Kicking off the new year!

I always think it's amazing that the new year is often used to start something new, that it's easier to start fresh even though it's just another day. However, there is no bad day to start something new even if it happens to be the start of a new year. I just saw a quote from a Lighthouse blog entry - "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now." Another thing about new years is the New Year's Resolution. I have never been a fan of them since I think they are often under-specified or too ambitious and ultimately never completed. I'm also not a role model for professional development planning but there are a few tricks I like to use and I like to try new ideas out from time to time.

For me, this year will be a change. I will be responsible for helping a few colleagues with their own development plans so I need to become better at picking my own manager's and senior colleagues' brains for ideas. I'm also doing some reading about how to approach one-on-one meetings. I was not a fan of one-on-one meetings as they are quite long and require actual planning to attend one. It will also be interesting for me as I am not a manager by role, so while there may be some limits on how much I can do for them it is also going to challenge me to make things happen (Empower Yourself is an "immutable" at my company).

As a starter I think I will take some ideas from http://jasonevanish.com/2014/05/29/101-questions-to-ask-in-1-on-1s/ and bring some beginning action items to the table. Some things that I will find out about are:

1. any existing career goals,
2. technical strengths and weaknesses,
3. ideas about personal/professional development.

Some actions that I might recommend:

1. technical reading (blogs, podcasts),
2. technical writing (blog about personal experiences or expertise),
3. prepare some medium term goals.

As a novice in this field I want to read about the experience from others but also don't want to rely too much on it. Like anything else hopefully I will get better at this through experience. Keep up with me on my own professional journey through this blog!