Career Vision Board Ideas

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐠. It’s actually a 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 requiring high availability and fault tolerance. I realized that choosing a specialization in tech—be it Cloud Architecture, DevOps, or Full Stack—follows the same heuristics we use for 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗗𝗲𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧. Here is the breakdown of the "𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞" protocol: 1. 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗜𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (Know What You Like): Just as we analyze logs to understand system behavior, analyze your history. What topics do you advocate for during lunch? What GitHub repos do you star? This is your baseline telemetry. 2. 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 (Heatmaps): In the sketch, I drew a heatmap matching "Good At" vs. "Like." In engineering terms, this is finding the sweet spot between 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝗽𝘂𝘁 (volume of work you can handle) and 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 (how much drag you feel doing it). 3. 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝗯𝘁 𝗔𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 (The 'Yuck' Stuff): This is crucial. Just because you are efficient at cleaning up messy legacy code doesn't mean you should specialize in it. If a task has high proficiency but low satisfaction, it represents future burnout—essentially, 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒅𝒆𝒃𝒕. Deprecate these tasks early. 4. 𝗘𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗣𝗜 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 (Ask the Big Kids): Don't rely on cached data. Poll external nodes (Seniors, Principals). Ask about their daily stack, their leadership exposure, and their context switching overhead. 5. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗔𝗣 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 (Pick 2 & Look Closer): You usually have three metrics: 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗙𝘂𝗻, and 𝗣𝗮𝘆. It is rare to get strong consistency across all three immediately. Analyze your "Career Castles" (A vs. B) and decide which trade-off is acceptable for this specific epoch of your life. 6. 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 (Start): Analysis paralysis is the enemy of uptime. If the metrics are close, deploy the instance that you are leaning toward. You can always rollback or re-architect later. Your career isn't a waterfall model; it's agile. Iterate often. Don't worry about a path not working out, you can always roll back :) #CareerPath #SystemDesign #SoftwareEngineering #TechCareers #Sketchnote

Six jobs, six oceans: every crossing rewrote the rules I thought I knew. I remember stepping into a global AI role at Microsoft, bracing for technical hurdles, yet most challenges were silent, subtle, and rooted in people. Here’s what experience taught me: 🔍 Stakeholder mapping comes first. Miss hidden voices, spend months untangling confusion. 🗺️ Copy-pasted process blueprints? Great on paper, but every region requires real adaptation or progress stalls. 📢 Change depends on visible executive support. If leaders aren’t present and vocal, even smart ideas fizzle. 📈 Build dashboard tracking for KPIs from day one, waiting means firefighting later. 🌐 Remote teams need crystal-clear roles. Vague boundaries mean fast-tracked burnout. 🏋️♂️ Double your training if surveys say “everyone’s ready” resistance hides where you least expect it. From business development: 📊 Track conversions and losses early, or invite chaos. 🔒 Compliance needs weekly attention; tiny gaps turn into huge risks at scale. 🛠️ Translating material isn’t enough; local workflows demand custom solutions. 🔁 Ongoing follow-up drives engagement short campaigns quickly fade. 💡 Transparent incentives fuel healthy competition and keep teams motivated. 🤝 Networking from day zero unlocks solutions before obstacles even arise. In partnerships and consulting: 🙋 Coaching works only when tailored generic onboarding leaves talent untapped. 🤝 Trust drives sustainable revenue, while tactics alone fade. 🛡️ Conflict resolution plans must exist before trouble starts. 📊 Track trends, document wins, recruit easier. 📆 Plans decay—revalidate constantly. 💸 Finance acumen matters early. 🌱 Mentorship beats titles for building influence. My blueprint for new roles: 🗂️ Map all stakeholders including the quiet ones. 📊 Build dashboards right away. 🌏 Customize onboarding to culture, never just translate. Which lesson would have saved you the most stress? Share your biggest “wish I knew” I feature these in Executive AI Essentials (find more on my profile).

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

I used to spend hours on massive, complex career plans. They always ended up gathering dust. Now? I stick to a single page. It forces clarity and guarantees action. This isn't about rigid goals; it's about a simple roadmap. Here are the 3 non-negotiable sections you need on your page: ↖️The "A-Z" Gap: Where do you want to be (Actionable next step)? Where are you now (Zero)? Write down the one skill, project, or connection that bridges the distance. (Example: A-Z = Get my PMP. Gap = Finish Chapter 3 of the study guide.) ↖️The "Hit List": What are you doing today that doesn't serve your next goal? This is the hardest part. List 3 things you need to stop, delegate, or severely limit this month. (Example: Hit List = Attending non-essential update meetings; endless scrolling; saying "yes" to low-impact tasks.) ↖️The "Power Trio": List the three people you need to meet, learn from, or actively collaborate with over the next 90 days. Growth is a team sport, don't try to go it alone. Your career plan doesn't need to be fancy. It just needs to be clear, visible, and actionable. If you can't summarize your plan on one page, it's too complicated. Overwhelmed? I built a simple reference doc to help you cut the noise: The One-Page Career Plan #CareerAdvice #CareerDevelopment #PersonalGrowth #Leadership #Productivity #GoalSetting

A new pre-print, "Navigating Through Turbulence", which I co-authored with Zhuo Wang, Kevin Reed, and Lucas Harris just went online. The essay summarizes our suggestions for students and early-career professionals. The weather & climate field is going through a period of significant disruption. Many are facing real career uncertainty, and we've all seen the discussions about talent moving from the public sector. These are serious challenges. Our paper aims to analyze this turbulence. We argue that alongside these difficulties, a simultaneous expansion of the ecosystem is happening, driven by broader societal needs and two key technologies: - High-Resolution Modeling that links weather and climate research - AI tools offering new capabilities for prediction and analysis This means the "traditional" career path is no longer the only one. Tech, finance, and startups are now part of a more complex and dynamic career landscape. For students and early-career professionals trying to find their footing, our paper offers a blueprint for navigating this new reality. The key strategies we discuss are: - Embracing career fluidity: A career path may now cross sectors, and this is becoming a common, valuable trajectory. - Building a "T-shaped" skillset: Anchoring deep science expertise with broad data, computation, and communication skills. - Focusing on problem-solving: Tools will change, but the core problems (like quantifying risk) are a stable anchor for a career. It's a very challenging time to be building a career. We hope this essay provides a practical framework for thinking about the path forward. We'd welcome your thoughts on the full paper: https://lnkd.in/gzSWFvhf

The truth is simple: if you don’t take charge of your career, no one else will. Many of us spend so much time managing other people’s priorities - whether they’re our executives, our teams, or even our families - that we often forget to invest in the one person who can drive our professional future: ourselves. And here’s another truth: if you don’t know where you want to get to, how will you ever get there? A successful career doesn’t happen by accident. It requires clarity, intentionality, and action. Without a clear destination, you’ll drift, hoping for opportunities to come your way instead of creating them. So how do you take control of your career? You create a career roadmap. Think of it as your map and compass - a tool to guide you toward your professional goals, no matter where you are right now. Here are 5 Steps to Create Your Career Roadmap 1. Start by identifying where you want to go. What does success look like for you in 1, 5, or 10 years? Be specific. For example, ‘I want to move into a Senior EA role’ or ‘I want to master AI tools to become the ‘go to person’ for that in my organisation.’ Your destination should excite and inspire you. 2. Take a realistic look at where you are now. What skills, strengths, and experiences do you already have? What gaps need to be filled to reach your destination? This self-assessment will serve as the foundation for your roadmap. 3. Break your journey into smaller, actionable steps. If your goal is to move into a leadership position, for example, your milestones might include: • Gaining advanced training or certifications. • Taking on more strategic projects. • Building relationships with senior stakeholders. • Developing skills like conflict resolution or team management. Set a timeline for each milestone to hold yourself accountable. 4. Career growth requires investment. This could mean: • Taking relevant courses or certifications. • Attending conferences or networking events. • Seeking out a mentor or coach. • Reading books or following thought leaders in your field. Remember: every investment you make in yourself pays dividends in your future. 5. Regularly check in with your roadmap. Are you hitting your milestones? Have your goals evolved? Life is dynamic, and so is your career. Adjust your plan as needed, but keep moving forward. When you create a career roadmap, you’re taking control of your narrative. You’re not waiting for opportunities to fall into your lap; you’re actively creating them. This isn’t just about promotions or titles - it’s about aligning your work with your passions, skills, and values to create a fulfilling career. So, take the time to define your destination, chart your course, and start the journey. Because if you don’t take care of your career, nobody else will. Where do you want to go? It’s time to draw up your map and make it happen.

Career Ladders Are Dead. Here's What's Next. Stop designing for yesterday's careers. Most L&D is preparing people for a world that no longer exists. After years working with organisations on career development, I've seen a fundamental disconnect between how we design learning experiences and how careers actually unfold today. We're still building ladders in a world that rewards gardeners. The majority of professionals now follow non-traditional career paths, yet our development programs haven't caught up. Here are 5 career design principles every learning professional needs to embrace: 1️⃣ Exploration > Climbing 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Careers follow predictable upward ladders with clear promotion paths. 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Modern careers zigzag across roles, functions, and industries. ❌ Designing learning paths that only prepare for vertical advancement ✅ Creating experiences that develop transferable skills across functions and roles 2️⃣ Emergence > Planning 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Career success comes from following a detailed five-year roadmap. 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: The most valuable opportunities are often unpredictable and emerge unexpectedly. ❌ Building rigid development programs with predetermined outcomes ✅ Designing learning that builds adaptability and opportunity recognition 3️⃣ Journey > Milestones 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Success is measured by achieving specific positions and titles. 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Fulfillment comes from continuous growth and making meaningful impact. ❌ Structuring development around achieving specific positions ✅ Crafting experiences that celebrate continuous growth and impact 4️⃣ Purpose > Performance 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Career development means improving technical skills and hitting metrics. 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Long-term engagement requires alignment between work and personal values. ❌ Creating learning that focuses only on immediate role performance ✅ Integrating reflection on meaning and purpose into development experiences 5️⃣ Networks > Knowledge 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Individual expertise is the primary driver of career advancement. 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Relationships and community connections create the most powerful opportunities. ❌ Designing individual-focused competency development ✅ Facilitating meaningful connections and communities of practice As L&D professionals, we need to radically reimagine career development experiences from onboarding through retirement. It's time to stop teaching people how to climb ladders and start helping them cultivate gardens - with multiple paths, unexpected growth, and diverse possibilities. Are we designing paths for the past? Or creating experiences that prepare people for today's non-linear reality? Working in career development or L&D? I'd love to continue this conversation. Drop a comment or DM me to share how you're rethinking career experiences.

For those of you who have been following along the last few posts, I have appreciated reading your comments and receiving your messages about your individual journey, challenges, and wins along the way.  All of the staff who I’ve worked with over the last 5 or so years will tell you how big I am into process and procedure and for good reason.  Good process allows for checks & balances, and efficiencies.  So I’ve taken things I’ve learned from others, had executive coaching to gain perspective and insight, and come up with a simple framework I’ve found helpful and have shared with others who’ve been in similar situations. Here’s my 3-step process for re-aiming your next chapter when your experience and resume looks “all over the place”: Step 1: Clarify your non-negotiables. Before titles or job boards, get clear on what has to be true in your life.  I’ve learned the importance of holding a vision but more importantly, a vision with clarity: – How you want to show up for your family – The kind of impact you want to have – What financial stability realistically looks like for you Without this, every option looks equally tempting and equally overwhelming. Step 2: Decode your lived experience. This is the step most people skip. Instead of asking, “What am I qualified for?” ask, “What has my life already trained me to do?” Break down: – Skills you’ve built under pressure – Environments where you actually thrive – Patterns in the roles and responsibilities you keep gravitating toward This is where a “messy” story turns into a clear, transferable value. Now you can verbalize what is transferable in different environments especially during an interview process. Step 3: Choose direction, not a forever destination. You don’t need a 20-year plan. You need a 12–24 month direction that aligns with your non-negotiables and makes use of your real strengths. That might be: – A new role inside your current organization – A shift to a different side of your industry – Or the first concrete step toward building something of your own Most people skip Step 2 and jump straight from “I’m unhappy” to “I need a new job.” That’s why they end up repeating the same patterns in a different place. When I work with athletes, staff, and leaders, this is the quiet work we do underneath the visible decisions: aligning who they are, what they’ve lived, and where they’re going—so the next move actually fits.

About 12 years ago, I created a 4-year plan for a life I wasn't sure I'd ever live. That document changed things — even though I barely looked at it. When my wife and I first contemplated moving to San Diego, we sat down and created a detailed checklist of everything we'd need to do to make it happen. But here's the interesting part: we didn't use it as a strict roadmap. We tucked it away. It became less of a daily guide and more of a mental blueprint — a subliminal map for a future we weren't even certain we'd pursue. Fast forward a couple years after our move. While organizing some old files, I found that checklist. Out of curiosity, I went through it. We had checked off every single item — without actively tracking it. That's when I realized something powerful about preparation: sometimes it's not about rigid execution, but about planting seeds in your subconscious that quietly guide your decisions. I've applied this same philosophy to my legal career. For example, if you're working for someone else but might someday want your own practice, start collecting personal client reviews on sites like Avvo now. Not because you're leaving tomorrow, but because you're creating options for a future version of yourself. These preparation maps don't force you to make the change. They just ensure that when an opportunity presents itself, you're not starting from zero. They help you avoid snap decisions and panicked scrambling. Most importantly, they create a foundation that allows you to move quickly when the time is right. You've already done the groundwork. This approach works for nearly any major transition — career shifts, relocations, business launches. Create the map before you're ready for the journey. What future are you potentially building toward? And what small steps could you take today to prepare for it, even if you're not sure you'll ever go there? Having the map doesn't obligate you to take the trip. But it sure makes the journey smoother if you decide to embark.

Working Backwards from Your Career Goals: A Strategic Approach to Professional Growth At Amazon, we use a "Working Backwards" process to develop products—starting with the customer experience we want to create and working backward to build it. I've found this same approach remarkably effective for career development. Here's the method I share with people I mentor (scientists, engineers, product managers, and others): ## Start with Clear Guidelines Amazon has detailed role guidelines for every job family and level, plus specific criteria for advancement. Your organization likely has something similar. If not, ask your leaders to provide them—knowing expectations is foundational. Rather than viewing these as abstract standards, treat them as your product specifications. What would your "ideal self" look like six months from now according to these guidelines? ## Create Your Career BRD (Business Requirements Document) Just as we'd write a BRD for a new feature, write one for your career: - What would a stellar talent review or promotion document say about you? - Which specific accomplishments would demonstrate your readiness? - What gaps exist between current and target state? Go through the criteria methodically—"Scope and Influence," "Problem Complexity," "Execution," etc.—and identify specific projects or skills that would demonstrate your growth in each area. ## Use AI as Your Career Development Partner Here's a pro tip: AI assistants can powerfully accelerate this process. Feed your assistant: 1. Your role guidelines 2. A short personal profile (your role, team, current projects) 3. Instructions to ask you targeted questions about your projects and ambitions—*one by one*, not all at once The sequential questioning forces deeper reflection than you might achieve independently, and lets you and AI engage in a conversation about your projects and goals. Then ask the AI to synthesize a structured plan: area by area, month by month. Review and revise this plan, then share it with your mentors and your manager. This collaboration ensures alignment between your growth plans and organizational needs. ## Iterate and Adjust Like any good product, your career plan needs regular review cycles. Set calendar reminders to evaluate progress, adjust timelines, and refine goals as projects and priorities evolve. The most successful professionals I've mentored treat their careers with the same rigor they apply to technical projects—with clear requirements, measurable milestones, and regular feedback loops. What methods have you found effective for career planning? Have you tried applying product development approaches to your professional growth? *Follow me for more insights on technical leadership, data-driven decision making, and building successful engineering careers.*