Do you have a Strategic Personal Growth Plan?
When I stumbled into relocation, I didn’t have any particular professional goals for myself. I had planned on working at an ad agency doing marketing when I got out of college. So when I found myself working for a small broker as a relocation coordinator, I didn’t really think about what I would do after that or where it would lead me. I just fumbled my way from one real estate and relocation related job to the next until I was running a large multi-state operation. There was no clear plan or strategy that I had developed. I stepped up and asked for more responsibility along the way which led to promotions.
Why job hopping is ok
Today’s young people do a much better job of seeking out and laying out a growth strategy for their career path. Their goals appear to be more closely tied to a mission or cause, not so much a company or role. That seems really healthy to me.
You may notice that some of the ‘disrupter’ real estate brokerage and tech companies have people in leadership that are not from real estate and have moved from industry to industry. That is not by accident. They want fresh perspective. I do believe they could use more people that do have real estate expertise to balance out the lack of experience, but they bring leadership skills that are valuable when catering to big money stakeholders. They consider themselves untethered to the industry in their relentless quest to make the real estate transaction better and more profitable. And they are unapologetic about the fact they want things to change.
I think the days of working at a company for 30 years are over. Can we really learn and grow personally by having a career that is that one dimensional? Even though I worked my way up the ladder and took on many additional responsibilities throughout my years, I still only worked for one company for the bulk of my career. The company did morph through new ownership and acquisitions throughout the years, but it was still one company. It was comfortable and I saw no need to make a change. I wish I had pushed myself into related fields that would have gotten me a much more well-rounded level of expertise.
It’s not frowned upon to job hop any longer as long as we have stayed a reasonable enough time to learn and grow and gain additional experience that will lend to our overall business expertise. And it’s ok to tell our boss or our bosses’ boss that we are coming for their job. Not in any sort of threatening way, but to declare that we want to move up in a company tells them that we are eager to learn and grow. That puts them on notice that if they don’t accommodate us that we might move on.
Create a plan
I will admit that I put the people that worked for me in categories in my mind. Those that were eager to move up and those that were perfectly comfortable staying exactly where they were. We need both of those types of people in every company. Unless they told me otherwise, I made those deductions based on their overt or lack of interest in offering to take on responsibilities outside their usual roles. Was that a fair assessment? Maybe not, but if we don’t champion our own cause by telling someone or acting interested in our own growth, then we can’t expect anyone to read our mind.
Women, in particular, often don’t think we can achieve a C suite role or don’t see the path to get there, so we don’t even try. When we look around the boardroom and no one in there looks like us especially for those of color, it can be intimidating to think about what it would take to get a seat at the table. Having strong female mentors step up can make a huge difference in a young women’s confidence and strategic goals. Luckily, our industry is full of women willing to do just that.
As young people enter the real estate and mobility industry, I encourage them to have a plan. A very specific strategic plan. For example: In X years I want to be in this role. Or in X years I want to seek out a position in X company. Or in X years I want to be making X . Or in X years I want to live abroad and work for X type of company. By setting the goals we can strategically back into what our path should be to get there or to at least get close.
Make the effort to keep growing and learning
So whether we are just starting out, or well into our career, here are some tips help us always keep moving forward:
Ask if there are groups or committees that you can participate in that might give you some additional insights that you might not get in your usual duties
Seek out someone in another company/industry to mentor you
Ask if there is anyone in the company willing to mentor you
Offer to take on special projects in your company
Offer to lead a roundtable in an industry association event
Stay active on LinkedIn and engage with people at companies you admire
Take classes and get certifications that will help you sharpen the skills you need as a leader
Ask a lot of questions
Watch leaders you admire
Network regularly with industry people so they think of you when opportunities arise
Make it known if you are willing to relocate or take on a new role
Consider moving into a field completely different, but related to your existing company
Commit your personal goals to paper and regularly review them
The changes in our industry and related technology are creating new opportunities every day. The more well rounded we become by moving through different positions with various companies, the more we can bring a broad perspective in a leadership role.
"What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make." - Jane Goodall, anthropologist
