IDP: Vision and Roadmap

Last week's episode provided a high-level overview of the IDP and gave several reasons why it should be an important part of your career development plan.  This week, we will cover the first two sections, the Vision and the Roadmap.  And as a reminder, if you'd like to get my IDP template, go to the Contact form at ManagingACareer.com and drop me a note.

Career Vision

The career vision is a statement about where you want to be in your career as far into the future as you can imagine.  For some, this could be where you see yourself at retirement; for others, it may be where you see yourself in 5 to 10 years.  It's a statement about what will make you feel fulfilled or be happy with the direction your career has taken.  This is really a statement that only you can make.

As you contemplate your vision, brainstorm how the various options that you are considering align with your personal values.  Ask yourself questions similar to these:

• Will you remain in an individual role?
• Do you aspire to management or even executive level work?
• Are you interested in changing fields of work or progressing in your current field?
• Do you find your current industry interesting or would you prefer to be in a different industry?
• How does the size of your current company compare to your ideal company size?
• Would you prefer to be doing work that is more charitable or altruistic?
• If you reach this goal, what would you do "next"?

Don't rush through this.  If necessary, spend several days mulling this over -- if you are so inclined, pray or meditate on this.  This statement will be setting the direction for the rest of the IDP.

But at the same time, don't fret if you can only think a few years ahead.  Your Vision Statement is not set in stone.  As you learn more about yourself and your desired direction, you can always revisit and revise the Vision Statement.

Your vision statement should clarify the timeline, the desired job title, and the list of expected duties.  Be sure to add any other details to make the vision statement as specific as possible such as the industry or company size.  If you consider the SMART goal template, the Vision Statement should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.  It should be possible for you to review this statement every year and clearly determine whether it has been met or not.

Road Map

Once you have determined your vision statement, the next section is the Road Map.  The Road Map is a breakdown of all of the steps it will take to go from your current role to reach your vision.  If you are unsure of what those steps may be, this would be a good time to have a conversation with your manager or your mentor.

When referencing the roles, try not to get too hung up on job titles as those may be specific to your current company.  For example, a senior level accountant role may be split across two different job titles (Sr. Accountant and Lead Accountant) at some companies but as a role, they represent the same type and level of work.

As you document the various roles that you will need to have, capture the primary responsibilities of this role and the key skills that you will need to have in order to perform it.  As you get to later sections, you can use this skill list to develop your action plan to ensure that you gain these skills beforehand.  This would be a good time to review current job openings to compare what the common duties for similar roles are across multiple companies.

Additionally, write down how long you expect to be in the role before progressing to the next one.  On average people are promoted every 5 to 7 years.  Earlier in your career, this number will skew lower and later in your career, this number will skew higher.  As you reach the executive level, you need those above you to get promoted or leave before there's an opportunity for you to be promoted.

As you create this timeline, remember to consider how much time do you have left before you retire.  I'm currently in my 50s.  I might have 15 to 20 more working years.  I probably have 2 or 3 more promotions before the end of my career.  If you are just starting your career, you could easily have 40 years and 8 to 10 promotions before you retire.

When you've listed the roles and how long you need to be in each one, compare that timeline to how long you expect to work.  Is it achievable?  Do you need to revise your expectations and redo your Vision Statement, or are there other things you can do accelerate the timeline?

Remember, though, not every position on your road map equates to a promotion.  There may be points in your career when you need to make a lateral or lesser move such as when you are changing fields.  These lateral moves may take longer as you are learning a new area.

If you're following along and creating your IDP, spend the next week thinking about where you want your career to go and write down your Vision Statement.  If you have questions or need some pointers for defining your Road Map, drop me a note through the Contact Form on my website.  If you don't have the template and would like a copy so that you can create your own IDP, send a request through the same contact form.  Next week, we will continue the IDP series and look at the Assessment and Next Role sections of the IDP.