LORETTA DUNCAN-BRANTLEY Associate Communications Manager Microsoft Corporation Discovering Your Path Through the Maze of Life

Discussion Framework  Profile  Who am I?  Plan  Goals and Commitments (Personal and Business)  Progress  Timeline

Which Road? Family not willing to view a different lifestyle Naval Academy vs. HBCU USN  Nuclear Power or children  Air Traffic Control  No passion for the job

Learning Outside of the Box Military Police  Family background with weapons increased my knowledge  Who knew?  No problem with ‘hand to hand’ combat exercises Interior Communications Civilian Life  Librarian?  UPS Driver  Student  Paralegal  Different level of learning  Research  Introduction to software

Welcome to Microsoft Welcome to Corporate America Receptionist vs. Legal Assistant vs. Admin Time to create a career

Career Goals? What are goals Goals are S.M.A.R.T. S – Specific M – Measurable A – Achievable R – Results Based (also Relevant) T – Time based

Specific Is it clear what the intention of the commitment is? What if you don’t have the same manager in a year, would your new manager understand the commitment? Could you hand your commitments to your replacement and have them understand your job?

Measurable Objectively, how will you (and your manager) determine if the goal was accomplished? What does a 3.0 or B grade for this commitment look like (not a 4.0)? This is where it helps to be very specific, but also the part that is most likely to change over the year Don’t let it change quietly

Achievable Is it level appropriate and doable in the review period? Do you believe you can deliver on this commitment? Do you want to deliver on this commitment or are you saying this because you think it’s what your manager wants to hear? Remember you’re part of a team, what is your part of the whole?

Results Based / Relevant Focus on the result, not the implementation Can you connect it to your company’s goals? Can you connect it to department’s goals? Can you connect it to your team’s goals? Can you connect it to your personal goals? What is the real problem you’re trying to solve?

Time Based Is there a specific deadline (can be “to agreed schedule”)? Can you divide it into smaller milestones and check-points? You should have some 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, and 12 month commitments Your 12 month commitments will have to be in terms of progress towards a goal (at Microsoft we start the review process in May, we receive our evaluation in September)

Common Mistakes Having only commitments you’re almost done with or are only for the next month or so Not having business related commitments Taking on a team-wide commitment as your own Taking a class is not a goal - Take a class on time management is Not spending enough time with your manager on these, or expecting them to give you the right set of commitments Not keeping your commitments up to date every quarter

Sample Commitments Attend meetings every week Plan my group’s morale events Manage the space for my organization Order equipment for my team Keep my inbox below 100 unread s Get to work at 9:00am every day Make my manager a better person

How to Grow your Career First – what things are most important to you and how will your job impact those things? Do The Research Read Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For issue Discover how many women are serving currently as executive officers or on the Board of Directors of a particular company.  You can find this at or for large companies.  For smaller, local companies, ask them to mail you a copy of their quarterly report. This indicator tells you how a company really feels about women. If you see a vacuum, run the other way.

Then What? Second - how does the company view women?  On a formal basis, managers will provide opportunities for visibility; explain and interpret organizational politics; map out clear developmental goals and support you in achieving them.  Companies which have embraced "family friendly" and diversity oriented values will have designed an organization with the staffing philosophy and processes and development philosophy and processes to support those values.

Finally - Additional Research Usually management will have credible advocates with positional authority to see that key people, are not excluded from informal networks. Within this framework, you have to also do your part. You must use your career goals as a framework for making choices and taking on change. You should try to align your career goals with what you see as the opportunities within – BE PASSIONATE!

Nail It! Balance specificity and flexibility in career planning. Be clear about the experiences and accomplishments you need in order to achieve your career goals. Be sure to share your career goals as you never know who will help you with the next opportunity. Both vertical (mentor) and horizontal (network) relationships have value.

Closing Become a good student  ASK QUESTIONS  Share your knowledge  I have created a list of organizations that I would suggest that if you find one that holds your interest, contact them for more formal career planning information.  Create your profile  Make your plan  Mark your progress Move ahead!

Tips For each goal think about all 5 points and don’t stop until your written commitment addresses all 5 You don’t have to take the points in order, sometimes a commitment becomes SPECIFIC by clarifying the other points It’s a very good idea to first understand the problem you’re trying to fix The first few times you try this are the hardest, it does get easier with practice Make sure you have some stretch goals Don’t stress about it too much, we all know that goals change over time and can be fine tuned