Do we really need career growth? At first glance, this is a rather strange question, especially if it is asked among a group of young and ambitious people. And the answer seems obvious. Well, who doesn’t want to be successful in their career? It is absolutely natural that everyone has thought about their career growth at least once. I would say that there is practically no person who did not plan to build a successful career at the beginning of his life. career path. The second factor after salary level that we evaluate when applying for a job is the opportunity for career growth. And it is right! This is a healthy aspiration for ambitious, promising, smart and capable people. But, nevertheless, this question still arose for me. I would like to note right away that this is not an analysis of a specific situation or a clear description of processes, this is one point of view based on average situations, which should not be considered as the only truth and an indisputable rule. So, let's figure it out, do we really need a career or do we want something else?

Career

Before answering that question, let's figure out what this very growth is and why we strive for it.

When we talk about a career, we conventionally mean not only an increase in position and responsibility, but also an increase in pay, social status, receiving privileges, etc.

The definitions of career and career growth are:

• Career - this is success, career advancement. In other words, it is the result of a certain behavior and position of a person in labor activity associated with his professional growth. Each person builds his own career, and it depends on his desires, goals and attitudes.
• Career growth is the expansion of an employee’s powers and responsibilities, upward movement, and transition from one level of management to another.

Career growth is a natural process for developing professionals. This is ideal. Does it always happen this way?

So, move up! A young specialist comes to his first job (if we are talking about IT) and begins building his career as a junior specialist. He works, develops and slowly climbs up, becomes a middle-level specialist, then a senior, and maybe even a team lead... Then he realizes that this job no longer suits him, because there is nowhere to climb, everything is already busy and it is not known when will be freed (especially for small and medium-sized IT companies). He begins to look for other opportunities. He sees another opportunity, as a rule, in changing companies.

Now it’s easier to find a new company, you already have work experience, a wealth of knowledge and an arsenal of skills. Very often, however, it happens that new company I’m not ready to take on a higher position, because, in their opinion, the luggage is light, and the arsenal is not so complete, so a lower position is offered (but there is a bonus in the salary). Yes, it doesn’t matter!!! After all, the young specialist begins his upward movement again. Very often, the matter does not end with this company either, because there is a ceiling there too...

Some kind of vicious circle. In other words, all that attracts us, specifically in career growth, is an increase in wages and the acquisition of regalia or a certain position or status, or, in extreme cases, the powers that allow us to rule (this also happens). Career growth is simply noticeable to the naked eye, that's all! That is, we exchange money and waste time simply so that others can see that we are moving upward. Is this what we dreamed of at the dawn of our working lives? Satisfy your ambitions or assert yourself in the eyes of others?

A fair remark immediately arises that with career growth comes professional growth, which means we are developing. After all, it is the lack of professional and personal development that weighs most of all, and it is precisely because of the lack of such development that a person feels unfulfilled, dissatisfied with his work, and unnecessary in this environment. It is not the lack of career growth, but the lack of professional development that makes us seek new job. Therefore, this statement is not entirely true. Career growth does not always correspond to professional growth, and often career growth also does not bring satisfaction (this understanding comes with time, when the euphoria from the new atmosphere wears off), because these are not identical concepts (career and professional growth), these processes are parallel and can move in opposite directions. After all, really, who among us has never encountered a leader who is completely incompetent, a tyrant, and with knowledge and skills completely inappropriate for his position? In what direction did his professional growth go?

To demonstrate this more clearly, let’s figure out what professional growth is and compare it with career growth.

Professional growth

Professional growth is growth professional knowledge, skills and abilities, recognition by the professional community of the results of a person’s work, authority in a specific type of professional activity.

Professional growth is not as noticeable as career growth; it can be seen in the better and faster completion of tasks assigned to a specialist, in the growth of his indicators, in increased demand among clients, etc. Professional growth, as a rule, is not accompanied by an increase in status or salary etc. Although for managers, specialists who develop professionally are more in demand, and in the end they receive what careerists strive for - a good salary, a position, and most importantly, acquire professional authority.

It is precisely because most people confuse or confuse the concepts of career and professional growth that they begin the wrong movement. Some are so fixated on career growth without understanding the essence of this process that they completely inadequately assess their successes and aspirations in the professional plane.

Here again a logical remark arises regarding the fact that there is a limit to professional growth, right? I can't agree with this. There is no limit to perfection. Professional development can be carried out in several directions, and you yourself determine this direction. You can develop deeper into your profession, becoming a unique, inimitable expert in your field, a sought-after professional, or expand your professional competence and master the profession as a whole and at the same time gain skills and knowledge to solve complex problems, awareness of all processes, the ability to qualitatively analyze your own and others’ actions /operations. Career growth requires not so much increasing the level of existing competencies as acquiring new competencies. And this is not a process for the sake of a process like professionals, but a process for the sake of necessity.

Where to grow?

As you can see, these concepts are completely different. Not better or worse, but different. And only we ourselves can choose what we need: salary, regalia, position, recognition, knowledge, authority, etc. The most important thing is not to confuse these concepts, then the understanding of our needs will acquire clearer outlines.

With the right approach, professional growth is truly accompanied by career growth, and then everyone is satisfied: the specialist who received a well-deserved promotion, and the employer who received a valuable employee. And I want to emphasize once again that it is not career growth that is accompanied by professional growth, but rather professional growth that is accompanied by career growth (in most cases). This is important to realize.

Often specialists complain that opportunities for professional growth are not available to them at their current place of work. However, if you look “deeper”, it may turn out that this is far from the case. After all, each specialist determines the criteria for his professional growth independently.

So, for some, professional growth is achieving goals with minimal costs resources, for others - recognition in professional circles, for others, the most important thing is promotion wages, fourth, it is important to have leverage over subordinates. Therefore, it is important to establish certain criteria for professional growth specifically for yourself in order to understand how actively professional development is taking place and whether it is happening at all.

Here are some simple questions:

1. Does what you do bring you satisfaction, have you chosen the right profession?
2. Do you consider the activities you do useful for yourself and others?
3. Do you feel that there is still room for personal and professional growth for you within your chosen activity?
4. Do you want to improve and hone your skills?

If you answered yes to everything, then you are doing what you love, and there are no barriers to growth and improvement ever, anywhere and under any circumstances.

And in order not to find yourself in the place of that specialist who wastes time on the meaningless dance “2 steps forward and 1 step back,” decide what is important to you. I am sure that after this it will become clear how to move on, develop and grow professionally in order to inevitably get more high salary, a good position and respect from colleagues (maybe even at a new place of work, but systematically and naturally) or take a risk now. At the same time, you will also realize whether your professional development has stopped or has not yet gained the necessary momentum, whether there is room for growth and what needs to be changed.

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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 his strengths and capabilities. You will be able to familiarize yourself with the leading terms to understand where to start personal growth and how not to stop at the achieved result.

Glossary of basic 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 will generalize them.

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

Personal growth- these are the acquisition of new ones, as well as their accumulation for further use in self-development and improving life in a specific 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 to achieve high performance both in the chosen area of ​​life and in their complex, increasing potential in one’s own career.

Main goals of self-development: personal and professional growth

The path of self-development itself is very thorny. It requires full dedication and work beyond your strength, to the limit of your 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. The complete desire to create a life without the influence of typicality, which is often imposed by the environment, including neighbors, is also part of a person’s self-development.

Personal and professional growth helps us 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- studying new information obtained from various sources (books, attending trainings, various seminars), its systematization and further use, taking into account all the requirements necessary for society, including our immediate environment, as well as achieving 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 the necessary list of possible problems and shortcomings that need to be corrected or completely eradicated so that they do not interfere with professional growth in the future.
3. Comprehensive development– improvement requires more than just achievements best results only in a certain category and nearby, but also in absolutely opposite ones. Thus, you develop comprehensively, which means you can, based on the acquired knowledge and skills, develop in a completely new direction for you. You must not only be an ace in your field, you must also be able to support small talk on any topic.

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 a kind of revelation or insight, in a word, catharsis of the life path, without thinking about its cyclicality.” After all, by its nature, any development is nothing more than a sequence of certain stages, through which you get the whole necessary information, which is necessary for starting a new one.

The stages of professional development of a person he proposes are based on the study of sciences such 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 Peerless Inner Self- our own vision of ourselves is an ideal, inherently model of existence with the world around us and people. This practice is necessary to fully activate 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 the diametrically opposite from us. It is very important at this moment not to succumb to 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 your essence– comprehension and acceptance own shortcomings and positive facets of personality - this stage of personal development is necessary for moving from the actual to the desired. However, despite its obvious simplicity, the stage itself requires a lot internal forces, 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 formed our image, which often consists only of positive qualities; refusing it means refusing to admit our own and many years of wrongness. Also, accepting 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– drafting necessary plan work on oneself, its constant fulfillment. This stage is aimed mainly at improving work performance, as well as personal satisfaction in one’s own life. In terms of its focus, this stage is not as significant as the previous two, but is still necessary for personal and professional development in that it helps us set goals independently, look for ways to achieve them, developing the ability to discipline ourselves while calculating all possible development options events;
4. Application of acquired knowledge and skills in practice– so, we have fully studied not only the theoretical basis, but, among other things, the expected behavior patterns, but all this must be applied in 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 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 to breaking in a new car - with repeated use, you get used to all the nuances, you no longer think about it, 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 simply necessary (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 give up on the goal you have set for yourself, because others have already contributed to your personal development.

Since ancient times, the process of communicating with people has been necessary for guiding the direction of life. We always choose to communicate with those individuals with whom we will be most comfortable, 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 cyclicality and dependence of these stages on each other. It is impossible to move on unless at least one condition is met. What is important is that each of these stages answers the question: where to start personal and professional growth? It is necessary to start with yourself first, 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 it 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 intend to change your life:

1. Awareness of internal discomfort– you are on your own! You realize that some of your personal beliefs do not work, and probably even fail completely when tested for strength. This is a vivid example of realizing that you were wrong, which will be necessary in the future to go through all stages of professional and personal development.
2. Discovering the seeds of your own discomfort. “What’s wrong?”, “What am I doing wrong?”, “Did I make a mistake?” - most often these are the questions that accompany our search for a problem. They are the ones who help us realize that it’s time to move on without stopping there.
3. It's all my fault– placing responsibility for mistakes on oneself is a clear sign of the maturity of the individual, his complete readiness to form new aspects of his personality.
4. Finding an 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 automation- 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, strict discipline of your own actions is required here. Without it, all your attempts and movements will become just a chaotic set of unrelated things. And their utility coefficient will be zero.

Conclusion

We can say with complete confidence that a person who strives for personal and professional development must constantly engage in self-education! Never stop there, because stopping is a regression that is not so easy to correct. Becoming a professional is possible only if the professional and internal development of the subject is unified. That is, competent calculation of possible mistakes and active encouragement in case of success.

The influence of our society on achieving results is just as important. But we should not forget that society should only help people see themselves from the outside. Do not use society as a backbone to form your own goals. After all, if we follow other people’s lead, we take risks. We risk becoming an unimportant part of a huge mechanism, and not its heart and main element.

Listen to yourself, to your inner “I” and achieve what you want! This is your personal and professional development. Don’t think about how society will perceive you, because as you know, it is easier to negatively accept and judge than to help and encourage.

It is a mistake to think that professional growth provokes career growth - this is not always the case. Moreover, it is not the same thing.

Although both terms imply personal evolution, development in the work plane and mastering new heights, there is a difference between them. This is a movement in different directions - up, in depth and sometimes even in breadth.

At the very beginning of his working life, a person must soberly assess his potential, weigh his desires on one side of the scale and his character traits on the other, and choose his only path.

The professional path moves linearly, not upward. At the same time, from afar it may seem that a person is standing still, frozen and not interested in career steps.

However, its development goes either into the depth of the specialty, or towards increasing its own competencies. As a rule, they choose one branch without trying to master them in parallel.

Diving deep into the profession gives maximum understanding of one of its areas: as a result, a person becomes the only highly specialized specialist in his city.

As a bonus, he receives a circle of loyal clients - fans of his professionalism. Such people are always in demand: they know how to achieve excellent, unique results at minimal cost!

Increasing your competence allows you to master the profession from all angles, perspectives and sides, in all its magnificent diversity, and become truly a jack of all trades.

In fact, the employee increases the level of all competencies in his arsenal related to a specific specialty and becomes a more perfect, “universal soldier.”

The employee begins to be valued in professional circles, he is offered positions in other, larger companies, and his salary and respect increase.

Professional growth is possible in every specialty and inevitably leads to improved working conditions.

Thus, a translator who simply speaks two languages ​​will always be inferior to a person with knowledge of economic, medical and business vocabulary, with an in-depth understanding of dialects and the practice of quick translations in the field.

To learn how to do something better, better, more modern, faster than others, you need to spend time improving yourself.

Namely, for additional education, internships in metropolitan companies, foreign internships, seminars, master classes, communication with experienced professionals and the study of literature.

Many companies independently improve the skills of their employees - they organize trainings, pay for courses, and invite specialists from other countries to exchange experience.

If you are striving for professional growth (and at the same time want to be noticed by management), such opportunities cannot be refused!

Career growth involves gradual upward movement. With each new level, the breadth of authority and area of ​​responsibility increases, the reputation increases, social status and salary, certain privileges appear.

In order to meet the next new role, a person is obliged to comprehend the unfamiliar basics of different professions and acquire new competencies.

He has to delve deeper into processes that are far from his personal specialization, understand the functions of others, see the whole picture, the movement of all the gears in a specific business mechanism.

With every step upward, the horizons of an applicant for a higher position expand. Along with it, managerial competence, the ability to lead people and soberly evaluate the results of work grow.

You should start moving up gradually: everyone can do this, not just a select few. An ordinary office worker can invest in additional education and expand the area of ​​his interests.

Over time, he will add “additional options” to his resume - document management, economics, management, jurisprudence, foreign languages, programming, technical proficiency.

And in the end, there will be another, better-paid position for him, which was waiting for just such a set of competencies, and his colleagues will remain sitting at their computers for a small salary.

Over time, he will grow into a big boss and fulfill his dream.

Career growth is considered more prestigious; it is noticeable immediately and from afar: a person was an ordinary clerk and suddenly became the head of a department, and then a deputy director. What a takeoff!

However, in order to stay in a high position and not stumble, you will have to continue your internal development and hold tightly to the leather chair.

At the same time, the professional path is more stable and reliable: narrow specialists are always in demand, which guarantees a constant clientele, a salary adequate to their skills and confidence in the “tomorrow”.

Career development does not start from the first day of work, but much earlier, when a person first realizes how people earn money. Even then, the first ideas about different types activities and personal attitude towards them. Later, a person chooses a profession and criteria for career growth based on his ambitions, lifestyle and goals.

Types of career growth

Traditionally, there are two types of career growth: horizontal and vertical. The names correspond to the direction of the employee's career development in the hierarchy of one or more companies.

Vertical growth is the classic concept of climbing the career ladder, that is, obtaining a higher position. Vertical movement can be rapid or, conversely, consistent. In many companies, promotion requires going all the way from a junior position to a management position. Vertical career growth is typical for most enterprises and is often exactly what they want to achieve when applying for a job.

Horizontal growth means professional growth in a certain area. This includes advanced training, acquiring new skills and abilities, which makes the employee a more valuable and sought-after specialist. For example, obtaining an academic degree means horizontal career growth. Often, such development is chosen by people in creative or scientific professions who do not dream of being a boss, but want to realize their talents in a certain area.

Success criteria are also formed in accordance with the preferred type of career.

Basic criteria for a successful career

Experts conducting research in the field of professional growth identify two main types of criteria successful career: objective and subjective. Objectively, an employee’s career growth is assessed according to two parameters: movement within the organization and movement within the profession. Subjective, or internal criterion Career success is a person’s personal assessment of his work achievements.

• Position held;
• Speed ​​of advancement up the career ladder, or career mobility;
• Salary level;
• Achievements.

In accordance with the selected criterion, the success of the career growth of a particular employee is assessed. Let's look at these criteria in more detail.

Job status

Most often, the position held is considered the key criterion for success. People who strive to rise through the ranks build a vertical career - moving up the levels of the company's hierarchy. Their motivation is the desire to occupy a higher and more respectable position. This approach is common in our society and is completely justified, because promotion means an increase in social status and almost always salary, as well as a more prestigious entry in the work book.

Career mobility

Career mobility refers to the speed of advancement in one's career. IN modern companies Career mobility is considered high if a person stays in one position for two to three years. If an employee occupies the same position for a long time, management believes that he has “stagnated” and lost competitive advantage. High speed Climbing the career ladder is an indicator of the competence of an employee who masters new skills with each higher position. In addition, this indicates breakthrough personal qualities person: ambitious and purposeful.

Earnings

In the theory of a “money” career, competence is valued in monetary terms, and the employee strives to become a better specialist in order to be worth more. This criterion for career success is common, for example, in American society. In our country, money also plays an important role when choosing a profession. On the other hand, young professionals often refuse money advantageous offers in favor of higher social status. Few people want to go to work as an electrician, because it is not prestigious, and the position of junior manager sounds much better. During this time, a professional electrician can earn twice as much as a novice office worker.

Career achievements

People who set themselves the goal of completing as many large projects as possible choose the career path of achievement. They are gambling and ready to take risks; they are not attracted by dry salary figures and job titles. Despite the fact that they do not chase money, they often manage to “hit the big jackpot” and even gain high social status. Usually they realize themselves in the fields of art, finance, science and achieve impressive results.

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

What conditions are needed for professional growth?

1. Cultural conditions. The innovative culture of the organization is capable of supporting the initiative of employees in their improvement and stimulating 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. This or that 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 discussing company issues and identifying problems, encourages initiative, shows interest in employee participation to solve pressing problems, does not reject risks and does not object to criticism, a favorable environment for self-development is created in the team.

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 this individual methods, which a manager interested in his self-improvement sees as useful for himself and consistent with his plans for professional growth).

Creating good soil for self-development of employees in a company is sometimes significantly expensive. 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 growth plan look like?

1. Formation of qualities and skills that do not exist, but they are necessary. They need to be identified and developed. This task is not easy and, as a rule, requires the help of special trainers, consultants, and mentors. But organizing efforts in this direction will be able to give the most significant effect in self-development and the desire for professional growth.
2. Development of existing skills and personal qualities that can be strengthened. Yes, it can be done with diligent cultivation and proper attention. This can be easily solved without external help.
3. Elimination of shortcomings and barriers that reduce the effectiveness of activities and impede professional growth. Here, too, you often need help and advice from trainers, since the task is quite complex.

Of course, it is very effective to move 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.

Obstacles to 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 a common belief that theory is not useful in practice. Although, for example, professional education in the field of management provides the opportunity to freely get used to your specialization immediately after graduating from university.
2. Ignorance of relationships in the company. Unfortunately, very few people go beyond their scope of work and do not rise through the ranks of professional growth. Many people think that understanding the functioning of the company they work for comes with experience and at the same time prefer to keep their heads down, hiding behind their computer monitor.
3. Inability to position yourself. Many people think that professional and career growth appears on its own, taking it for granted. Most often these people are mistaken.
4. Money comes first. Often people put material wealth first, subordinating their motivation to it. They do not understand that it is professional growth and development that entails cash flows, and not the other way around. This is a shortcoming of many workers, especially now, in times of crisis, when the thirst for easy money harms their careers. 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 completely undignified. This attitude ruins personal growth and does not stimulate real action.

Those who want to become effective have to overcome mentality.

Sergey Nishchev,

Commercial Director, Beeline Kazakhstan fixedlines

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

According to the findings of the study “The influence of national cultures on the formation and development of management in different countries", which began in the early 80s by the Dutch sociologist GeertHofstede, "... there is a convergence of views in the world in assessing effective management styles. An effective “world” leader is a manager who is trustworthy, energetic, decisive, intelligent, reliable, capable of planning in advance and create motivation. In Russia, an effective leader looks different - he is a contradictory personality with a clearly expressed rigid autocritical style of behavior. Its main features are: the ability to make individual decisions and be responsible for them; openness, speed and competence in unstable external environment; focus on the process rather than the final result; aggressiveness and concern for status; lack of vision for the future.

Russia in the “managerial report card” is located next to countries such as Venezuela, Iran, Turkey, and Mexico. Disappointing conclusion. Especially for many Russian managers who are accustomed to comparing themselves with Europeans and North Americans...” This is how the famous business coach Mikhail Kolontai 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 a leader can earn authority in a team: 9 qualities

Motivation for professional growth: what drives self-development

1. Cognitive motive – associated with the process of execution educational activities, with the desire to learn and understand as much as possible, enjoying the process of acquiring new knowledge.
2. The general social motive is the desire to be useful to society, as well as to obtain the knowledge that a person needs for this. Another way to call it is the motive of benefit.
3. The motive for cooperation is associated with the desire to act as a team. What is important here is the understanding that work on mastering and acquiring new knowledge will be more effective if 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 the team, to look for fresh ways to resolve professional issues, ways to develop professional growth. There is a strong desire to achieve results together, not alone.
5. Motive creative activity– associated with the great attractiveness of creative types, activities and tasks. Here you can clearly highlight the active desire to find unusual, creative results in your work. This is a creative approach to work and the process of professional growth.
6. The motive of self-actualization is a person’s desire to maximally reveal and express internal capabilities and abilities. The development of internal potential is important here.
7. The prestigious motive is the desire to take a clear place in relations with the environment, to meet people’s expectations, 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, this is a kind of competitive motive.
8. The pragmatic motive is the motive for extracting benefits to satisfy future needs, including material ones, and to contribute to one’s future.

Are personal and professional growth the same thing?

Remember the situation when you need to send a message of congratulations 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, for a person to be satisfied with his life, he needs financial well-being and harmony within himself (in addition to health). These are important conditions for personal growth and development and general well-being.

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

Natural, natural collection of life experience without additional self-development of the individual, without personal intervention - the process in itself is quite long. And, when you seem to have understood everything and how, then the realization has come, but it turns out that it’s too late.

As we understand, in order to significantly speed up this process, you need to devote more time to self-education - to actively search on your own and obtain information on the necessary issues. To accelerate professional growth, it is important and necessary not only to keep abreast of all trends, follow current news and innovations, 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 requires more time; this process requires patience and hard work from you.

The following criteria that determine personality can be noted:

• self-knowledge;
• motivating oneself;
• promoting 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’s not so much the volume that matters here, but rather 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 the possibilities for career growth.

The leader strives more for personal growth than for career growth

Galina Rogozina,

Head of Leadership Development Practice at the consulting company RosExpert, Moscow

In domestic business, the criteria for professional growth and success are salary and place in the job hierarchy. A large salary and a high position often bring internal satisfaction to managers. But entrepreneurs and those wishing to realize their potential in any case need to look at generally accepted standards to comply with unwritten social norms.

The leader internally strives to try his abilities in various fields, mastering new skills and knowledge. Strives to achieve personal growth rather than career growth, viewing himself as a mentor. The disagreement is clearly visible here - more rigid, defiant and ambitious behavior is demonstrated, while team, creative and leadership qualities are masked.

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5 personal growth mindsets

1. Work-life balance.

We are all familiar with 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: work is also a component of life. It should not be burdensome for us, moreover, it should bring pleasure!

While working, we develop and discover opportunities for professional growth. Every day brings new information, contacts, experience. Learn not just to see it, but to appreciate it. And it will be easier to accept an extremely hated job, recognizing it as part of your life.

2. Passion for the business.

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

3. Personal responsibility.

Understand and learn an 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 comes from the strong and responsible.

4. The power of losing.

Every failure is a step forward and a new invaluable experience. own examples. Using them is important for your worldview. Of course, this is very unsettling, but on the path of personal growth and development, when rising 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 or self-flagellation! We understood, learned – and moved on!

5. The goal is primary.

Always clearly define your goal and sweep away everything unnecessary. Sometimes we forget about it, we begin to waste our time on trifles and get distracted. Don’t stray from the personal growth program, use everything to achieve your goal, any resources, always return your wandering thoughts to the main thing.

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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 aimed at both narrow specialization, and wide. When a person begins to be valued as a professional entirely within the circles of his specialty, and not just at a specific place of work, this is the highest point of success.

Career growth means expanding powers, increasing 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. Taking into account 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 field. It is important to understand all the intricacies and be a communication guru (it is necessary to conduct a correct dialogue with the buyer). Knowledge of the client’s psychology 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 abilities are also important in the system of professional growth. 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 of climbing the career ladder - it is enough to overcome the stages of professional growth, because sometimes an ordinary highly qualified worker receives more than his boss. It just has its own significance. In addition, it is people’s professional growth, and not a high position, that makes them respected. Knowledge is more important than rank.

1. Achieve the best possible results. Hundreds and sometimes thousands of athletes participate in competitions, however, only one of all becomes the winner, the one who comes first to the finish line. He gets all the laurels and glory. What is the price of this victory? Not only natural abilities (the other participants also have them), but also constant grueling training. Professional growth and its achievements are obvious. Every skill can be brought to perfection, it’s all a matter of practice. You won't be able to become indispensable right away. Develop a sportsmanship and patience.
2. Learn to work under stress and uncertainty. The higher your professional growth and career, the more stress there is along the way. This must be taken for granted and a necessary component of ascent. Most people are scared by 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, and, of course, try to always remain calm. Both personally and for the team, this quality is beneficial.
3. Maintain integrity. Watch your behavior, you must be an example for your employees. It should be real, not fake, you should like it and energize those around you. Your authority among your colleagues will be impeccable. The professional growth of a leader and his charisma distinguish him as a leader in a team.
4. Use networking – successfully establishing 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. But you need to build relationships with other people, remember - connections decide a lot. To establish them, certain negotiation skills are required. Here the constant practice of communication will help you; our whole life favors this. Learn effective dialogues and competent communication.
5. Improve personal effectiveness - an additional way of your professional and career growth. Requires maximum concentration and willpower.
6. Work "thinking". Thinking is the same work. But it is important to understand that there is a difference between ordinary mental stress and work stress. This is extremely significant for professional development and career growth. Obvious superficial solutions do not bring success, you need to look for an alternative, and for this you need to strain your brain through force, force it to work harder. Brainstorming is effective as a team exercise.
7. Act here and now. We are used to putting everything off until tomorrow and thinking for a long time about making a decision. If we need to call someone, we can return to this thought throughout the day, but never pick up the phone. And we will find many factors to justify it. No need to wait, learn instant decisions. 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 large company Every day we have to deal with tons of information, mail, professional literature, and 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 - you can polish it in books. Striving for professional growth and development, this is an easy step towards your goal. By increasing your 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. Always learn. Live and learn. Sound familiar? The process of active learning is led by life itself. Get ready to receive and absorb information from everywhere - from communication with colleagues, your manager. The important thing here is to overcome your pride and put aside your ambitions, giving your brain more opportunities. Let him accept and process information; this activity is more useful. Recognizing competency gaps is difficult, but it's worth doing 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 refuse them. There is a lot of interesting information around us. Get it now! Colleagues ask for help with a project, but this is not your competence? Don’t refuse, take part - you will help people and you will definitely learn something new for yourself. Believe me, this will only be beneficial!
11. Pay attention to details. This is a 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. Set up this process even if you are in a management 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 clients will be able to see the results of the company’s work. Collect possible points of contact with the buyer and analyze them. How does a client learn about your company's products? Where will it be purchased? How? How will the product be used? How long should it take before it becomes possible to offer him a new product? Approach the analysis of this chain responsibly. Try to look through the eyes of your client, orient yourself in 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 visible, 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 competitive intelligence techniques. Customer surveys and questionnaires will also help in this matter.

3. Benchmarking. Don’t be afraid to look around and consider the experiences of companies in other industries. Who promotes their product and how, works with clients, what sales methods do they use? Explore, Compare, Contrast and Adapt successful examples, standards. This will serve the purpose of improving your own company and its professional growth.

4. A well-developed 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? A manager is able to manage, and a leader is able to inspire. What do you need to know and use from management for successful professional growth? Planning, organizing, motivating and controlling. These are the most important functions.

5. Play at work, or “gamification.” The skillful application of gaming techniques to non-gameplay is very effective. As a rule, people are drawn into this action with eagerness and interest, because there are clear rules of the game and they know 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 information controls the world - a simple truth, 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, monitor what is happening with the business. Use a quick analysis of early indicators of danger for the business, improve it, involve employees (this process will serve as additional training for them).

Information about authors and companies

Sergey Nishchev, Commercial Director, Beeline Kazakhstan fixedlines. Has 15 years of experience in marketing management and business development. Two-time laureate and winner all-Russian competition Russian Marketing Association “Marketing in Russia”. BeelineKazakhstanfixedlines (2Day Telecom LLP) is part of the VimpelCom group of companies.

International telecommunications holding"VimpelCom Ltd" with headquarters in Amsterdam (Netherlands) includes companies from 14 countries providing voice and data services based on a wide range of wireless and fixed line, and broadband access to the Internet in Russia, Italy, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Algeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Zimbabwe.

Galina Rogozina, Head of Leadership Development Practice at the consulting company RosExpert, Moscow. Graduated from the Moscow Institute of Petrochemical and Gas Industry named after. THEM. Gubkin with a degree in mathematician-programmer. For five years she worked as commercial director of the Computerra publishing house. She joined RosExpert in 2002 as director of business development; in 2005, she headed the leadership development practice; since 2007 – partner of the company. Author of several dozen publications in business publications (“Vedomosti”, “Company”, “Elite Personnel”, etc.) on the issues of selecting top managers and developing leadership potential.