Are you looking to change your career or climb the professional ladder to a promotion but unsure how? That is where setting professional development goals can help, alongside a coach.
Professional coaching is right for you if you feel stuck in your career or want to feel more fulfilled.
Below, we will discuss why professional development goals are important and how a coach can help you reach them.
Why Are Professional Development Goals Important?
Many of us reach the new year and set our personal development goals, yet it’s easy to miss out on professional development goals, which hold just as much importance.
It is not that easy to tell whether you are moving or just drifting from job to job without setting any goals for professional development. Setting clear goals lets you have direction motivation, and be more fulfilled in your professional career.
Examples of professional development goals that one may set are improved leadership skills, achieving a promotion, or even becoming more confident with public speaking.
As noted in a study by Dr. Gail Matthews, individuals who wrote down their goals were 33% more successful in reaching those goals compared to the people who did not.¹
How A Coach Can Help With Professional & Personal Development
Blending goal setting with a coach to guide you through challenges and possible mental blocks. They’ll keep you accountable and out of your comfort zone.
Your career and personal life are always linked; hence, a high-performance coach will work on both types of development goals.
H2: Success Strategies For Professional Development Goals
Coaches use many different techniques to enable you to reach your goals, but most follow this basic framework.
H3: Step One – Get Clear On Your Goals
You will be surprised how few people actually know what they are trying to achieve.
Within the daily grind of life and hustle, it can be very easy to set goals for yourself that you ‘think’ you should have rather than what you want and value.
Your coach will help narrow them down and get clarity.
Step Two – Make Them SMART
You have probably heard this a million times before, but SMART means specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
For example, your goal could be ‘I want to be promoted’; with the help of a coach, you rework this into a SMART goal such as ‘I will be able to handle two key projects within six months and take valuable feedback from my boss, then apply for promotion at the end of this year.’
Step Three -The Action Plan
This is where having a coach matters. Your action plan will help you break down your professional development goals into small, manageable steps.
Your coach may suggest skill development by taking a course or learning a new software, for example.
Step Four – Accountability & Feedback
This regular check-in with the coach will keep you on track with success strategies in professional or personal development. They give feedback and help you hone your approach.
A study done by the American Society of Training and Development says that if you tell someone else about your goals, you’re 65% more likely to achieve them; now, that is the power of accountability.
Step Five – Staying Resilient With a Growth Mindset
Changing your mindset from ‘can’t’ to ‘can’ may be one of the most powerful things you can do for productivity. Though this might sound too simple, challenges are inevitable, and no growth journey is linear, so staying resilient will ensure long-term success and meeting your goals.
Step Six – Reflection & Celebration
Yes, as cheesy as it sounds, working on your professional development goals and personal growth goals is all about the journey. Take the time to reflect on just how far you have come along, and those little wins will keep you motivated and positive.
Reach Your Personal Development & Professional Goals
So, are you ready to make this your best personal development season yet? Then book a coaching session for today, and let’s get you equipped with the success strategies, tools, structure, and accountability you need to grow.
Most of us know what we need to put into place to reach our goals, but that extra push from a coach often helps us turn our vision into reality.
Learn more about our coaching sessions for professional development goals here.
