Tuesday, May 06, 2014

Martha Soehren on Career Development #ASTD2014

These are my live blogged notes from the Tuesday morning general session at ASTD International Conference & Expo, this week in Washington, D.C. Forgive any typos or incoherencies.

Martha Soehren was elected to the ASTD Board of Directors in 2010. She serves as the Chief Talent Development Officer and Senior Vice President for Comcast University and Comcast Cable.

Martha shares some advice on career development…

If you want something different, do something different.

Love what you do.

Set specific career goals – make sure they are YOUR goals and not your mentor’s, your boss’s, your spouse’s.  Make small, actionable goals for yourself. Set dates for those goals. Reaching goals gives us such a sense of accomplishment.

Take calculated risks.  Do volunteer work to get new skills.

Sheryl Sandberg’s book – Lean in and take control of your own career. All of us, men and women, need to stretch ourselves and ask for what we want.

Finding out that people think you lack experience should push you to gain more experience.

If you want to move into a leadership role in talent development, demonstrate team building skills. Focus on preparation.

Be flexible. Balance between work and life doesn't exist in a lot of jobs. Be efficient at your job. Make time for your personal goals. Plan for it. (She has had a date every Friday night for over 20 years with her husband. She plans one weekend a month to visit her grandfather).

Four lessons:
  1. Take charge of your career
  2. Set achievable goals
  3. Be bold and take calculated risk
  4. Be flexible (about achieving work and life balance)


If you’re thriving, your organization will thrive.


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