Advancing Your Career
One of the characteristics that bosses absolutely love to see in their employees is a learning mindset. Leaders generally love to see their employees growing, expanding their skills, and being willing to be mentored.
Ironically though, most leaders aren’t great at fostering employee growth. In the study, The State Of Leadership Development, the team at Leadership IQ discovered that only 20% of employees say their leader always takes an active role in helping them to grow and develop their full potential.
That’s why you need to prompt leaders using a simple monthly conversation with two goals. The first goal is to find areas you want to get better at over the next month. The second goal is to share where you have gotten better compared to the previous month.
If your boss were conducting this conversation, they would ask you, “What things would you like to get better at this next month?” and “What things are you better at now than you were last month?”
Again, however, lots of bosses don’t know that they should have this type of conversation, and even if they did, many wouldn’t know exactly how to conduct it. So you’ll have to take the initiative and, subtly and nicely, show your boss the right approach.
Start by telling how you’re interested in growing and learning more. Then ask them if they would be willing to have a regular monthly conversation with you to review what you’ve learned and plan for more. This might sound something like the following:
“I’m really eager to keep growing and learning, so I’m wondering if you and I could talk every month for a few minutes? I’d like to get your input on the kinds of skills that I could and should develop. And I’d also like to share what I’ve learned each month. I’ll do all the heavy lifting, but your guidance and direction would be really valuable.”
If this feels too solicitous or even saccharine, then you’re free to tone it down a bit. Just be sure to cover the three essential components in this script.
First, you want to make sure that your boss knows this conversation is about you growing and learning. More than a few bosses start getting nervous when their employees schedule time. Experience has taught these bosses that their employees want to lodge a complaint, ask for a raise or submit their resignation. You, however, are coming to talk about something enjoyable and fulfilling—growth and learning—so make that clear from the outset.
Second, when you tell the leader that you would like to “get their input”, you’re simultaneously respecting their counsel and taking the burden off of them. You’re not asking your boss to spend hours crafting a customized development plan for you; all they have to do is verbally share their thoughts and reactions.
Third, it’s a good idea to reinforce the message that you’re going to do the heavy-lifting and that what you really need from the boss is advice and guidance. Having studied more than a million leaders, I can tell you that the typical boss absolutely loves it when their employees take the initiative rather than expecting the boss to do all the work.
Not only will this conversation foster your growth and development (valuable in its own right), but it will also give you much more positive visibility with your boss. When you share what you’ve been learning, most leaders will think, “Wow, this person is really developing all sorts of great skills, and they’re really taking the initiative.” And because you’re doing this in the context of growing and developing, your sharing won’t seem at all self-aggrandizing or boastful.
