Strategic Career Mapping

One of the talks I’ve given to a few teams internally at Microsoft is “PMing your career”. Mid-career is the perfect time to step back, see yourself as a ‘product,’ and start managing your career with intention and strategy. Here are 5 axioms I use as part of the frame: ➡️1. Treat your career as a Product with a strategic fit: Every high-performing professional has a unique value proposition. Regularly assess your Personal Product-Market Fit (PMF) to ensure that your strengths, skills, and how you’re positioning them align with the needs of your industry and your company. Strong careers, like great products, adapt to stay relevant and strategically fit. This helps you identify places you might need to grow too. ➡️2. Your resume is (kind-of) Product Review Document (PRD): Like a PRD highlights a product’s features, your resume should capture your top achievements and core skills. Keep it current and aligned with your goals, showcasing how your career product has evolved. ➡️3. Use feedback as your career “Customer Review”: Just as products thrive on customer feedback, your career benefits from input from mentors, peers, and leaders. Thoughtfully incorporate this feedback to stay aligned with your goals and make strategic improvements. ➡️4. Set a career Roadmap: Map out your career with a focus on strategy and clear goals. These checkpoints – skills to gain, connections to build, and roles to pursue – keep you moving toward your vision of success and position you for future opportunities. Ask others who have already taken the path what the checkpoints are. ➡️5. Embrace phases as part of your strategy: Like product lifecycles, careers have phases. In early roles, focus on mastering foundational skills; as you advance, lean into influence and decision-making; and eventually, hone discernment for opportunities. Each stage strengthens your overall career strategy. Hope this helps you today

Want to know the one thing I kept hearing from Workday professionals about their careers at Rising last week? “I’m good at what I do. But I’m bored. I don’t see what’s next.” And it wasn’t just full-time employees saying this - contractors shared this with me too. The project ends. The system stabilizes. You’re supporting the same modules you were hired for…and suddenly the path feels flat. Here’s the truth: Your Workday career won’t grow unless you know what you want next and how you’re going to get there. You have to keep assessing: ·        Where am I today? ·        What do I want next? ·        How (or if) can I get there? So, if you’re feeling stuck - or even unsure about what’s next… 👉🏼Here are 7 ways to reignite your Workday career path: 1️⃣ Treat implementations like career labs - Shadow outside your lane. Payroll folks sit in on HR change meetings. Reporting leads watch how Finance closes. 2️⃣ Rotate lanes, not just titles - Move from customer to partner, partner to independent, or independent back inside. Sideways moves still build momentum. 3️⃣ Run a clarity conversation - Ask leadership what traits made their top performer. Ask peers what they call you for. That’s actionable feedback. 4️⃣ Stop thinking ladder, build a horizon map - Specialist, advisor, strategist. Keep all three in play so you don’t get stuck waiting. 5️⃣ Teach before you feel ready - The ones leading training or sharing best practices aren’t always the most senior- but they know when to step up. 6️⃣ Contractors - Use the gaps...to turn downtime into case studies. Share client challenges you solved. Post about it. Visibility = opportunity. 7️⃣ Don’t beg for promotions. Ask for stretch moments - New tech (AI, modules) to learn, cross-functional training, messy handoffs. That’s where careers pivot. If you’re bored, that’s not failure - it’s feedback. And in this ecosystem, the people who respond to it are the ones shaping where their career moves next 🌊.

Let's call it like it is: Too many successful leaders only make their next career move when they’re burnt out & bored. Here's the hard-won lesson after working with hundreds of founders and execs: The best transitions are made from a position of strength, not as an emergency exit. Want to know how to turn your next career move into a strategic evolution rather than a desperate pivot? Check it out: 1. Get crystal clear on what success means NOW 2. Map your unique strengths (what actually energizes you) 3. Do the research (talk to others who've made similar moves) 4. Set concrete financial targets 5. Test before you leap (advisory roles, mentoring, side projects) The goal isn't to escape. It's to evolve intentionally. Remember: Your experience compounds. Use it to design your next move— don't wait for circumstances to decide for you. Want these weekly insights on strategic leadership right in your inbox? Sign up for my newsletter: www.markodonnell.me

Professional growth isn’t about doing more. Prioritize, focus, and let your roadmap lead you forward. With endless free resources like YouTube tutorials and online courses, it's easy for learning paths—and our minds—to feel overwhelmed. Whenever my mentees ask for help creating their professional development roadmap, I guide them through these steps: 1) Define your short-term goal (6 months): → Want that promotion?  Write down skills you need right now—terminology you don’t fully grasp, conflict resolution strategies for team changes, or improved stakeholder communication. → Changing jobs?  Find 10 detailed job descriptions for roles you aspire toward. List skills you’re missing. Short-term goals are straightforward. They focus on immediate impact. 2) Set your mid-term goal (2-3 years): → Where do you see yourself professionally?  This timeframe is realistic yet distant enough for growth. → Align your short-term and long-term goals.  Are they connected? If not, identify why. Reconciliation is key. 3) Categorizing skills: I divide skills on your roadmap like this:  → Project management skills: Essential for leading and delivering.  → Expert skills: Standout capabilities like systems design or specific domain expertise (finance, healthcare, etc.).  → Market requirements: Certifications, language proficiency, or other must-haves for your dream role or market. Once categorized, prioritize. Use your goals as your compass. Professional growth isn’t about collecting ALL skills or certificates. It's about focusing on KEY ones that move you forward. Your roadmap is your guide, but remember: growth requires constant reassessment and adjustment. 

Map out your career ambition by Harvard Business Review ; I wish I had read this article over a decade ago 😂 📊 This is how you map your career ambitions: ▶️ Use the "from/to" method to clearly define your current position and next big career goal. ▶️ Seek brutally honest feedback from trusted colleagues to accurately assess your starting point and destination. ▶️ Create a personal experience map to chart your growth over the next 2-5 years. ▶️ Focus on gaining both functional experiences (to excel in your field) and management experiences (to prove versatility). ▶️ Interview experts in your field to identify the most valuable experiences for career advancement. ▶️ Aim for 4-7 key functional experiences and 3-4 management experiences on your map. ▶️ Regularly review and update your experience map to stay on track. Remember that growing faster isn't easy, but having a clear origin, destination, and experience-driven route makes the journey much simpler! #CareerDevelopment #ProfessionalGrowth #CareerMapping #LeadershipSkills #ContinuousLearning

One-size-fits-all career paths are dead. For decades, companies have clung to rigid career ladders with generic training programs and predictable promotions. But in today's economy, where our workforce spans more generations, backgrounds, and aspirations than ever, why are we still forcing everyone down the same narrow hallway? Personalized career development plans are good for business. Here's why: ➡️ Higher employee engagement (people actually give a damn about their work) ➡️ Lower attrition rates (goodbye expensive turnover) ➡️ Increased productivity (people working in their zone of genius) Yet most organizations still treat career growth like a standardized test instead of the messy, beautiful, individual journey it actually is. In #HumanizingHumanCapital, Dr. Solange Charas and I push for a fundamental mindset shift: careers should bend to fit employees, not the other way around. Here's how to actually build personalized progression that works: 1️⃣ Demolish the time-based barriers. "Put in X years to earn Y title" is dinosaur thinking. Let employees move up, sideways, pause, or create entirely new paths based on skills and interests. The org chart should be a suggestion, not a prison. 2️⃣ Use people analytics to understand what makes each employee tick. Use technology to map potential career paths by matching actual humans with growth opportunities based on their unique skills and aspirations - not just filling boxes on an org chart. 3️⃣ Ditch the annual performance review with vague "growth goals." Replace it with regular conversations centered on three simple questions: Where do you want to go? What do you need to get there? How can we help? Then actually listen to the answers. The hard truth? Today's talent doesn't really want a rigid predefined ladder. They want a general outline where they can build their own path. Companies that recognize this shift will develop agile, engaged workforces while everyone else wonders why they can't keep people. Is your organization still handing out identical career maps to unique individuals? If so - what's really stopping you from changing? #CareerDevelopment #EmployeeExperience