Whatever your circumstances, you can come up with a personal development plan to suit you.
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In 2021 I was pregnant with my second child and had a minor career freakout. What if, after maternity leave, my consulting clients had abandoned me?
I was not abandoned – because I work with amazing people and organisations! – but to minimise the risk, I decided I needed to update my skills. I couldn’t find an off-the-shelf course that suited me, so I created a DIY Master’s, diving deeper into innovation for social impact, alongside productivity and coaching skills. (Some online relics of the programme are here, if you’re interested, including a link to the Google Sheet with links to the courses and activities I undertook.)
It was a big commitment (and did I pass..?), but I got a lot out of it, and am still using techniques I learned from my studies. I am really happy and grateful to have qualified as a coach, and have worked with some fantastic female leaders since then. I can never go back to my old to-do lists now that I’ve learned (and adapted) the Bullet Journal method. And the innovation skills I studied are put to good use supporting Theirworld’s Education Innovation Awards and accelerator.
This year I invested in my decision-making skills, in a very impactful course called Decision By Design. This is a 12-week training programme for high achievers who want to consistently make great decisions, confidently take risks, and strategically position themselves for the best possible future. The tools in this course are now part of my everyday life and again, I can’t imagine life without them.
So… what next?
Or…
How do you make the most of learning, for your personal and professional goals?
I am working on aligning my learning with my longer-term goals. Micro-credentials and low-cost online learning are a two-edged sword in this regard. On one hand, they are radically accessible… but on the other, a magpie like me just wants to do everything. I need something that demands a bit of sticking power, and takes me on a longer term journey. It’s not easy for freelancers or independent consultants to set their course, without a guiding framework like you might find in a larger company.
In 2023-2025 there are four areas I want to grow and excel in:
1. LEADERSHIP. I just can’t get enough! I love working with others, and I love getting involved in a huge range of things. Senior leadership suits me really well. So I need to keep investing in the skills that make me a good leader. I also equally want to be good at followership, and be able to step aside and let others lead too.
2. BUSINESS MANAGEMENT. After founding six businesses I really want to know I’m doing a good job. While I have lots of hands-on experience, I still want to reach into financial strategy, and learning how to grow a business or social venture.
3. PR & COMMUNICATIONS. We work in such a fast-moving field, I want to know the best of what others are doing, and work out the templates and strategies that can best help our clients to take up the space they deserve in their communications.
4. DEVELOPMENT FINANCE & PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT. It may not sound sexy, but world of grant-making and social impact investment completely fascinates me! This is where the world-changing grants and investments are going to come from. Time to understand it all a lot better.
If you don’t have your growth areas sorted yet, consider yourself invited to jot them down now! Once I sat down to focus it took me less than 10 minutes to distill my swirling brain-fuzz into the four areas above. You could set a timer and give it a try.
How much should we budget for personal development?
Oh, the days when I worked in a huge organisation with a massive training agenda! The only obstacle to training was getting my line manager to sign it off. Now I look at courses and cringe at the thought of all the zeroes on the price tags!
If you, like me, are an independent worker (consultant, freelancer, entrepreneur…), then investing in personal development can enhance your skills and help you stay competitive in your field. It can be essential to success both today, and tomorrow. Some financial advisors and experts suggest you set aside 5-10% of your income for personal development, and if you can do that – bravo!! I have managed to do a lot with less than that, and I’m hoping the trend will continue! My budget for the next six months is up to €600.
What activities will I undertake, to meet these goals?
I recently became a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and I hope this will provide some of the personal development structure that the independent worker lacks. The CIPR sets a goal of 60 “CPD Points” per year, and has a set of courses, resources and activities that each have a point allocation, starting at 5 points. You can also devise and submit your own activities to get points.
So, leaning into this structure, I will…
- Talk with a mentor about leadership and work out a development plan.
- Do a short course in business finance
- Complete at least 5 learning activities on PR and media before 31 December 2023
- Create and populate my own “grant making guidance” based on investment and philanthropic good practice
Perhaps most importantly, I will also seek to align my work to all the above. The hardest, but most effective, learning activity, is to try to improve 1% every day.
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Thank you for reading, and good wishes for your learning journey. Keep me accountable – or reach out for a chat – via LinkedIn, or drop us a line using this form.
