (still) no AI solution. Interpersonal skills and a lot of attention are required.
*What I did with AI while writing this blog:
I asked "Claude" what key points of the book I missed.
Editing, with emphasis on language.
Joint thinking about a title for the blog
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