Last week I was working with a group of leaders on implementing new performance management practices within their workforce. These were new leaders who did not have much experience leading or managing employee performance and many felt overwhelmed with the information they received. They felt as if they had to learn a whole new set of skills and, although in a sense they do, they cannot learn and cannot implement everything at the same time. They must reframe their thoughts to taking smaller steps and to learning and implementing one new skill or one new practice at a time.
When we started talking about performance management in the context of taking small steps and doing one thing at a time, they became much more comfortable in their ability to do what needs to be done to effectively lead employees and manage their performance.
The same holds true for us with our career goals and aspirations. We may get overwhelmed if we think of ALL that needs to be done to reach our ultimate career goals. That ultimate aspiration may seem so far away and as if we have to do so many things and learn so many new skills to get there. That may be true but if we take our career plans and break them into small steps, it becomes much more manageable. One step at a time, one thing at a time and before you know it, you have taken enough small steps and completed enough things to make great progress towards your ultimate career goals.
