Professional Growth Plan

What is Professional Growth?

Professional growth is to gain knowledge that helps you become more effective in the workplace. Professional growth is most effective when based on a good foundation of personal development.

The Opportunity System for Professional Growth (based on my book Opportunity Truth)

Foundation of strength: This starts with personal growth and includes applying the professional growth forces (knowledge, skills, resources, and relationships) to the professional growth areas of focus (your role, organization, industry, and market).

Art of purpose: This includes your professional relationships, and your professional career strategy.

Science of momentum: Professional growth science of momentum brings the same personal growth science of momentum to the workplace, including goal setting, productivity, commitment, and investments.

An industry can be thought of as the career field, while the market can also be thought of as the customer segment. Consider the legal industry, most lawyers specialize in a specific customer or market segment, like tax law, small business, family law, or real estate. The real estate industry has two basic markets, commercial and residential, which can be subdivided further. Consider the medical industry, most independent doctors specialize in a specific area (customer or market).

You can keep up to date on many industry trends at IBISWorld’s website, including the fastest growing and declining, most profitable, highest profit margins, highest labor costs, and the most and least risky industries. They also have specific industry reports for different countries.

Business in general has two main approaches, business to business and business to consumer. However, I submit that some business to consumer markets could sell their products or services to businesses (for their employees). Such B2B for B2C businesses could include gyms, personal trainers, life coaching, family counseling, restaurant rewards clubs, or food truck services.

The most important professional growth area of focus is the organization. When an organization deliberately develops a healthy culture it brings out the best in everyone, otherwise it causes people to be disengaged.

The common assumption is that most new employees (new to the industry or young) are not expected to have much knowledge or experience in these areas of focus. This provides a natural opportunity to set yourself apart from other new employees, by choosing to self-study the organization, industry, and market.

You could increase your knowledge and understanding of your industry or market by reading some books, reading blogs, listening to podcasts, watching videos, or set a free Google Alert specific keywords for your industry or market and they will email you links to online articles each week.

You could join an association or publication that covers the industry you are in. These often provide helpful updates on what is going on in the industry. You could also attend a trade show or annual industry event where they usually provide helpful training and networking.

You could volunteer part-time to gain relevant skills and increase relationships. However, this might not be a good idea in some industries or markets, just be careful you are not going against any policies in your organization, consider getting it approved by your supervisor.

You could explore relationships in the industry or market through social media while also increasing your knowledge and understanding. You could also explore the technologies that could be helpful for your role in the organization, or for the organization itself.

Professional Growth Plan

Having a professional growth plan helps create self-accountability and implementation intention, which helps with follow-through.

You can download and use the one-page pdf below or create your one-page plan by recording your long-term professional growth goal, personality, top strengths, weaknesses, and the top company values.

Then record your primary, or top three responsibilities, and the one most important activity related to them.

Then record the 3-5 people you interact with the most and their personality, appreciation language, strengths, and weaknesses.

Then record your top three work related goals and their lead measures or most important activity to achieve the goal.

Then record your desired learning for the year or quarter and the resources you will use for your learning (books, websites, or podcasts).

Then record the top things you are grateful for in your company or work. Consider reading it daily, every morning to help with affirmations and visualization.

Best Professional Growth Books

Reading, or listening (Audible.com), and applying the best professional growth books can give you a competitive advantage.

So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport
Linchpin, and The Dip both by Seth Godin
Mastery by Robert Greene
Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann
Give and Take by Adam Grant
Principles by Ray Dalio
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Sizing People Up by Robin Dreeke and Cameron Stauth
The Proximity Principle by Ken Coleman
Rise and Grind by Daymond John
Limitless by Jim Kwik
Switch by Chip and Dan Heath
Influence by Robert B. Cialdini
Decisive by Chip Heath
Make Your Bed by Admiral William H. McRaven
The E Myth Revisited has specific books for real estate agents and investors, dentists, contractors, and HVAC contractors

Professional Growth Book References

Try not to be a man of success but a man of value (Albert Einstein).
Transferring your passion to your job is far easier than finding a job that happens to match your passion... You can become a linchpin within an organization when you see truth, understand the situation, help the organization gain momentum with helpful insights, and focus on creating value (Linchpin by Seth Godin).
Following your passion can be dangerous... Instead, be so good they can't ignore you by increasing your skills and your career capital. Eventually you might have an opportunity to cash in your career capital for work you are more passionate about (So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport).
Boredom no longer signals the need for distraction, but rather the need for new challenges to conquer (Mastery by Robert Greene).
10,000 hours is the magic number of greatness (Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell).
The five laws of stratospheric success are the law of value, the law of compensation, the law of influence, the law of authenticity, and the law of receptivity (The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann).
Life is a struggle and the potential for failure is ever present, but those who live in fear of failure, or hardship, or embarrassment will never achieve their potential (Make Your Bed by Retired Admiral William H. McRaven).
Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently (Henry Ford).
To put away aimlessness and weakness, and to begin to think with purpose, is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only recognize failure as one of the pathways to achievement (As a Man Thinketh by James Allen).
A finite game has known players, fixed rules, and an agreed upon objective. An infinite game has known and unknown players, changeable rules, and the objective is to stay in the game as long as possible. You're actually only competing against yourself, and the objective is to become a better version of ourselves this year than we were last year (The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek).
People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it (Start With Why by Simon Sinek).
Professional growth forces are knowledge, skills, resources, and relationships, and they all apply to each of the professional growth areas of focus, which are your role, organization, industry, and market. (Opportunity Truth by Jason A. Krause).

Professional growth is supported by personal growth and supports leadership growth.

Best Professional Growth Podcasts

Executive Minds, Happen to Your Career, Career Tools, Career Cloud Radio, People Behind the Science, Repurpose Your Career, Invest Talk, Center for Investment Excellence, Mind of a Millionaire, Technology Revolution, Trailblazers, Unprofessional Engineering, The Engineering Career Coach, The Civil Engineering Podcast, Healthcare Executive, Restaurant Unstoppable, Eaters Digest, A Deeper Dive, Running Restaurants, Gym Secrets, Bigger Pockets Real Estate, Real Estate Uncensored, Best Real Estate Investing Advice Ever, Aviation Week, Airline Pilot Guy, MotorWeek, Under the Hood, Automotive News Daily Drive, Lodging Leaders, Suite Spot, Hospitality Design, Insurance Law, The Communicators (IT & Telecom), The Construction Leading Edge, The Art of Construction, Advanced Manufacturing Now, The Manufacturing Show, The Logistics of Logistics, and Leaders in Supply Chain and Logistics.

A Professional Growth Plan Can Help You Be More Effective & Efficient

Professional growth has 4 areas of focus and 4 forces

What is Professional Growth?

Professional Growth Plan