Develop Yourself (Or Others) without Spending a Dime: Strategies for Growing in Place
You can still grow your career, even when training budgets are limited and moving up isn’t an option. Here are executive-approved ideas for growing your career without spending a dime.
Before we get to today’s topic … If you’re a regular reader of this newsletter, I need your help.
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Development without a dime
Many of the people I coach are in small organizations where chances to move up the org chart are few and far between.
Others are in struggling industries. Promotions aren’t happening—they’re just glad paychecks still are.
Still others know they don’t want the increased pressure that comes with a bigger title. They’re happy with the level they’re at, but a change of pace would be nice.
If you find yourself in any of those spots, the question you may be asking is: How can I grow where I am?
That’s a good question.
Over the last few months, I’ve asked this question of leaders from a variety of industries and functional roles. Their collective wisdom is below, and suggests we should think about the question of growing in place in three ways: (1) how to grow in your current role, (2) how to grow through opportunities adjacent to your current role, and (3) how you can find professional growth outside your work day.
Grow in the job
To grow in your current role is to decide, “let’s make the most of where I’m at.”
Embrace the power of difficult conversations. One of the fastest ways to accelerate your professional growth is by leaning into uncomfortable discussions rather than avoiding them.
Having difficult conversations—whether addressing performance issues with a colleague, providing honest feedback to your manager, or advocating for a different approach to a project—builds your confidence, communication skills, and reputation as someone who can handle challenging situations. These moments often reveal leadership qualities that formal training programs can't teach.
Feedback—giving and receiving it—is often related to difficult conversations. Ask for direct and regular feedback from your colleagues and supervisor, as a way to grow.
What conversations am I avoiding? What might be the benefit of speaking up?
Look for opportunities that are cross-functional. When we first begin to lead, we are responsible to develop mastery over our domains. An accountant needs to become really good at accounting. A marketer needs to become really good at marketing.
But as your career grows, your leadership needs to move beyond your department or functional area to take a broader view of the organization. The accountant needs to understand supply chain management; the marketer needs to understand product development.
Grow your leadership by looking for opportunities that put you in proximity to other divisions, teams, and functional areas. Learn how different aspects of the organization work, and then use that insight to improve your team and the organization as a whole.
Closely related to this idea—ask for a stretch assignment.
Where could I broaden my understanding of how the organization really works?
Find opportunities to teach and learn from your colleagues. One of the best ways to truly master something is to teach it.
I often teach courses in MBA programs. I am almost certain that I spend more time preparing for these courses than my students spend studying, because I want to be sure I can understand and explain the concepts clearly. Teaching makes me a better leader.
Create teaching opportunities in your workplace by planning a “lunch and learn” of rotating topics; or create a learning circle—a regular gathering of professionals who want to share ideas around a specific topic (customer journey mapping, for example; or the ethical use of artificial intelligence).
How could I bring people together to learn?
Find a mentor. A mentor is someone ahead of you in their career who will share wisdom and insight. They can help you round off your rough edges, and often become an advocate for you in the organization. A mentor can also be a source of great advice when you’re feeling stuck.
If you’re ready to grow, ask for a mentor. Identify a leader you respect; this may be a near-peer, or someone a few levels higher than you. Then ask if they’d grab coffee a few times each year to learn together. Consider the point above—perhaps even request a mentor from another division.
Who do I want to learn from and why haven’t I asked them to mentor me yet?
Grow around the job
Once you’ve maximized growing IN the job, it’s time to look AROUND you and ask—what learning opportunities exist adjacent to where I am now? Consider these paths:
Job shadowing. Job shadowing happens when we observe others at work in an attempt to broaden our understanding. Shadowing can be great for cross-functional insight (see above) or for learning about the next level of leadership.
We often think of shadowing as following someone for a whole day—but you can shadow in a single meeting. For example, maybe you’re a business analyst and you ask to shadow a sales team member on a client call.
Whose work might give me a new perspective?
Field trips. Taking a field trip is a great way to grow your understanding as well. Field trips can give you an opportunity to observe the work of non-competitors in similar functional roles, or of clients or customers.
I know one emerging leader who was tasked with recommending a new accounting software for her company. She identified several accounting leaders in other organizations who were willing to introduce her to the software they use, and took field trips to their offices.
Likewise, a friend in pharmaceuticals took a series of field trips to visit patients who relied on the company’s life-saving drugs. These trips expanded her empathy and helped her identify opportunities to improve packaging.
Instead of “who can I learn from?” ask “where could I learn?” Then plan a field trip.
Grow outside the job
Finally, we can look for opportunities outside our work days, to grow ourselves professionally. These growth opportunities don’t require approval from your supervisor, and they can be personally rewarding as well as professionally beneficial. I highlight two below:
Create a learning agenda. Let’s say you identify a way you want to grow. To create a learning agenda, you dedicate a period of time to learning and practicing the topic and then find resources to assist your learning.
If learning to give direct feedback was your topic, you might start by finding a few articles, videos, or podcasts on the subject. Then you might attend a free webinar. You start trying to apply what you’re learning immediately. As you deepen your experience, you pick up a few books. Finally, you identify someone you think is good at this, and take them out for a cup of coffee to ask for their guidance.
Creating a learning agenda isn’t complex, but it does require intentionality. With effort, you can grow significantly in a short period of time.
What am I curious about? How could I find opportunities to learn outside work?
Join a non-profit board. Finally, one of the best ways to grow your leadership experience outside of work is to volunteer in an advisory role. Joining a non-profit board or advisory group gives you the chance to use your skills for good, while also building your expertise in thinking and leading at an organizational level.
Some of the most challenging work I’ve led has been on behalf of non-profit organizations where I’m a volunteer, rather than a paid staff member. For me, at least, this has been incredibly fertile ground for building my capacity to navigate through challenges and lead in resource-constricted environments. The learning from my volunteer experience has shaped my professional career—it can for you as well.
How might I be of service to the causes I care most about?
BONUS QUESTION
Today’s newsletter assumes most of us want to grow in our careers, even if we aren’t climbing a ladder. But twice recently, I’ve been asked this question:
What do you do with a team member who doesn’t want to grow?
Each time I’ve been asked that question in a workshop, we asked the participants to share their response. Most have said that it’s understandable if someone doesn’t want to reach for a higher position; but learning overall and growing capacity is an expectation.
“In my field, you have to learn constantly,” said an IT director in the room. Technology advances quickly; someone who is not prepared to learn won’t keep up with the evolving nature of the work. Many fields are the same.
How are you learning? How do you keep up with the evolving nature of your field?
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko