This is not an isolated case. I have found appreciation lacking in the culture of many organizations. I now ask workshop participants how they were chosen when I begin most corporate programs. Inevitably, a large majority of the participants assume that they are being sent for remedial work, even though I refuse to conduct workshops that are meant for repair rather than growth. We still live in a world that views developmental initiatives as a sign of failure! Most leaders still see little need for ongoing training and education, despite all their declarations regarding the value of organizational learning. An appreciative approach to career planning is essential if training and education are to be viewed as opportunity rather than punishment.
What does such an approach look like? First, an appreciative career planner helps the employee see how his organization’s developmental initiatives compliment strengths he already manifests. It does little good for an employee to move directly into an area of inadequacy that is filled with anxiety and self-doubt. Areas of great challenge should always be intermixed with areas of strength and support. For instance, an employee might be fearful of computers and other forms of electronic technology. This is not uncommon in our digitalized world. This employee should not be pushed into a software applications course.
Rather, if this employee is interpersonally skillful he might serve as a mentor or coach to a techno-nerd. These two employees can gently teach one another something about their way of being in the world. If our computer-phobic employee is skillful at marketing, then he might work with someone from information technology in designing and setting up a program to market IT training programs inside the organization. This employee can use his own fear of computers as a test case in designing convincing marketing strategies. He might even convince himself that certain forms of computer training would be of some value.
The career planner guides employees toward areas of improvement, but always through their strengths and areas of vital interest and enthusiasm. This is the first key to an appreciative approach to career planning: lead from your strong suit. The metaphor of career ladder enters at this point. The employee is climbing up the ladder. At the top of the ladder, we find the employee’s personal career aspirations. The rungs of the ladder represent developmental programs in which the employee participates. Each program builds on the strengths of the employee and enables the employee to lift herself to a highly level of achievement in the organization. The career ladder is a self-empowering model of development that is fully compatible with the other five leadership strategies, and in particular, Assessment (Human Resource Bank), Chartering (organizational intentions) and empowerment (sequential movement of teams through improvements in communication, conflict-management, problem solving and decision-making).
