Significant Career Lesson From an Associate Director of Professional Learning at Rocketship Public Schools
A significant career lesson learned by Lauren, Associate Director of Professional Learning at Rocketship Public Schools, is to proactively seek out "meaningful or complex work" and begin contributing to it before formally requesting a promotion. This approach allows for demonstrable experience ("I've had experience doing X Y and Z") and increased confidence when pursuing advancement opportunities.
Career Development, Professional Development, Leadership, Project Management, Communication
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Lauren Keough
Associate Director of Professional Learning
Rocketship Public Schools
UCLA - 2008
Lehman College - CUNY (2010) - Masters of Arts in Social Studies Education & Stanford University (2019) - Masters in Policy, Organization & Leadership Studies
History, Art History
Education
Education
Took Out Loans, Worked 20+ Hours in School
Video Highlights
1. Proactively seek out and begin working on complex projects within your current role to gain experience and demonstrate skills.
2. Solicit feedback from others on your work to improve your performance and identify opportunities for growth.
3. When discussing a promotion or increased responsibilities, have concrete examples of your work and accomplishments to support your claims. This demonstrates initiative and competence.
Transcript
What is one lesson that has proven significant in your career?
When you're in a role that involves more meaningful or complex work within your organization, find a way to start doing pieces of that in your current role before you mention it to anyone. Find something you can begin doing and identify someone you can get feedback from. Ask for ideas on additional tasks you can take on, without discussing any promotion.
When it's time to have that conversation about additional role responsibilities or promotion, you'll have something tangible to point to. You can say, "I've had experience doing X, Y, and Z. When I tried this, this is what I learned from it."
This approach is huge. It also means that when you do start that new role, you'll be much more confident than if you were beginning it completely fresh with no prior experience.