Career growth criteria: what is professional success? What is career growth? There is no limit to related specialties for professional growth.

Reading time 10 minutes

No one will argue about how important personal growth is in the profession. If a person is busy with what he loves, he has a sense of self-respect, he is able to see the world in brighter colors. Each person, in order to find himself, needs both family support and self-realization in work.

Now the experts professional definition the following criteria for a successful career choice are distinguished: it is a combination of a person's interests, his intellectual capabilities, personal characteristics, as well as the needs of the labor market. In this article, we will consider the relationship of social status with the professional level, the role of abilities in building a career, methods of self-development in the profession.

Professional growth, age and status

The conversation about the profession covers a fairly long period of life. Some believe that the problem of self-determination can be judged from the first thoughts on the topic "What will I be when I grow up?" and up to the moment when a person stops working, ceasing to be a person.

The process of personal and professional growth, career development, on the one hand, is closely related to a person's age. Belonging to an age category often means not so much biological age as position in the hierarchy. The word "lad" in Russia had the following meanings: "servant", "slave", "warrior of the prince's squad". Such a relationship exists between professional skills and age. A soldier who has served two years is called "grandfather" for a reason. To belittle and emphasize immaturity, on the contrary, other words are used - “salaga”, “kid”, “green”.

Psychological science has accumulated a lot of knowledge about what factors affect personal growth in the profession. Throughout life, a person is exposed to various factors, but three of them are important.

This biological factor(heredity, age, health status), social environment(starting from the family environment and ending with the state), personality activity(depending on self-esteem, level of claims, etc.)

The professional development of a person is divided into categories corresponding to age or length of service. For example, there are the following seniority categories: 1 to 5 years (first), 6 to 10 (second), 11 to 15 (third), and so on. Consideration of stages lasting 10 years is also popular.

They also talk about professional development without reference to a specific period, highlighting students, specialists, and pensioners. Each stage of professional development ends with a crisis - there is a rethinking of one's professional activity, the choice of new ways of self-realization.

Interests, aptitudes, abilities...

The terms "inclinations" and "interests", although they are related, are different concepts. Interest in subject area can lead to addiction. Some people like music - they show interest in it. But one person will be inclined to perform musical works, another will discover the composer in himself, a third will enjoy teaching the instrument to children.

The activities of radio installers, engineers, equipment adjusters are different, despite the fact that their interests lie in the same professional plane. If interests are dynamic, they can change over time life path, then the inclinations speak of inherent abilities, being more stable.

Researchers believe that each profession requires a person to have certain inclinations, a set of qualities - they determine whether a person is suitable for this profession or not. Abilities also facilitate personal growth in the profession, the passage of all stages of the career path.

In everyday life, the word "ability" can be endowed with different meanings. Sometimes they say about the physical capabilities of a person: "He is able to run 10 kilometers." Sometimes - about the intellectual - "He is not able to solve this equation." But in psychology, only those properties that are psychological and that vary from person to person are classified as abilities. For example, every person can talk and is capable of walking upright. However, speech is not classified as an ability; it is not a psychological property. Upright walking is common to all people, so it does not apply to abilities. This quality does not change.

Personal growth in the profession will be very difficult without a person having certain inclinations. Therefore, the range of skills is limited only to those that will benefit a person during work. Unable people are different from able people. The latter mastering the profession is given easier and faster, the results of their work are better.

Abilities are complex education. They include not only a natural predisposition to activity, but also the level of personality development. If you have difficulty identifying your inclinations, you can contact a psychologist who specializes in vocational guidance, or representatives of the “Personal Growth Trainer” profession. Trainings help to learn a lot of new information about yourself.

Abilities and personal growth in the profession

However, abilities are not yet a guarantee that a person will be successful in his field. They are some potential possibility of what may or may not happen. Ability can be compared to grain. It contains all the properties that will allow it to grow, to become an ear. However, for this to happen, many conditions must be met. In the same way, the fact that a child has musical talents does not in any way mean that he will become a great musician. If there are no adequate conditions - the opportunity to be creative, a favorable atmosphere at home, special education - the disposition to music will die out, never becoming something more.

In addition, inclinations can be realized in different ways. A sociable person with the makings of a leader can spend half his life in unworthy company; or he will be interested in the profession of “personal growth coach”. A person who is addicted to the underworld can break the law and get a prison term, or can become a criminal investigator. We will never know the true number of gifted people and geniuses who have not been recognized by society.

Until a person masters certain skills, self-realization remains inaccessible to him. Abilities can be discovered only in the process of personality activity. As the development of new knowledge is formed personality. It is impossible to discover in a child the ability to do mathematics, if you do not give him the opportunity to learn numbers, mathematical rules.

If a person fails to cope with their studies or workload, this does not always indicate a lack of ability. Perhaps he needs more time to master the necessary skills and abilities. Once V. Nemirovich-Danchenko was asked the question: can anyone master the profession of director? To this, the playwright and director replied: each, however, one will need three years for this, another three decades, and the third all three hundred.

Heredity and giftedness

There is a type of family where parents are little interested in the self-realization of the child, his personal preferences and inclinations. Parents say to the child: “Everyone in our family was doctors”, “You will follow in the footsteps of your father”, etc. It can be very difficult for such children to change their career path later.

However, this approach is not completely unfounded, although the situation with such families in itself requires psychological intervention. Opinions about the heritability of abilities were held by Plato. He was sure that the abilities are exclusively of biological origin, and depend only on who the child's parents were. Usually, in order to prove the heritability of talents and abilities, they point to their manifestation in early childhood. After all, the impact of education and training is not yet so strong in young children to determine the talents that have manifested.

It is known that Mozart's ability to music appeared already at the age of 3 years. Haydn - at 4 years old. The ideas of inheritance of abilities were adhered to by the English scientist F. Galton. In his opinion, this approach was a logical continuation of Darwin's theory of evolution.

In studies of the heritability of talent, the example of the Bach family is particularly striking. Musical abilities in the Bach family appeared in 1550. T. Ribot in his book "The heredity of mental disorders" wrote that the baker W. Bach relieved stress after work with the help of singing and music. The baker had two sons, from whom the family of musicians began. In total, there were 60 musicians in the German family, and 20 of them reached significant heights. Only J.S. Bach became known to the whole world.

Also, scientists have established a curious fact: L. N. Tolstoy and A. S. Pushkin were distant relatives. Their great-grandmothers - Olga and Evdokia Trubetskoy - were sisters.

Five prominent representatives of German culture were also related by family ties. These are Johann Schiller, whose works have become part of the world dramaturgy; the poet Friedrich Hölderlin; Hegel and Schelling, who stood at the origins of classical German philosophy; as well as physicist-theorist Max Planck. All these people had one ancestor - Immanuel Kant.

Development of professional abilities

Regular engagement in a certain type of activity contributes to the training of mental functions, ensures stable personal growth in the profession. It was found that already at the first stage of professional development, young psychiatrists develop the ability to sensitively capture the emotional state of the patient. Certain age periods are most sensitive for certain skills. Domestic psychologist B. G. Ananiev found that the best age for the development of memorization abilities is 18-24 years old, as well as 29-33 years old.

Interesting studies have been carried out by psychologists at the University of Bristol. After working for about 5 years on board aircraft, flight attendants began to complain that it was difficult for them to navigate in space and memorize new information. Psychologists examined flight attendants up to 28 years old, and concluded that their brain volume is indeed reduced, and their cognitive abilities are weakened. Here it is reasonable to argue that older flight attendants think worse than their younger counterparts, and it is not entirely clear who is obliged to train whom.

By the age of 30, a person is gradually freed from illusions and sensual storms, begins to look at life events with a more realistic look. Researchers note that 15-17-year-old boys who were prone to reckless and even reprehensible actions become organized and quite competent people by the age of 30. At the age of 30, a person sums up for the first time: youth has passed, and now a serious life lies ahead. If earlier the choice of the path was made correctly, now the person does not think about changing occupations, he continues his professional growth.

And at what age can you forget about a career?

The most famous unlucky number - "13" - has recently been successfully replaced by "45". This age has firmly settled in the minds of the masses, as a kind of border "before" and "after". Not the first generation has been influenced by the inhuman phenomenon of ageism - age discrimination. Despite this, gradually the generation for which the career ends at 50 is replaced by other people who stubbornly do not want to grow old either at 50, or at 60, or at 85. This indicates progress.

According to some scientists, the stage of youth lasts from 25 to 44 years. It is followed by the average age, which lasts up to 60. However, life in Russian conditions has some peculiarities. They hinder personal growth in the profession, do not allow comparing the development of people of the same age group living in different countries. For example, the retirement age for a German woman is 67 years. At the age of 50, a resident of Germany feels at the peak of her career - after all, she still has 17 years before retirement. For comparison, in Russia the feeling of “17 years left before retirement” arises already at the age of 38-40.

Scientists note that the trend of striving for youth and the opportunities that it gives is becoming more and more stable. Many concepts are now a thing of the past - for example, it is difficult to call a well-groomed woman a "housewife" who, in addition to household chores, manages to run her own business. And the professional development of those who are very young now will continue throughout their lives - perhaps in the future the concept of a pension will also disappear.

Self-development in the profession

People engaged in mental work are well aware of the need for self-improvement. Not always, however, they manage to achieve a certain result - intentions remain intentions.

Personal growth in the profession can be significantly accelerated with the help of special methods. They are the engines of self-development even in cases where the level of motivation leaves much to be desired. Let's consider these methods.

1. Evaluation and control of professional qualities, acquired skills.

You can evaluate progress by keeping regular records, or using special tests. At the same time, it is important not to measure acquired skills, but to monitor positive dynamics and qualitative achievements. So you can track personal growth in the profession, its real indicators. Self-assessment of acquired qualities should not be carried out with the help of self-observation - for this it is better to use special tools. Planning is also a form of control.

2. Drawing up professional goals.

Creating goals and periodically editing them helps to better understand your internal motives- understand why professional development is necessary, what it allows to achieve.

3. Development of motivation.

You need to take full responsibility for your own life and career. The more control a person feels over his own life, the happier and more productive he becomes. It is also necessary to work out psychological attitudes regarding crises. Difficult periods often carry opportunities for development. In particular, it is necessary to support high level motivation for those whose work is related to communication: this is the work of a teacher, an HR manager, the profession of a “coach of personal growth”.

4. Self-discipline.

The minimum time to become a professional is 3 to 5 years. Success does not come by chance, it is the result of a choice made by a person. Therefore, in order to reach professional heights, it is simply necessary to develop existing skills.

Conclusion

Mastery gives a person the opportunity to increase self-esteem, fill life with meaning, gain social status. Self-realization and development of the abilities inherent in a person occurs through professional activity. Talents cannot be realized on their own - this requires a favorable environment. Each person is responsible for ensuring that his skills and abilities find application. Personal growth in the profession opens up wide horizons for a person to achieve their goals, realize their potential, and transform life.

The vast majority of people living on our planet work. Of these, in turn, most work every day, with occasional days off at the end of the week. But not all people who have a profession and a paid position improve in their position as professionals. About how to do it and what it is - our article.

What does professional growth mean?

This is a qualitative improvement of oneself as a worker and creator, as a responsible and diligent worker. Regardless of what field a person works in, he can do his job badly, satisfactorily, well and brilliantly.

Genius, perhaps, cannot be learned - it either exists or it does not, and it can only be revealed in the case of a successful combination of circumstances, when a person throughout his life successfully develops in himself precisely those qualities to which his soul is drawn, to which there is an orientation personality.

But to rise from the level of a bad or mediocre employee to a valuable and excellent one is within the power of absolutely everyone.

Yes, indeed, the opportunities for high-quality professional growth are open to absolutely everyone - though not to every person in every field of activity. Sometimes you need to rethink yourself and your occupation, it is possible to change workplace– and only then be realized.

Careers are not always made by professionals

First, decide what is better and more desirable for you - career growth or professional growth. This is not exactly the same thing, since career growth can often involve promotion through not entirely honest methods - nepotism, favoritism, family ties, bribes, intimate relationships.

Despite the fact that both the state and the academic and pedagogical circles constantly advocate the rejection of these methods, which they generalize with the concept of corruption, it can be said with certainty that they are not dinosaurs and are not threatened with extinction. It may well happen that a less talented employee will outrank you in one of these ways.

Or you, having sacrificed principles, will go for it. Be that as it may, the prospects for professional growth often depend on the personal attitude to pursue them, often against short-term material gains or interests.

Career growth also often implies the expansion of the employee's powers, the development of new skills - but more with a bias towards the benefit of the employer and with the interest of the company. It is more visible to the employee's friends and family, as it is combined with changes such as salary increases, class and social privileges, and sometimes promotion to a more prestigious social class. Careerism is often similar to a manic fixation - it is addictive, and it is not for nothing that many similar gambling activities are a match for it.

Young people who have just graduated from educational institutions and are considering where to start a career can prefer it. Very mercantile persons who put material wealth and the conveniences associated with it so high that they are ready to do work that is not interesting to them or endure a conflicting, eccentric boss.

You can also recall all sorts of family affairs and business projects that parents pass on to their children, and they are often forced to give all their best to them, not sparing themselves, even contrary to their natural biological and psychological predispositions. Of course, if family business quite successful and in demand in its niche, produced by him wealth can allow you to happily combine career growth with professional growth, expand the possibilities of your self-development.

It is important to grow as a person

Professional and personal growth often go hand in hand, since the improvement of oneself as a creator of material things cannot but improve the spiritual state, mood and attitude of a person towards others.

As in all things, there needs to be a measure. Therefore, it is better not to go too far and not concentrate absolutely all your thoughts and energy on work, otherwise, instead of a balanced, whole person, you may turn out to be an unsociable, self-absorbed loner. Personal progress is, by and large, an improvement in your personal understanding of the world and your place in it.

Like any improvement, skill development has its own stages. They can be accelerated thanks to the presence of a friendly, comfortable team in the workplace, thanks to responsible bosses and an understanding family. They can be delayed or completely stopped if everyone is not very lucky with this.

So, what do we know about the stages of consistent professional growth:

As you can see, the stages as a whole are intuitive and similar to many things in this life. We can say that in work a person also experiences the seasons - spring, summer, autumn and winter.

It remains only to wish you not to linger too long in spring, to extend summer and autumn as long as possible, and not to be left with an empty barn in winter!

Reading time 7 minutes

The desire to become better, to reach new heights is a completely natural desire of any person who wants to be successful “on all fronts”. Personal and professional growth is a person's desire for self-development, as well as a sober assessment of their strengths and capabilities. You will be able to familiarize yourself with the leading terms in order to understand where to start personal growth and how not to stop there.

Glossary of key concepts

First of all, we still need to understand what the concept of "personal growth" implies. Many sciences, such as esotericism, psychology and sociology predetermine different meanings for these concepts. For convenience, we summarize them.

Personality- this is a symbiosis, together with a set of acquired preferences, habits, a person's sociocultural experience, and, among other things, his psychophysical characteristics that determine the future model of behavior in society.

Personal growth is the acquisition of new ones, as well as their accumulation for further use in self-development and improvement of life in a particular environment. There are no problems with this term - self-development already implies the acquisition of new, useful skills, with the help of which the desired result will be achieved. The main task of personal and professional growth is the achievement of high performance both in the chosen sphere of life and in their complex, increasing the potential in one's own career.

The main goals of self-development: personal and professional growth

The path of self-development is very thorny. He requires full dedication and work beyond his strength, to the limit of his capabilities. Not everyone chooses this kind of path. To overcome it, you must have a certain life goal, be prepared for difficulties and possible failures. A complete desire to create life without the influence of typicality, which is often imposed by the environment, including those close to you, is also part of a person's self-development.

Personal and professional growth help us to further achieve three main goals, on the basis of which we can continue self-improvement in the future:

  1. Harmony according to the current day- the study of new information obtained from various sources(books, visits to trainings, various seminars), its systematization and further use, taking into account all the requirements necessary for society, including our immediate environment, as well as reaching new heights in building a career.
  2. Formation of awareness- not only real, but also adequate acceptance of the present, a thorough analysis of one's own behavior model - all these actions are necessary to obtain required list possible problems and shortcomings that need to be corrected or completely eradicated so that in the future they do not interfere with professional growth.
  3. All-round development- improvement requires not only achievements best results only in a certain category and nearby, but also in absolutely opposite ones. Thus, you develop comprehensively, which means that you can develop in a completely new direction for you based on the acquired knowledge and skills. It is necessary not only to be an ace in your field, you must also be able to maintain a secular conversation on any topic.

The Five Essential Stages of Personal Growth

According to research by Richard Boyatzis, head of the Department of Organizational Behavior at the School of Management, a huge percentage of people “perceive personal and professional growth as some kind of revelation or insight, in a word, a catharsis of their life path, without thinking about its cyclicality.” Indeed, by its nature, any development is nothing more than a sequence of certain stages, during the passage of which, you get all the necessary information that is needed to start a new one.

The stages of human professional development he proposes are based on the study of such sciences as sociology and psychology, which gives us the opportunity to answer, based on the complex knowledge of these sciences, the question that is relevant at all times: where to start personal and professional growth?

5 stages of personality development:

  1. The incomparable inner "I"- our own vision of ourselves - an ideal, inherently model of existence with the outside world and people. Such a practice is necessary for the full activation of our internal resources, because in this case, the best motivator is an ideal that does not yet exist. But at this stage, the main stumbling block is the reaction of society - after all, it often expects diametrically opposite things from us. It is very important, at this very moment, not to succumb to the general influence, because you and only you know your goal, your cherished dream, and no one has the right to dissuade you from it;
  2. Analysis and acceptance of one's essence- comprehension and acceptance of one's own shortcomings and positive facets of the personality - this stage of personal development is necessary for moving from the real to the desired. However, despite its frank simplicity, the stage itself requires a lot of internal strength, because it is very difficult to realize all your shortcomings, not to mention eliminating them. This happens for the reason that since childhood, we have been forming our image, which often consists only of positive qualities, rejecting it means refusing to admit our own and long-term wrongness. Also, acceptance of one's own essence is one of the most important steps to professional development, because in this way we can see ourselves through the eyes of others, which is vital for climbing the career ladder;
  3. Creating your own self-learning and improvement program- drawing up the necessary plan of work on oneself, its invariable execution. This stage is aimed mainly at improving labor indicators, as well as personal satisfaction of one's own life. In its focus, this stage is not as significant as the previous two, but it is still necessary for personal and professional development in that it helps us set goals on our own, look for ways to achieve them, developing the ability to discipline ourselves while calculating all kinds of development options. events;
  4. Putting into practice acquired knowledge and skills- so, we have fully studied not only the theoretical base, but, among other things, the proposed models of behavior, but all this must be put into practice, because without it, everything will remain at the previous stages, and further self-knowledge will be impossible. Of course, at the very beginning it will not be easy, but with the further use of them, they will become natural, that we will not even think about whether to use them or not, because they will become part of our personality. Of course, to achieve such a result, you need to spend a lot of effort and energy. This whole process can be compared with running in a new car - with repeated use, you get used to all the nuances, you no longer think, but simply act on a whim;
  5. Maintaining and creating new contacts with society- of course, for professional as well as career growth. Active communication with society is a must (unless you are a freelancer). But even in this case, involving other people in your work gives you additional responsibility. And this will not allow you to so easily abandon your goal, because others have already contributed to your personal development.

Since ancient times, the process of communicating with people has been necessary for the guidelines of life direction. We always choose to communicate with those individuals with whom we will be as comfortable as possible, let's say "along the way." Thanks to communication with such a reference group of people, we have the opportunity to see and evaluate our actions from the outside.

In the construction of these elements of professional and personal development, we observe a certain cyclicity and dependence of these stages on each other. It is impossible to move on if at least one condition is not met. Importantly, each of these stages answers the question: where to start personal and professional growth? It is necessary to start with oneself first of all, and only then, at the very end, to rely on the mutual assistance of the surrounding society.

6 Signs You're Ready to Change

Before you start self-improvement, you need to understand whether you are ready for this now. If you are not mentally prepared for this, then all your efforts will be wasted and most likely, you will simply stop at some stage. Now, you will learn seven clear signs that you are intent on changing your life:

  1. Awareness of inner discomfort- you are on your own! realize that some of your personal beliefs do not work, and probably even fail completely during the test of strength. This is a vivid example of the realization of one's wrong, which in the future will be necessary for passing through all stages of professional and personal development.
  2. Discovering the grain of your own discomfort. “What is wrong?”, “What am I doing wrong?”, “Am I wrong?” - most often it is these questions that accompany our search for a problem. It is they who help us to realize that it is time to move on, not resting on our laurels.
  3. I'm to blame for everything- laying responsibility for mistakes on oneself is a clear sign of a person's maturity, her complete readiness to form new aspects of her personality.
  4. Finding the answer to the question "What to do?"- by asking this question, you automatically begin personal and professional growth, because you are already in search of a way to solve the problem that has arisen, and do not let everything take its course.
  5. active action- searching for sources of information, such as reading the necessary literature or attending trainings - in combination, all this gives a very positive result, because in this case you already realize what you want to change, and also determine whether you are ready to take a step into the unknown.
  6. Bringing actions to automatism- you apply a new model of behavior to yourself, trying to partially or completely replace the old one. You are open to everything new, so you are not afraid to experiment (within reason, of course). Do not forget that strict discipline of one's own actions is necessary here. Without it, all your attempts and movements will become just a chaotic set of unrelated things. And the coefficient of their utility will be equal to zero.

Output

It can be said with full confidence that a person who strives for personal and professional development must constantly engage in self-study! Never stop there, because stopping is a regression that is not so easy to fix. The formation of a professional is possible only in the case of the unity of the professional and internal development of the subject. That is, a competent miscalculation of possible misses and active encouragement in case of success.

The influence of our society on the achievement of the result is just as important. But do not forget that society should only help to see itself from the outside. Do not use society as a backbone to form your own goals. After all, if we go on full rein with other people, then we risk. We risk becoming an unimportant part of a huge mechanism, and not its heart and main element.

Listen to yourself, to the inner "I" and achieve what you want! This is your personal and professional development. Do not think about how society will perceive you, because, as you know, it is easier to accept and condemn negatively than to help and cheer.

  • What are the stages of professional growth?
  • What prevents you from achieving professional growth.
  • What conditions are needed for professional growth.
  • Professional and career development are one and the same.
  • What is the difference between professional and personal growth?

What conditions are needed for professional growth

  1. cultural conditions. The innovative culture of the organization is able to support the initiative of employees in their improvement and stimulation of professional growth. Whereas the bureaucratic one can completely block it.
  2. personal conditions. A leader can be a self-developing innovator or a cautious conservative. One or another style of enterprise management plays an exceptional role in this aspect and in stimulating the professional growth of employees. If the director encourages employees to participate in the discussion of company issues and identify problems, encourages initiative, shows interest in the participation of employees to solve pressing problems, does not reject risk and does not object to criticism, a favorable environment for self-development in the team is created.

To solve the above task, it is necessary to be provided with the following resources:

  • time for self development
  • access to the information,
  • methodological equipment (events, training programs and technologies that can help an employee in his development and achieve professional growth. It is important to note here that these are individual methods that a manager who is interested in his self-improvement sees as useful for himself and corresponding to his plans for professional growth).

Creating a good ground for self-development of employees in a company is sometimes significantly costly. But this is a kind of way of investing in the future of your company and your own development. Managers with serious potential for professional growth represent a serious support for the development of the company, which can already be called a training organization.

What does a professional development plan look like?

  1. Formation of qualities, skills, which are not, but they are necessary. They need to be identified and developed. This task is not easy and, as a rule, involves the help of special trainers, consultants, mentors. But the organization of efforts in this direction can give the most significant effect in self-development and the pursuit of professional growth.
  2. Development of already existing skills and personal qualities that can be strengthened. Yes, it can be done with diligent improvement and due attention. This is easily solved without outside help.
  3. Elimination of shortcomings, barriers that reduce the effectiveness of activities and hinder professional growth. Here, too, the help and advice of coaches is often needed, since the task is quite complicated.

Of course, it is very effective to go simultaneously in all of these areas. But, as practice shows, such an attempt to implement a professional growth plan is considered impossible. Working in each of them separately is psychologically difficult.

Interference with professional growth

  1. Poor theoretical preparation. Unfortunately, not many students are distinguished by their zeal for learning and the desire for personal and professional growth. It is widely believed that theory is not useful in practice. Although, for example, professional education in the field of management gives you the opportunity to freely get used to your specialization immediately after graduation.
  2. Ignorance of interrelationships in the company. Unfortunately, very few go beyond their activities and do not climb the steps of professional growth. Many people think that understanding the functioning of the company in which they work comes with experience and at the same time they prefer not to raise their heads, hiding behind their computer monitor.
  3. Failure to position yourself. Many people think that professional and career growth appear by themselves, taking it for granted. More often than not, these people are wrong.
  4. Money comes first. Often people put material goods in the first place, subordinating their motivation to them. They do not understand what exactly professional growth and development entail cash flows, and not vice versa. This is a shortcoming of many workers, especially now, in a crisis, when the thirst for easy money hurts a career. The employer is sometimes forced to resort to emergency measures and sometimes change previous obligations. Employees begin to neglect their own activity, thus stopping their development, professional growth and achievements.
  5. Friday Manager Syndrome. Many people believe that a special fate awaits them, and their current work “for their uncle” is just a temporary necessity, and at the same time it is completely undignified. Such an attitude destroys personal growth and does not stimulate real deeds.

Those who want to become effective have to overcome the mindset

Sergei Nishchev,

Commercial Director, Beeline Kazakhstan fixedlines

Today the labor market in the CIS is overheated. On the portals for job offers, the ratio of vacancies / resumes is 1/50! On average, the competition is 50 people per seat. And in the light of recent world events, the tensions in the offices of most (if not all) companies do not subside. How will the bones be cut, will there be cuts? The only way not to worry while working in a company is to be really effective, to strive for professional growth.

According to the conclusions of the study “The influence of national cultures on the formation and development of management in different countries”, which was started in the early 80s by the Dutch sociologist GirtHofstede, “... the world is seeing a convergence of views in assessing effective management styles. An effective “global” leader is a manager who is trustworthy, energetic, decisive, smart, reliable, able to plan ahead and create motivation. effective leader looks different - this is a controversial personality with a pronounced tough auto-critical style of behavior. Its main features are: the ability to make individual decisions and be responsible for them; openness, speed and competence in an unstable external environment; focus on the process, not on the end result; aggressiveness and concern for status; lack of vision for the future.

Russia in the "management table of rank" is next to such countries as Venezuela, Iran, Turkey, Mexico. Disappointing conclusion. Especially for many Russian managers who are used to comparing themselves with Europeans and North Americans…”. This is how the well-known business coach Mikhail Kolontay described the results of the study.

Those who want to become effective have to overcome the attitudes of our mentality, which are instilled from childhood by parents, neighbors, secondary education, etc.).

  • How to earn authority in the team as a leader: 9 qualities

Motivation for professional growth: what drives self-development

  1. Cognitive motive - associated with the process of performing educational activities, with the desire to learn and understand as much as possible, in enjoying the process of obtaining new knowledge.
  2. The general social motive consists in the desire to be useful to society, as well as to obtain the knowledge that a person needs for this. In another way, it can be called the motive of benefit.
  3. The motive for cooperation is associated with the desire to act in a team. Here it is important to have an understanding that the work on the assimilation and acquisition of new knowledge will be more effective if the difficulties are brought up for discussion and considered with the teacher and in the team.
  4. The motive for joint achievement is the desire, together with the teacher or with the team, to look for fresh ways to resolve professional matters, ways to develop professional growth. There is a strong desire to achieve results together, and not alone.
  5. The motive of creative activity is associated with the great attractiveness of creative types, activities and tasks. Here one can clearly distinguish an active desire to find unusual, creative results in work. This is a creative approach to work and the process of professional growth.
  6. The motive of self-actualization is the desire of a person to maximally reveal and express inner capabilities and abilities. Here it is important to develop internal potential.
  7. The prestigious motive is the desire to take a clear place in relations with the environment, to meet the expectations of people, the thirst for approval and the need for the status of authority. This motive for professional growth is also reflected in the desire to demonstrate personal knowledge and abilities. This factor helps to achieve authority, the desire to meet the expectations of others. In other words, it is a kind of competitive motive.
  8. A pragmatic motive is a motive for deriving benefits in order to meet future needs, including material ones, an investment in one's future.

Are personal and professional growth the same thing?

Remember the situation when you need to send a message to a friend, colleague, or when you yourself are congratulated, for example, on your birthday. One of the most popular wishes usually always sounds something like this: “Health, success in your career, happiness in your personal life!”. That is, in order for a person to be satisfied with his life, he needs financial well-being and harmony within oneself (in addition to health). These are important conditions for personal growth and development and general well-being.

The terms “professional growth” and “personal growth” themselves can be described as the constant development of a person and the accumulation of rich and diverse experience and knowledge throughout his life.

Natural, natural picking life experience without additional self-development of the personality, without personal intervention - the process itself is quite long. And, when you, it seems, understood everything what and how, then the realization came, but it turns out that it is already too late.

As we understand, in order to significantly speed up this process, you need to devote more time to self-education - to independently actively seek, receive information on the right issues. To accelerate professional growth, it is important and necessary not only to be aware of all trends, follow the latest news and novelties, but also to receive additional education, complete advanced training courses, etc. Well, for personal growth - read more. Psychological literature is especially useful. Of course, such education needs more time, this process requires patience and diligence from you.

The following personality criteria can be noted:

  • self-knowledge;
  • self motivation;
  • promotion of professional and personal growth;
  • self-realization.

Professional and personal growth occurs when a person has learned to successfully apply the acquired knowledge in practice, for the benefit of life (from books, courses, trainings, etc.). It is not so much the volume that matters, but the skill.

In addition, even the most educated person in his professional field, without simple communication skills and responsibility, is unlikely to be able to comprehend all career opportunities.

The leader strives more for personal growth than for career

Galina Rogozina,

Head of Leadership Development Practice consulting company RosExpert, Moscow

In domestic business, the criteria for professional growth and success are salary and place in the job hierarchy. Great salary and high post often bring for leaders and inner satisfaction. But entrepreneurs and those who want to realize their potential in any case need to look back at generally accepted standards to comply with unwritten social norms.

The leader internally seeks to try his abilities in various fields, mastering new skills and knowledge. Strives to achieve more personal growth than career, considering himself as a mentor. Disagreement is clearly visible here - a tougher, more challenging and ambitious behavior is demonstrated, while commanding, creative and leadership qualities are masked.

  • How to choose the best leadership style and influence the success of the entire company

5 attitudes of personal growth

1. Balance of work and life.

We all know the famous Russian proverb "Work is not a wolf, it will not run away into the forest." Days at work pass for an employee in anticipation of the weekend, and months - in anticipation of vacation. It is very important to understand that work is also a component of life. It should not be burdensome for us, moreover - to bring pleasure!

Working, we develop, we learn the possibilities of professional growth. Every day brings new information, contacts, experience. Learn to not only see it, but appreciate it. And the extremely hated work will be easier to accept, recognizing it as part of your life.

2. Passion for business.

To achieve personal growth and planned goals, you need to learn to treat your work with reverence and love. This is difficult to do if there are doubts about the correctness of the chosen path. But each business must be started as if it were fateful and sincerely believe in a positive result. Develop an interest in your work.

3. Personal responsibility.

Understand and assimilate important rule- only you are responsible for your actions, learn to take responsibility for yourself, and not shift it to others. Personal and professional growth is given to the strong and responsible.

4. The power of losing.

Each failure is a step forward and a new invaluable experience based on your own examples. Using them is important to your worldview. Of course, this is very unsettling, but on the path of personal growth and development, when climbing to the top, mistakes and difficulties are inevitable. This path is difficult and thorny. But you need to use everything to your advantage. No depression and self-flagellation! Understood, learned - and moved on!

5. Purpose is primary.

Always clearly define your goal and sweep away everything superfluous. Sometimes we forget about it, we start exchanging small things and get distracted. Do not stray from the personal growth program, use everything to achieve the goal, any resources, always return scattered thoughts to the main thing.

  • Sales Manager: How to Become a Great Manager

Professional and Career Growth: What's the Difference?

Professional growth is the expansion of a variety of specialized knowledge, skills and abilities. Professional development can be directed both to a narrow specialization and to a broad one. When a person begins to be valued as a professional completely in the circles of his specialty, and not only at a particular place of work, this highest point success.

Career growth is the expansion of powers, increased responsibility, and not just an increase in salary. Climbing the career ladder is almost impossible without professional development.

Let's look at all this using the example of a sales manager. Given the factors of professional growth of such employees, they can be grouped into two types:

  1. Just good specialists who close deals at the usual level.
  2. Managers who constantly improve their skills and achieve the highest results.

To reach the second level, you need impeccable knowledge of your business. It is important to understand all the subtleties and be a guru of communication skills (you need to properly conduct a dialogue with the buyer). Knowledge of the psychology of the client is only a plus.

It is the “skill” of a manager that is the basis on which his professional growth is built. Knowledge of theory and mastery of practice are powerful tools for an employee. Good natural data in the system of professional growth is also important. Agree, charm and etiquette play a significant role in communication.

In general, a person of any profession should strive for self-improvement. It is not at all necessary to dream about climbing the career ladder - it is enough to overcome the steps of professional growth, because sometimes an ordinary highly skilled worker gets more than his boss. It just has its own importance. In addition, it is the professional growth of people, and not a high position that makes you respect them. Knowledge is more important than rank.

  1. Achieve the best possible result. Hundreds and sometimes thousands of athletes participate in the competition, however, only one of all becomes the winner who comes to the finish line first. He gets all the laurels and glory. What is the price of this victory? Not only natural data (the rest of the participants also have them), but also constant exhausting workouts. Professional growth and its achievements in the face. Each skill can be brought to perfection, it's all about practice. You won't be able to become indispensable right away. Develop a sports spirit and patience.
  2. Learn to work under stress and uncertainty. The higher your professional growth and career, the more stress on your way. This must be taken for granted and a necessary component of ascent. Most people are afraid of this factor. But, most importantly, set yourself up correctly! Remember that everything will pass sooner or later, think about the good and know that no one owes anything to anyone. Well, of course, always try to remain calm. Both personally and collectively, this quality is beneficial.
  3. Maintain integrity. Watch your behavior, you should be an example for your employees. It should be real, not fake, you like it and charge others. Your authority among colleagues will be impeccable. The professional growth of the leader and his charisma are distinguished as the boss in the team.
  4. Use networking - the successful establishment of the necessary connections. This skill is an important part of professional and career growth. Our standard and everyday social circle is us, our family, friends, colleagues. You don't need to build relationships with other people, remember - connections decide a lot. To establish them, certain skills in negotiations are required. Here, the constant practice of communication will help you, our whole life favors this. Learn effective dialogues and competent communication.
  5. Improve your personal effectiveness - an additional way for your professional and career growth. Requires maximum concentration and willpower.
  6. Work "thinking". Thinking is the same job. But it is important to understand that there is a difference between ordinary mental stress and work stress. For professional development and career growth, this is extremely important. Obvious superficial solutions do not bring success, you need to look for an alternative, and for this you need to strain the brain through force, make it work harder. Brainstorming is an effective team exercise.
  7. Act here and now. We are accustomed to postponing everything until tomorrow, thinking for a long time over making a decision. If you need to call someone, throughout the day we can return to this thought, but we never pick up the phone. And we find many factors to justify it. No need to wait, learn instant solutions. This skill is essential for personal and professional growth. Everything is possible here and now!
  8. Learn to work with large amounts of information. Top manager big company every day you have to deal with tons of information, mail, professional literature, work on the Internet. We recommend 2 effective methods: time management and speed reading. It is quite possible to learn this skill on your own - it can be polished from books. Striving for professional growth and development, this is a simple step towards the goal. By increasing the reading speed to five hundred words / min., You will free yourself about an hour and a half, saving at least on parsing incoming letters.
  9. Constantly learn. Live and learn. Familiar? The process of active learning leads life itself. Get ready to accept and absorb information from everywhere - from communication with colleagues, the head. Here it is important to overcome your pride and set aside your ambitions, giving the brain more room. Let him accept and process information, this activity is more useful. Recognizing gaps in competence is difficult, but you need to do it for your own sake.
  10. Expand your horizons. For professional development and career growth, you need to constantly learn something new, look for opportunities for this, and not be lazy and not refuse them. There is a lot of interesting information around us. Get it right away! Colleagues are asking for help with a project, but this is not your area of ​​expertise? Do not refuse, take part - and you will help people and you will definitely learn something new for yourself. Believe me, it will only benefit!
  11. Pay attention to details. This is very important point, any puncture can affect your business reputation. Indeed, it is difficult to follow the subtleties and be aware of all the details without doing them yourself. Create a system for monitoring projects and their indicators, and provide the results to your employers yourself. Customize this process, even while in a managerial position.

What professional skills will help in professional growth

  1. Understanding the market. You, as a person interested in professional and career growth, need to navigate how and where your customers can see the results of the company's work. Collect possible points of contact with the buyer, analyze them. How does a customer learn about your company's products? Where will it be purchased? How? How will the product be used? How long must it take before it becomes possible to offer him a novelty? Approach the analysis of this chain responsibly. Try to look through the eyes of your client, focus on the so-called market position of the company. This is important when reaching the top level.
  2. Understanding competitors and managing relationships with them.

There are two types:

  • oligopoly. All major tycoons are in plain sight, and their activities are freely available. It is not difficult to track their results.
  • open or free competition. There are difficulties here. Sometimes you have to resort to tricks competitive intelligence. Customer surveys and questionnaires will also help in this matter.

3. Benchmarking. Do not be afraid to look around and take into account the experience of companies in other industries. Who promotes their product and how, works with clients, what sales methods do they use? Study, compare, compare and adapt successful examples, standards. This will serve the purpose of improving your own company, its professional growth.

4. A formed understanding of the market is the foundation of your professional skills as a leader. There are many definitions of management and leadership. So what is their difference? The manager is able to manage, and the leader is able to inspire. What do you need to know and use from management for successful professional growth? Planning, organization, motivation and control. These are the most important functions.

5. Game at work, or "gamification". Skillful application of game methods in non-game process is very effective. As a rule, people are drawn into this action with willingness and interest, because there are clear rules of the game and it is known what needs to be done to receive a prize. A creative atmosphere is created in the team, among people who are accustomed to games. Material factors in such a process create additional significance.

6. Quick analysis of business performance indicators. Who owns the information rules the world - a simple truth that is so important for your professional growth and career. This is the basis of success.

7. Setting up an analytics system. Try to manage it by any means, form a powerful analytical team, follow what is happening with the business. Use a quick analysis of early indicators of danger to the business, improve it, involve employees (this process will serve as additional training for them).

Information about authors and companies

Sergei Nishchev, commercial director, Beeline Kazakhstan fixedlines. He has 15 years of experience in marketing and business development management. Two-time laureate and winner all-Russian competition Russian Association Marketing "Marketing in Russia". BeelineKazakhstanfixedlines (2Day Telecom LLP) is part of the VimpelCom group of companies.

International telecommunications holding VimpelComLtd, headquartered in Amsterdam (Netherlands), includes companies from 14 countries providing voice and data services based on a wide range of wireless and fixed communication technologies, as well as broadband Internet access in Russia, Italy, Ukraine , Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Algeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Zimbabwe.

Galina Rogozina, Head of Leadership Development Practice at RosExpert Consulting Company, Moscow. Graduated from the Moscow Institute of Petrochemical and gas industry them. THEM. Gubkin with a degree in Mathematician-Programmer. For five years she worked as a commercial director of the publishing house "Computerra". She joined RosExpert in 2002 as Business Development Director; in 2005 she headed the practice of leadership development; since 2007 - a partner of the company. Author of several dozen publications in business publications (Vedomosti, Kompaniya, Elite Personnel, etc.) on the selection of top managers and the development of leadership potential.

Personal and career growth are two, it would seem, different concepts, which, nevertheless, psychologists always consider in an inseparable bundle. Often people have a depressing feeling that they professional activity stuck in place, and neither the position nor the position no longer satisfies their ambitions. Realizing this fact is a sign that it is time for you to think about your career growth. They talk a lot about him, but more often at a superficial level, without fully delving into complex essence this concept.

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Types and goals of career growth

The standard understanding of this phenomenon is reduced to a metaphor career ladder: start from the bottom and reach leadership positions. But this is only one side of a multifaceted concept. Modern psychologists distinguish three types of career growth, each of which has its own goals:

Job growth

Its essence is precisely reflected by the very metaphor of the career ladder, when a person moves up the job hierarchy in order to receive higher wages and increase his social importance. Change of positions can occur measuredly and in stages, and also, on the contrary, abruptly or rapidly.

Professional career growth

It involves the improvement (deepening and expansion) of existing skills and knowledge, gaining new experience that is valuable from a professional point of view. As a rule, such a career advancement is accompanied by an increase in salary, but this is not a priority and motivating goal.

Social career development

The desire to occupy positions that will allow, among other things, to belong to a certain social group. For such people, career prospects are inextricably linked with socialization and the search for their place in public life.

Thus, one can understand why different people need career growth. For some, the main motivating factor is money, for some it is the improvement of oneself as a specialist in a particular field, and someone considers a successful career as an opportunity to gain a significant social status and find their place in life.

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Personal qualities necessary for career growth

People planning to build a successful official career should not only demonstrate uncompromising professionalism in their field, but also be distinguished by a number of important personality traits.

  • Have universal communicative inclinations, i.е. be able to establish effective interpersonal communication with colleagues, regardless of their place in the job hierarchy.
  • The ability to influence other people, activity and determination are also important personality traits for those who are building a career.
  • It is impossible to reach the very top without high self-esteem (realistically compared with your abilities and abilities), an appropriate level of self-control and the ability to solve the most unusual problems with a cool head.

If people with systemic and analytical thinking gravitate towards career growth (vertical), then professional career growth (horizontal) is more inherent in creative individuals. People who achieve success in this direction are distinguished by such personality traits as diplomacy, non-conflict, constant openness to new knowledge, lack of arrogance.

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Career planning should always include work with personal qualities. Building a competent strategy begins with understanding the strengths and weaknesses of his character. To formulate the career growth objectives facing you, to clearly think over the strategy and work out your personal qualities to match your plans, you will definitely satisfy your ambitions and achieve success.