This content originally appeared on Go Make Things and was authored by Go Make Things
Earlier today, I was thinking about how different my “career wants” are from I typically see as the norm or best practices or whatever.
I suspect this is partially because of my ADHD, and partially because I’m pretty damn senior at this point and my priorities are different now.
I don’t want…
- A formalized “career plan”
- A defined “carer roadmap” based on my role or focus
- Weekly 1×1’s with my manager to talk about my career
- Performance reviews
- A mentor
- Constant employee surveys about “the culture”
- More formal process
Early in my career, I definitely wanted some of that stuff.
I was young, I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up (I still don’t, but I’m more comfortable with it), and I felt like I was lost and floundering.
But now, I find a lot of that stuff to be a hindrance.
I wish more of that stuff was available to me early in my career, though. I don’t want it to go away for everyone. I think it just highlights how one-size-fits-all approaches to careers (or anything, really) are deeply flawed.
What I do want…
- To be pointed at interesting challenges with some defined guardrails, and asked to “just figure it out.”
- A group of people I can reach out to to rubber duck if I’m feeling stuck on something.
- Leaders who remove obstacles, but don’t try to “manage” me all that much.
- The freedom to do good work, not just fast work.
I would imagine I’m not the only one who feels like that, and I suspect a big challenge of being “a people manager” is figuring out where in their career lifecycle each employee is, and tailoring how you work with them accordingly.
Which is why I’m not a people manager!
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This content originally appeared on Go Make Things and was authored by Go Make Things