My Personal Board of Directors

I attended an excellent seminar on developing a personal board of directors. This is a group of people that serve as mentors. It is necessary to have some from your current place of employment, from outside your job, with expertise in your field, that know you well, that know your personal goals, etc. The people can change as your career goals change. The interesting aspect of the talk was that women are often not very intentional about our career development. Women may think about the next career step, but they often do not think further ahead.

Additionally, women tend to be very bad at informing others of their accomplishments. I stink that this. It always feels like bragging. However, we were told that there are ways to self-promote without bragging. Additionally, if we do not look out for ourselves, no one else will.

There was also a panel of speakers, including Susan Ivey, President and CEO of Reynolds American. It was a great conference.

Upon reflection, I've realized that I am a natural at networking. I am extroverted and I love meeting new people. However, my weakness is that I am not intentional about networking. I am not very thoughtful about meeting people that may be able to help me further my career. I also need to work on some self promotion. I do not plan to advertise my accomplishments, but I need to do a better job of keeping my boss, as well as other leaders at work, informed of successes that I may have at work and projects that I complete.