“A good coach can change a game. A great coach can change a life.” — John R. Wooden
In this short article, I’ll fuse a couple of key professional objectives — that career growth and leadership growth go hand-in-hand. To be successful, you can’t have one without the other. See what you think.
Over my career I’ve had countless job opportunities, all of them interesting and challenging, with potential for career advancement. The hard questions are which ones to take and when to take them?
Our discussion of these questions will center on two rules I used to grow my leadership abilities as I moved throughout my career.
- Always look two moves ahead (to extend your context for leadership growth).
- Always work for great leaders (to continuously grow your leadership abilities).
Leaders Develop Leaders, ©James R Carnes, 2023
1. The Next Move
If I’m looking to move, I’d ask myself: what’s next? If I take this job and grow as a leader, then what are the possible follow-on opportunities?
I want to look a couple of moves ahead. How will this position prepare me for an expanded leadership role and potential next positions. This is the necessary condition for a move.
I’m not just taking a new job, I’m moving along a professional growth trajectory. So, it’s important to know my direction and be purposeful about each move. Some might make a job decision based solely on this criterion, but my search isn’t over until I…