Career Strategy Mapping - Navigate Your Career Journey with Intention

Photo by Razvan Chisu on Unsplash

Career development is not something that happens to you. It is something you can take ownership of, plan for, and intentionally drive to build a fulfilling and successful career.

Whether you’re seeking to improve your own career planning or support others in their professional development, this article introduces a practical and actionable method for developing a career journey. The practice of career strategy mapping will enable you to transform your aspirations into concrete steps you can start taking today. This way, you can create a flexible yet effective plan for navigating your professional journey. By the end of this article, you’ll have a comprehensive understanding of how to approach career journey planning with intention and clarity.

Strategy Mapping, also known as Value Mapping, is a sales technique that enables organizations to establish themselves as trusted advisors to their clients by aligning their efforts with the customers’ changing requirements and preferences. In a similar vein, achieving success in one’s career requires a strategic approach to aligning short-term activities with long-term objectives. This article demonstrates how Strategy Mapping can be a valuable tool for career planning.

Challenges of Career Planning

The challenge of goal setting

Setting goals is a crucial aspect of personal and professional development, as it provides a clear path toward achieving one’s objectives. However, creating effective goals can be a challenging task, as people tend to have difficulty articulating their aspirations in concrete and measurable terms. Vague adjectives such as “successful” or “influential” and general ideas like “making a positive social impact” or “accruing wealth” may provide some direction, but they lack the specificity required for effective goal-setting. The challenge lies in defining long-term objectives and breaking them down into achievable short-term goals.

Requiring a structure

One of the challenges of goal setting is the absence of a clear journey. Goals need to be concrete and set on a path for them to be effective. Without a clear path, it is easy to forget why goals were set and lose motivation, often leading to disregarding them later on. In return, you might end up doing a lot without making any significant progress toward tangible goals. That is why it is crucial to have long-term objectives, short-term goals, and immediate actions that map out a viable career journey.
Managers often ask their reportees to set goals without providing any structure or support. This approach often results in various problems. I have identified four forms of outcomes that can result from a poorly structured goal-setting activity.

1. Not setting goals at all, but rather overly concrete planned actions with distant deadlines: These actions are often never fulfilled because over time they will no longer align with the individual’s work context and changing needs. Actions require immediate deadlines, whereas goals are to be set for the foreseeable future.
2. Forming long-term objectives without any short-term goals. This lack of short-term goals results in frustration when struggling to make progress toward long-term objectives due to a lack of foreseeable milestones that actionable steps can be taken.
3. Establishing short-term goals without a long-term objective that acts as a north star. Without a long-term objective, goals can quickly become meaningless, and employees may find themselves questioning and changing their goals without any clear aim, resulting in a decrease in effectiveness when making progress.

While having goals with no long-term objective is better than having no goals and only actions, it is best to have all three in place to achieve meaningful progress. It is crucial to follow a structure when setting goals, ensuring to set actionable short-term goals that lead to a long-term objective. For managers and mentors, using such a structure can help with supporting accountability, motivation, and staying on track toward achieving career aspirations.

Photo by Brands&People on Unsplash

Building Your Career Strategy Map

Focus on the Journey

As human beings, we have a natural inclination toward storytelling. We share experiences through stories and perceive challenges and struggles as part of a longer narrative, which can make them easier to deal with. Stories are passed on across generations and can outlast empires. We want our life to be a story worth telling. However, attempting to write the complete story of our lives can be problematic as it assumes that we have complete control over our future, which is inherently unpredictable. Moreover, focusing too much on a specific outcome can limit our potential and creativity. Instead, it is crucial to be open to new experiences, remain adaptable, and be flexible in the face of change. We can plan our personal journey in an agile way through personal strategy mapping. This involves creating a set of specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound career steps that are recursively reviewed and adapted to our evolving circumstances, all within the context of a purpose statement that provides the framework for an infinite game strategy.

Career Strategy Mapping is a process of creating a clear and concise plan that outlines your purpose, long-term objective, drivers, short-term goals, and initiatives. By developing a career strategy map that delineates the steps to success in a hierarchical format, with each layer providing greater specificity as it approaches your current status, you can sustain a distinct sense of purpose and momentum while advancing toward your targeted career achievements.

Your Purpose Statement

Defining ourselves with a purpose creates the infinite game strategy frame for our career strategy map. It’s important to have a solid, positive purpose statement that serves as a lighthouse during periods of success and change, as well as an anchor in the storm when facing major challenges in life. Unlike an objective or goal, a purpose statement isn’t something that can be achieved and completed. It should always serve as a guiding force for our personal growth and development.

When formulating a purpose statement, especially in a work or career context, it’s important to keep in mind that it’s not just something for yourself, but also something that can be shared with others. Sharing your purpose statement can be incredibly beneficial, as it allows others to understand why you do what you do and what drives you. This can help build connections with others, even if they may not share the exact same goals or objectives. It’s similar to sharing a religion, “offering a common identity and a common purpose to people who had no other reason to feel connected” (Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari). By sharing your purpose statement, you may find that others are more willing to work with and support you, as they understand and connect with your values and motivations.

I would like to provide an example of a succinct yet effective purpose statement. Amanda Carter, the Chief of Staff of Engineering at Red Hat, uses the phrase “Bringing order to chaos since 2008” in her LinkedIn headline. This statement represents a clear, positive, and infinite strategy-oriented approach. The reason I have chosen this particular example is that it resonates with my own purpose and values, fostering a sense of connection and a desire to collaborate with her. The significance of sharing your purpose statement is that it enables others to relate to you and understand the underlying motivation behind your work, creating a sense of shared identity and belonging that can facilitate cooperation, similar to how sharing a religion can bring people together.

The Strategic Objective

Once you have a clear understanding of your purpose statement, the next step is to develop a strategic objective for your career. This will provide a roadmap for achieving your long-term professional goals. It helps you identify the drivers of success that you need to keep in mind when planning your goals.

A strategic career objective is a particular job or type of role that an individual wants to aim for. Modern career paths are typically divided into two main categories: individual contributor or people management roles. Traditionally, the corporate world viewed management as the ultimate goal for career advancement. However, modern companies have come to understand that not every employee who excels at their individual role as a contributor has the inclination or the aptitude for management. Consequently, organizations now structure their career progression options to allow for advancement along either the individual contribution or management track. This approach allows employees to choose the career path that aligns with their interests, strengths, and goals. It is important to recognize that, when selecting a strategic career objective, individuals need to reflect on if they see themselves as individual contributors or in people management roles.

When formulating a strategic objective, it’s important to evaluate and choose an appropriate time frame. One good indication of an appropriate time range is if it feels like a vision you have for your future. An appropriate time frame typically falls between 5 and 15 years. Setting a goal that is less than 5 years may lead to a lack of strategic orientation and could easily be conflated with a short-term goal. Conversely, anything beyond 15 years may lead to a feeling of disconnect, and demotivation, and make it harder to set appropriate goals. I think no one should ever feel held back from setting an overly ambitious long-term objective, such as becoming the president of the US, but then it’s important to set intermediate objectives that are closer in time to make it easier to plan and evaluate your progress towards your ultimate goal.

“The great danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”
— Michelangelo

From my observation, many people struggle with crafting an ambitious strategic objective due to two main reasons. Firstly, they often feel uncertain and hesitant to commit to a specific goal. However, the purpose of a strategic objective is not to be certain or to have a fixed plan, but to have a clear and motivating vision for the future. It’s acceptable to not be entirely sure of the objective, as life is full of surprises and circumstances may change. Secondly, people may fear not being taken seriously, having their ideas laughed at, or even facing opposition from others. While it’s essential to be cautious about sharing details that could lead to misalignment, sharing a strategic objective with the right people can be a valuable source of support and input. Like sharing a business idea, the risks of not receiving input and support are more significant than the potential drawbacks of sharing. Ultimately, building a successful career is about seeking support and input from the right people at the right time.

Drivers of Success

A well-crafted strategic objective is only as effective as the drivers that support it. These drivers are the critical elements that enable you to achieve your strategic objective. Identifying your drivers is essential to help you understand what short-term goals you need to achieve to make your long-term goals a reality.

It’s essential to think about the different types and categories of drivers when identifying the ones that are most important to you. This approach allows you to consider all the factors that may influence your career path and make informed decisions about where to focus your efforts. Here are some types of drivers that should be considered:

1. Skills and Knowledge Drivers: These are the key drivers related to the skills and knowledge you need to acquire to achieve your strategic objective. These may include learning new technologies, mastering new tools or techniques, or obtaining industry certifications.
2. Personal Development Drivers: These are the key drivers related to your personal growth and development. These may include building your self-confidence, improving your communication or leadership skills, or developing your emotional intelligence.
3. Relationship Drivers: These are the key drivers related to the relationships you build and maintain with others. These may include networking with peers and mentors, building relationships with industry professionals, or improving your ability to collaborate with others.

It is important to note that, at this stage of developing the strategy map, it is advisable not to overly focus on specific skills, experiences, or people, as these elements are more appropriately addressed through the initiatives you will take to achieve your short-term goals.

Short-Term Goals

Setting strategic objectives and mapping drivers of success to those objectives is an essential step in creating a career strategy map. However, it is equally important to establish short-term goals that align with your strategic objective and drivers. Short-term goals serve as stepping stones toward your strategic objective and help you stay focused and motivated.

Short-term goals should align with the strategic objective and drivers you mapped earlier. The drivers identified are essential to achieve your strategic objective, and the short-term goals should address them. For instance, if one of the drivers identified is to gain experience in a particular field, a short-term goal could be to take on a project or role that provides such experience. This way, each short-term goal serves as a building block that helps you achieve your strategic objective.

A short-term goal is a specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound intent that can be accomplished within a relatively short period, usually six three months to two years. For instance, if your strategic objective is to become a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in 15 years, the next three reasonable short-term goals could be getting your next promotion to a senior title by the end of this year, completing a professional certification in your field by the end of next year, and transitioning from an individual contributor to a leadership role within the next three years. However, goals can manifest in various forms and each individual needs to evaluate what might constitute productive goals that align with the drivers of progress towards the strategic objective.

It is essential to structure short-term goals in a linear way to create a clear path toward your strategic objective. You should aim to set two or three goals that follow one another in a logical sequence. For instance, if your strategic objective is to become a CFO, your first short-term goal could be to gain experience as a financial analyst, followed by a promotion to a finance manager, and then to a director of finance. This way, each short-term goal builds upon the previous one and takes you one step closer to your strategic objective.

While it is essential to have a clear path toward your strategic objective, it is also crucial to leave some flexibility. If your strategic objective is within reach of two or three goals, it might be necessary to review and adjust the objective to make it more challenging and ambitious. Also, remember to leave some gap between the furthest foreseeable goal and the strategic objective. Planning too far ahead may limit your ability to see opportunities that may arise on the way.

Mapping short-term goals to drivers should be an iterative process that involves ongoing review and adjustment as circumstances change. You may need to adjust your short-term goals or even your strategic objective based on the changing business environment, personal circumstances, or new opportunities that arise. Therefore, it is essential to regularly review and adjust your short-term goals and strategic objective as needed to ensure that they remain relevant and achievable.

“One of the secrets of life is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks.”
— Jack Penn

A SWOT analysis can prove to be a valuable tool in identifying short-term goals that will help achieve a strategic career objective. This process entails assessing one’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats in relation to their career aspirations. It enables individuals to gain insights into their strengths, which they can leverage to plan short-term goals. While recognizing weaknesses, individuals can reflect on whether to work on them or balance them out by emphasizing their strengths. It is more critical to acknowledge weaknesses than to try and eliminate them entirely. Identifying potential opportunities and threats allows individuals to plan short-term goals that can maximize the likelihood of leveraging opportunities and countering potential obstacles. By considering these factors, individuals can gain a clear understanding of what short-term goals will enable them to achieve their strategic career objective.

Key Initiatives

As individuals develop their personal career strategy map, it is crucial to consider all the layers that make up the plan. The last layer of the career strategy map is identifying key initiatives. These initiatives are specific and measurable criteria that guide individuals in accomplishing their short-term goals, which eventually leads them to achieve their overall career objective. Key initiatives help individuals identify and prioritize the necessary steps required to reach their desired short-term goals.

Key initiatives serve as essential guidelines for individuals to achieve their short-term goals and, ultimately, their overall career objective. However, the formatting and medium of a strategy map makes it not suitable for agile planning of specific tasks. To effectively plan and manage tasks, it is advisable to use tools that are better suited for day-to-day or week-to-week planning, such as a Kanban board. Kanban boards are visual project management tools that help individuals break down initiatives into smaller, more manageable tasks that are easier to track and complete. By focusing on specific tasks, individuals can make progress toward each key initiative and ultimately achieve their overall career objective. Therefore, initiatives can be referred to on a Kanban board, to break them down into smaller tasks to make them more actionable and trackable.

When developing initiatives for a goal centered on obtaining a promotion or a specific job role, it’s common to have a predefined set of criteria that can provide insight into the skills, experience, or qualifications required. By reviewing these criteria, individuals can better understand what is expected of them and what they need to focus on to achieve their objective. In some cases, these criteria can even serve as the key initiatives themselves, as they represent the tangible efforts necessary to meet the desired outcome.

Concluding

A career strategy map is a visual representation of an individual’s career plan and goals. It helps to bring structure into career planning by providing a clear roadmap for achieving professional objectives. The map typically includes short-term and long-term goals, as well as the skills, experience, and education needed to achieve them.

By using a career strategy map, individuals can identify the steps they need to take to progress in their careers, which can be very motivating. When people have a clear idea of what they want to achieve and how they will achieve it, they are more likely to be engaged and motivated in their work. This can lead to increased productivity and effectiveness.

Moreover, a career strategy map can help individuals to identify gaps in their skills or experience and take steps to fill those gaps. It can also help them to stay focused on their goals and avoid getting sidetracked by distractions or opportunities that are not aligned with their vision of the future.

Overall, a career strategy map can be an extremely valuable tool for individuals who want to take control of their career development and make progress toward their long-term goals. Providing structure and clarity can help people to stay motivated, focused, and effective in their work.

Additional Thoughts

Purpose, Vision, Mission

It is reasonable to ask, to what extent the typical Purpose — Vision — Mission structure fits into the career strategy map. While purpose is the overarching reason for one’s career, the strategic objective can be looked at as a mission, and the drivers along with the goals can form the mission statement. However, I also think that it’s important to remember that everyone’s career strategy map will look different, and there may not be a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to structuring it.

Frequency of Adaptation

When it comes to implementing a career strategy map, it’s essential to consider the frequency of adaptation or updating of each layer. While the bottom initiatives layer should be highly adaptable and updated frequently, the purpose should feel fixed and the strategic objective should be reasonable and change rarely. The drivers should be adaptable based on learnings on the way, and the near-term goals should be stable but open to change depending on the environment and opportunities. It’s crucial to craft current initiatives with the intention of acting on them within months or quarters but not to let them get in the way of other priorities and opportunities that may emerge. By taking a nuanced approach to the different layers of the strategy map and updating them appropriately, individuals can build a career strategy that is both motivating and effective in achieving their vision for the future.

Example

Assuming the position of a Financial Analyst with three years of experience working for a large enterprise after graduating from university with a Bachelor’s degree in Finance Management.

Purpose

To drive financial growth while promoting responsible investments, transparency, and sustainability for the benefit of society.

Strategic Objective

To become the CFO of a mid-sized enterprise within 15 years.

Drivers

• Experience: Relevant work experience in finance and accounting, as well as in management and leadership roles.
• Education: A strong educational background in finance, accounting, business administration, or a related field, as well as advanced certifications.
• Technical Skills: Strong technical skills in finance and accounting, as well as in areas such as budgeting, forecasting, financial analysis, and risk management.
• Soft Skills: Strong soft skills such as leadership, communication, collaboration, and problem-solving.
• Industry Knowledge: A deep understanding of your company’s industry and the broader economic landscape, including staying up-to-date on industry trends and developments.

Short-Term Goals

1. To be promoted to Senior Financial Analyst within the next year.
2. To become the Finance Manager of a business function within the next 4 years.

Initiatives

• Own projects: Take ownership of financial analysis projects, deliver them within timelines, and identify areas of improvement or suggest process efficiencies.
• Build relationships: Build strong relationships with finance and non-finance stakeholders to be seen as a knowledgeable and reliable partner.
• Develop expertise: Build expertise in specific areas of financial analysis, such as budgeting and forecasting, financial modeling, or variance analysis.
• Improve communication: Enhance communication skills to effectively convey complex financial information to non-financial stakeholders.
• Mentor junior analysts: Take on a leadership role by mentoring and training junior analysts, demonstrating the ability to develop a team.
• Continuous improvement: Continuously evaluate performance, seek feedback from managers and peers, and identify areas for improvement and growth.

Thank you for reading my article on Career Strategy Mapping. I hope that it helps you improve your own career planning or support others in their professional development!

I will be publishing a short guide for Career Strategy Mapping soon, which I will add a link to in this article.

Feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions or feedback!
linkedin.com/in/kossatzmax