The Five Stages of Development Success

Abstract: There are five stages that lead to development success based uopn a research-based, experienced-tested, practitioner-verified process, and thought leader consensus.

Embarking on a 20- to 30-year career journey which ends with a seat at the main table of leaders requires several trips through the Five Stages of Development. 

There are at least five cycles and the development stages are relevant to each:

1. From student to intern. 
2. From intern to one or more individual contributor jobs. 
3. From individual contributor to team lead, supervisor or manager. 
4. From manager to first-level executive (e.g. Director). 
5. From first-level leader to a senior executive job.  

The requirements at each stage are unique. There are variations leading to success within each, and there will be required adjustments for growth and development along the way–adding, editing, and subtracting elements of expressions of self.

You could navigate the whole trip alone. However, you will likely benefit more from good Bosses, HR and Talent Management (TM) Professionals, Coaches, Mentors, Orienteers, Guides, and Sponsors. It takes a village to do a good job and achieve development success.

How many times one “recycles” will depend upon career goals and aspirations. If you love what you are doing, the organization needs what you are doing, and it provides work fulfillment, you may only need to go through the development cycle once or twice.

The Five Stages of Development Success

Stage One –  Enlightenment
Stage Two –  The Vision
Stage Three –  The Path
Stage Four –  Closing the Gap
Stage Five –  Confirmation            

If you aspire to a top job, there will be repeated cycles.

Think about the process as five rooms in a circular house, with doors between the rooms. You must enter each room and complete a Stage before entering the next room.

Stage One – Enlightenment; Know Thyself

• The goal is to realize as complete and accurate a view of self as is realistic and possible
• Information comes from self, plus informed others
• Tools could include multi-rater and self-assessments, interviews, videos, and other feedback 

There are four “selves” to discover and understand.

• Current self-view – Who I think I am today
• Ego Ideal – Who I am striving to be today
• How you are ‘Experienced’ – How others see me
• Best Fit Self – What will work best for me, my career, and the organization I serve

Research shows that self-assessment of how I am being experienced is the least accurate view. Said simply, you are the least accurate assessor of yourself. This is especially true related to emotional intelligence (EQ).  Informed others are more accurate assessors.  Uninformed observers (low level of contact) may have yet another view. Knowing the gap between your view, and the view of others, is a key data point to have. Rarely do the two views line up. More often, there are material differences between self and others. Some gaps matter and others don’t.

The biggest differences are usually in the Emotional/Interpersonal Skills (EQ) domain.  Many think they are more Interpersonally skilled and collaborative than others experience them to be. You may be confident you’re making a good impression, yet the receivers and other observers may disagree.

The goal of Stage One is to close the gap between a current self-view and the view from how you are observed and experienced by others.

Full Stop. 

You should not pass through the door to the Stage Two until the Stage One gap is reasonably small. People sometimes resist feedback and can be defensive. There is no use moving to the next stage until the gap is closed. How? Add feedback resources, change facilitators, use fresh assessments, turn to a trusted mentor, watch instructional videos, or ask a life partner to weigh in. Evidence will build until a clearer sense of self is realized as you prepare for development success.

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Stage Two – The Vision; What do you want in a career?

• The goal is to discover the requirements of the next career move
• Could be a specific job, at another level, or even in another organization
• Then complete an analysis of the Knowledge, Skills, and Attributes (KSAs) required, based on published job descriptions and/or known or likely success profiles

Understanding the gap

• What are the key gaps between your newly informed self-view and the “best-fit self” to better ensure success going forward?

Some organizations have job descriptions and success profiles. Others approach talent acquisition and placement less formally, and perhaps more subjectively. The uncertainty can make preparing for a new role challenging. HR and Talent Management are usually in charge of facilitating the creation of career support systems, using a published skills marketplace, for example. This resource typically includes the requirements necessary to do specific jobs at specific levels. 

The key mindset is to realize the next career step requires you to be somewhere between slightly different to materially enhanced, relative to the needed Knowledge, Skills, and Attributes (KSAs), from where you are today. The level of effort will vary depending upon whether the gap is predominantly for a Knowledge, Skill, or an Attributional requirement. Another mindset is to accept the published requirements as accurate.

Full Stop.

You can’t pass through the door to Stage Three unless you accept that there are gaps to close. Too many believe they can make it as they are, and there are always examples in the organization of people who made it by keeping their flaws and gaps intact. They are exceptions. Again, some resist the unvarnished truth of critical feedback specific to where they stand on important requirements. You can use workaround strategies, yet may still find that you are passed over for a promotion until the readiness gaps are narrowed, and recognized as so. Using the workaround strategy is a low-probability approach, understanding and filling your gaps is a higher-probability approach that leads to development success more often.

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Stage Three – The Path; Plan the Work and Work the Plan

• The goal is to create a growth and development plan that, if executed, will lead to the desired outcome – where adjustments and enhancements are realized
• Tools include the assignments, experts, and supporters in the organization’s village, plus AI-assisted learning
• The Individual Development Plan (IDP) content will depend upon the career destination

The composition of your IDP needs to vary based on your career goal. If you have your eyes set on the “top of the house” versus maximizing the value you provide in your current position/level, you will need to put more focus on some “remedies” over others. While the “remedies” remain the same (assignments, network, self-study) the weights vary (see below). Additionally, how one prioritizes the need for Knowledge, Skills, and Attributes varies in the same manner. The chart below provides direction for where and how to focus your IDP based on your career goal.

Note: The KSAs are ranked based on priority/best-to-address (1=Highest Priority)

• The good news is that all requirements can be addressed
• The bad news is that not everyone wants to address these
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) underpinned by Authentic Intelligence makes accurate and customized IDPs available to everyone at the speed of need, and at a reasonable cost. It’s an equitable solution.

Full Stop.

You must “buy in” that the plan, if executed, will lead to what you want out of your career, and is necessary for development success. You can add authoritative resources, present use cases, and arrange interviews with people who have successfully executed a similar plan until the buy-in is complete. Ultimately, working your plan in isolation is less effective than bringing in exemplars, mentors, and coaches.

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Stage Four – Closing the Gap; Just Do It

• All gaps can be closed (successfully addressed)
• Cautionary tale: Many never close the gap(s)
• The know-do gap, when unaddressed, grows into a career staller or derailer
• Even where there is energy for know-care-do, it may not be strong enough to execute the plan
• The “do” is most often the steepest part of the challenge

When you make it to Stage Four, you are on the edge of where many have been, but few have passed through. Why? Part of the reason is rooted in the way our brains are designed. Our brain puts forth much energy to “protect the box it comes in.” The brain is generally not adventuresome and does not like ambiguity, uncertainty, and inefficiency. As you work to close the gap, you will have to “fight” against the brain’s natural tendency to maintain the status quo. After all, challenging yourself to fill the gap with new knowledge, skills, and attributes will require energy. Expecting to encounter Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs) is needed. “I can’t do this. It is not worth the effort. It won’t matter at the end of the day.” Push back on these quiet mantras that keep many from reaching stage 5.

Consider that multiple studies¹ of learning over time reveal a consistent pattern of the sequence of growth. Individuals plateau with various habits that keep performance at a certain level. A new challenge, feedback about needed change, or some internal discomfort emerges that prompts an evaluation and consideration of change. After learning about and accepting a need to adjust behavior, learning a new way of doing things results in a performance drop while the individual is testing various ways to perform differently. As integrating new insights and new behaviors occurs, performance significantly improves with the right assessment, support, and challenge.

Full Stop.

An unexecuted IDP remains just a plan. If you can’t, won’t, can’t find the time, or worse, don’t accept that it will do any good, the best boss or coach can’t help. Here, the need is motivation, resources, and support from the village. You must be convinced that the effort is worth it.  Personal change isn’t easy. You can bring in trusted, authoritative resources, engage a coach, present use cases, and arrange interviews. When gaps remain, you risk being passed over for a promotion or may need to move on for a desired opportunity.

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Stage Five – Confirmation; I notice – Others notice

• Satisfied the effort was worth it?
• The village was right.
• May have been hard to close the gap but it led to things you and the organization value.
• You have been successful enough to consider your next career move and restart at Stage One of the next cycle.
• If you successfully complete the Five Stages one time, the next time will be easier!

So, a career journey is like a well-planned trip, and the learner is behind the wheel and has their feet on the pedals. Growth isn’t left to chance; it follows a clear path through the Five Stages of Development Success. If you think you are done and have arrived, you have not. Remain learning agile, achievement driven, and hungry for growth and each stage of development will be easier.

A Note for Bosses and Coaches:

• This could be a five-meeting initiative or engagement. It doesn’t lend to one long session.
• Address one stage at a time, and don’t jump ahead.
• We have found in our management and coaching that sometimes a client or team member will back up to the previous Stage between meetings and will start that Stage over again.
• Each Stage might benefit from a different facilitator.
• Motivational bosses and coaches are the most rare and valuable. Close the gap. Just do it.
• Some initiatives and engagements fail. The focal subject can get stuck in a Stage.
• Bosses and Coaches also must learn how to access other resources in the village.
• Stage compression (moving too fast) could lead to failure.
• Other team members or clients who have successfully navigated a cycle can be used as proof sources for others.

Careers unfold in many steps, stages and cycles. Commit to working through each stage and achieve development success.

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