I was listening to a @SaaStr podcast episode with the CMO of Oracle CX Cloud Suite (@descahill) where he explained his thinking on career development- It was a helpful framework.
I’ve heard people talk about the use of concentric circles for product development, mergers and acquisitions, and other contexts related to team design, etc. Using the same concept for career development makes a lot of sense.
I drew a picture to explain:
It doesn’t matter what function you operate in- Sales, product development, finance, marketing, cashier, and so on. It’s a simple way to think about skill development, expansion, and acquisition.
The center circle is the core capability or capabilities required to do a job. Let’s say you’re just starting out in sales. The core capability could be that you can explain the product or service you’re selling in a matter of fact way. You understand the thing and you can explain it clearly to someone.
Once you’ve mastered that core capability, it’s time to move outward to the next ring/circle, which may be acquiring a greater level of business acumen. You know what you’re selling, and now you need to know how that impacts the person you’re selling it to. How it impacts their life or business and be able to articulate it well. Master that, then move outward to the next ring.
Maybe the next skill to acquire is storytelling. To take your knowledge of the product or service, your understanding of the impact to the customer’s life or business, and then marry those things in a well crafted story that connects emotionally and gets justified rationally.
Third ring? Maybe that’s acquiring the skill of managing people. If your path is to go from sales rep to sales manager, you’ll need to have this skill in your concentric circles at some point.
There may be instances where you even go back to an earlier skill to refresh and re-master it versus moving outward as a next step. Never hurts to ‘sharpen the saw’ in all areas.
Map out your concentric circles for your particular role and career development aspirations. It might be helpful to see it on paper.
