Escaping the Career Ceiling: How to Break Free from Employer-Imposed Limitations
The key to your success is taking independent action as a self-directed learner. Your future is predicated on continuously building capabilities that drive your future leadership advancement.
Through this commitment to your developmental initiative, you will be able to overcome the obstacles often encountered in many organizations.
Here are the five that significantly limit the value received from employer-provided leadership development.
All employees act as agents for their employer with all efforts directed at the organization’s well-being.
The Organization then is the principal with agents that work on its behalf. There is usually a positive alignment between the organization and the agent’s self-interest. But sometimes there can be a divergence.
An example might be the organization’s need for cost savings that cut resources for training, which is necessary for the employee’s long-term skill development.
Another example could be the training needed for longer-term career objectives is replaced with training in the interest of short-term organizational needs.
Unsurprisingly, as you move up, competition for advancement becomes more intense and requires advanced leadership capabilities.
2. Advanced leadership development may be restricted to a few candidates deemed worthy of the employer’s investment. This restricted accessibility can result in an internal career dead-end.
3. Many organizations measure training success based on “butts in seats” (or eyeballs on screen) for company-run training programs.
These one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter programs provide little targeted application relevance and an overabundance of theory on leadership.
In some toxic cultures, you may find (as I have,) that upon returning from the training program, the boss, says “Hope you had a nice break, forget all that B.S. this the way we do it here.”
4. Leadership development programs based on the latest Pop-Psych book provide a motivational experience, which gets labeled, Leadership Development.
Many senior executives like to think of themselves as “on the cutting edge” looking for the next big thing.
They are easy prey for the media’s latest report on “breakthrough” strategies leadership strategies.
While these might be fun they rarely provide practical value in contributing to leadership mastery.
5. There is often insufficient time provided for the vital application practice required along with effective feedback.
Goals are often set with minimal follow-up about accomplishments.
Note: These limitations are related specifically to leadership development.
There are many fine in-house skill training courses. Courses on safety, computer programming, and so forth.
They have clear skill-building components, capable instructors and resources, and adequate practice time with proficiency assessments included.
Actions You Must Take
Become a Self-Directed Learner. Self-directed learners take ownership of their development.
They are proactive in identifying their learning needs, setting goals, and pursuing learning opportunities that align with their interests and aspirations.
Taking initiative empowers you to take charge of your leadership career. You will gain greater autonomy, confidence, and self-efficacy.
Become a Student of Your Organization. By broadening your macro understanding of how your organization seeks to achieve its objectives, you will identify multiple opportunities for learning more about the capabilities you need to be working on to advance your career.
As you direct your growth and develop additional more advanced leadership capabilities more and more opportunities with continue to emerge both inside and quite possibly outside the organization.
Put Together Your Professional Development Plan. Start by selecting a leadership capability with current or near-turn benefits that you can grow. Access low and no-cost resources often available online.
In recent years there has been an explosion of virtual resources to draw upon.
Begin (or extend) your professional network. Investing in networking outside of your organization is important to future career success. Identify related associations linked to your current or career target industry or professional discipline.
Need help? Get a coach, your coach, not the company-provided coach. You need someone whose sole interest is dedication to your leadership growth and commitment to your career objectives. Given the principal-agent limitations, these may or may not align with your employer’s preferences.
If you agree that there is a real career risk in exclusive reliance on employer-provided leadership development, subscribe now to The Hidden Side of Leadership Newsletter with upcoming related articles such as:
Three Leadership Capabilities Most Employers Don’t Know That You Need
The First Critical Actions You Must Take as a Newly Appointed Leader
Executive Presence, What is It and How Do I Get It?
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