With 2020 in the rearview mirror, we are starting to look ahead and set some personal and professional goals for the new year. In December, I hosted the ninth Virtual Meeting of the Novarica Women’s Network on building an actionable personal development plan. Our panelists, WCF CIO Debi Mofford, Glatfelter Insurance CIO and VP Larissa Tosch, and Novarica VP Deb Zawisza shared their best strategies for personal and professional development in 2021. I’ve included some highlights below.
Getting to Know Yourself
Before starting down a path of personal or professional development, it is important to take a moment and reflect on your values, beliefs, and core interests. In our fast-paced world, it is easy to get caught up in day-to-day challenges, obligations, and workloads and lose sight of that which is most important to us. These values—integrity, transparency, quality work, being a strong team player—are what ultimately drive us as people and professionals. They are the key to building meaningful and rewarding careers. All transformations begin within; only after reflecting on these values can you start crafting your personal brand and development plan.
Creating Your Personal Brand
Your personal brand is the projection of your distinct skill set, key achievements, and areas of expertise. It’s your public persona, your professional identifier, and your workplace reputation wrapped in one. When creating a personal brand, it’s important to identify what excites you, your key strengths and weaknesses, and what you want to be known for.
Identifying your strengths and weaknesses can be challenging for the best of us. We can have a biased view of ourselves, unintentionally overlooking our core attributes. This is where your workplace team and network can come in handy—you can’t improve upon what you’re unaware of. Gathering feedback from your personal inner circle as well as from peers, supervisors, and direct reports is a great place to start. Encourage brutal honesty from those you speak to. Though it may be tough to hear, identifying and understanding your weaknesses is critical to both personal and professional development. Completing a self-assessment can also be helpful; Gallup offers a tool, CliftonStrengths, to help you identify your top strengths and talents.
The final piece of building a personal brand is deciding what you want to be known for. If you are able to select a niche that aligns with your core values, matches your identified strengths, and showcases your unique skill set, you will be known for what you want to be known for. Developing a distinct, enduring personal brand will put you in the path of opportunities that you’ll be truly excited about.
Building Your Personal Development Plan
Once you’ve established a personal brand and identified what you want to be known for, it’s time to build an action plan for personal development. What skills will you need to build in order to differentiate yourself in your chosen field? What resources and experiences will you need in order to master these skills? Open yourself up to new experiences that challenge your comfort zone. It is the best way to grow personally and professionally. Be sure to set realistic goals for yourself, and reach out to a mentor or friend to help keep you accountable.
The next Novarica Women’s Network Virtual Meeting will take place on January 27, 2020, at 11AM ET on the topic of “Becoming a Better Coach.” Speakers include Novarica’s Vice President of Research and Consulting Deb Zawisza. More information is available at https://novarica.com/womensnetwork.
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