Wherever you find yourself in your career, hopefully it’s exactly where you want to be. If not, then you have to ask yourself a few questions: Where am I? Where would I like to be? What is required in order for me to get there? How long will it take?
These are questions that will lead you to the next step: your plan. Your plan will be the determining factor of whether or not you will reach your goal. Without it, you will waste precious time and effort.
Many mechanics, leaders, supervisors and even managers have been promoted through the ranks despite not having a college degree. Is a degree required for promotion? No, it is not. Should it be? Not necessarily. Let me expand on this. When some companies, promote people into their first supervisory position, will send these employees to specialized training courses in order to assist them in their new role. This is a great step and will hopefully give the employee more tools to use in their new role and a thirst for more education, as it should.
Other companies, also promoting from within, do not do anything towards preparing the employee. This is unfortunate. New roles and responsibilities deserve at least a minimal amount of instruction in order to best equip the individual for success. Otherwise, the employee is left to his or her own devices, which is what we have consistently seen in this business. The fact that a person is technically skilled or talented does not necessarily mean that they do not need formal instruction in communication skills, management and leadership. These are very different skill sets.If you’re a supervisor or manager and you have the ability and resources to do so, I say be proactive and train your staff. This would standardize the level of management knowledge amongst all of your supervisors and managers, and you can have a reasonable expectation of their supervisory and managerial performance. I other words, because you will have trained them to a certain level, and you will know exactly what skill sets they’ve got.
If a college degree is what you desire, there are more options now than ever before (some of which are listed in the back of this book). Community College could be an inexpensive choice. If a course with a flexible schedule is your concern, perhaps an online or distance learning program would better suit you.
The time it will take you to complete your goal should be included in your plan. This will enable you to measure your performance and give you an idea as to how to adjust your pace. Your Goal Statement should be a living document; it should change as your circumstances change.
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