The Cycle of Growth: Learning and Performing for Career Progression

Learning and Performing Part II

Invariably, during our careers, we will feel stuck or stagnant and feel we have reached a dead-end. This can be a frustrating and demoralizing experience, but it also marks the need for a new Learning/Performing cycle that will propel our career forward upon completion.

This cycle starts (and ends) with us executing in our “Performance Zone.” At this stage, we feel comfortable in our role and perform our job duties without much difficulty. We add value to our teams and organizations and feel confident in our abilities.

However, as we progress in our careers and the business landscape shifts, we may be faced with new challenges and asked to take on additional responsibilities that require us to adapt and learn new skills. If our previous experience does not prepare us for these new tasks, we may feel stuck and unsure how to move forward.

At this point, we have to take a step back and assess our current situation. We should identify what works and where we need help and then create a development plan outlining the specific skills and knowledge we need to acquire to succeed in our new role. Building a development plan and developing new skills is essential to the learning/performing continuum, as it helps us continue learning and growing as professionals.

Once we have created a development plan, we enter the “Learning Zone.” This may involve seeking additional training or formal education, guidance from a mentor or supervisor, or taking on new responsibilities that allow us to practice and develop our skills (see the 70-20-10 framework).

Finally, once we have acquired a new skill or knowledge, it is time to implement it and return to the “Performing Zone,” where we apply what we have learned to a real-world setting. This cycle of learning and performing is ongoing and helps us navigate stagnation and continue growing and developing in our careers.

The number of times you complete the learning/performing cycle indicates your job competency. The more frequently you go through this process of learning and applying new skills and knowledge, the better it is for your career development as you become a more experienced professional.

The Evolution of Learning & Performing in a Professional Career

During our career, Learning and performing often follow a pattern of initial learning and development followed by increasing performance levels as skills and knowledge are applied and refined over time. At the start of a career, individuals will focus more on learning new skills and gaining experience. In contrast, as we progress in our careers, we will focus more on applying those skills and knowledge to perform at a higher level. This can involve learning new techniques or technologies, gaining expertise in a particular area, or developing leadership skills.

Because of our natural progress and increased expertise levels later in our careers, learning will become less necessary, but we have to ensure we don’t stop it altogether. Remember, when learning stops, the decline starts.

Optimizing the Cycle of Growth

Next, let’s look at what we must do as leaders to maximize the potential of our direct reports. We will also examine employees’ initiatives to maximize their opportunities.

Good leaders know how to maximize the output of their teams; they create an environment of growth where mistakes are accepted and even sometimes encouraged (“fail fast”), promote learning, and keep a positive attitude.

Great leaders take it a step further. Additionally, they recognize their employees’ development opportunities and describe where they must improve in an encouraging and supportive demeanor while building and implementing development plans to maximize their career opportunities.

Employees must be thoughtful about self-growth initiatives. Don’t settle on doing something that doesn’t align with or support your long-term goals. To get what you want, you must know what you need. Communicate directly and often with your managers what your goals are and ask for advice on how to accomplish them.

Knowing what your unknown unknowns are is critical to your development. Ask your boss, friends, and colleagues where your best areas for improvement are. Do 360-degree surveys, and encourage people to give you honest and direct feedback.

Also, the employees must know what they want from the organization and be diligent in achieving it. Know what skills you need to work on, what career path you want to follow, and what the next steps are. Be aggressive in pursuing your developmental goals and Learning new skills – don’t be shy about it.

How each individual creates the Learning and Performance strategy depends significantly on each person’s Growth Mindset and Fixed Mindset. People with a Growth mindset will always welcome learning and challenges. People with a Fixed mindset take the exact opposite approach; they hold tight to what they know well, resist change, and avoid challenges at any cost.

Also, at this stage, Motivation comes into place, and these next steps differ from person to person and from leader to leader.

Next Steps: Top-down and Bottom-up Initiatives

Build a Psychological Safety Zone

As leaders, supporting our teams’ growth is of utmost importance. To achieve this, we must create environments where people can learn and grow safely without pressure. We need to create a challenging but not threatening atmosphere where we don’t punish mistakes, welcome learning, and stimulate a positive attitude; this is the so-called “Psychological Safe Zone.” Psychological Safety is the belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes.

Many of us have been in meetings or group discussions where we held back questions or ideas due to the fear of seeming incompetent. It isn’t easy to be in an environment where everything you do or say is under a microscope.

But imagine a different setting. A place in which everyone is safe to take risks, voice their opinions, and ask judgment-free questions. A culture where managers provide support and create safe zones so employees can let down their guard. That’s psychological safety.

Challenges

Sometimes in the current competitive environment, some organizations create significant pressure to Perform NOW (“future value is secondary”), minimize errors (“mistakes show incompetence and reveal weakness”), and marginalize individual growth (“immediate performance”)

As a result, the management team pushes hard toward performance, punishes mistakes, and marginalizes learning and development. Managers extract the maximum value from employees without any care for individual well-being and long-term growth. And when performance declines, “bad” managers add a new “fresh” workforce and discard the current one. They treat people like mechanical objects from which you have to squeeze as much value as possible. If you find yourself under such management, don’t just walk away. Run!

In today’s workplace environment, changes happen so frequently that without a proper Learning plan in place, it becomes challenging to be successful. Learning is when we respond to challenges we cannot solve (yet). We gather new skills and invest time and effort to maximize our long-term performance.