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Career goals are important. By some measure, any discussion about ‘the future of work’ just means providing opportunities for growth. People want a nice salary and the ability to own nice things and take sweet-ass vacations, yes. But you spend probably a base of 50 hours/week at work, which is more than you see your friends and family. As a result of that, you also want some base level of respect and a belief that you can rise up — and get new skills, more money, and more responsibility.
This all leads to an interesting question about career goals, though: what’s the role of a boss in them?
There are two distinct approaches here, IMHO.
Approach 1 is that managers/bosses are really coaches/mentors, and they should play a big part in helping to drive you towards your career goals.
Approach 2 is that managers/bosses are accountable to metrics and results of their own, and driving you towards hitting those — your career goals are something you worry about, not them.
I’d like to think that 70 percent of bosses are in the first category, but I think those numbers are probably inverted. I’d say about 3 in 10 ‘get’ the coaching side of being a boss. 7 in 10 are, for better or worse, target-chasers. There’s a million and six reasons for this, but most of it comes…
