OGL 482 Pro-Seminar II

Unit 3 Assignment:
Networking Plan Template
Section 1: The Career Decision Matrix
As you move through the data-gathering phase and begin to generate options for potential jobs
and potential employers, this is when you can build and use a Career Decision Matrix. Following
the information from Harrington & Hall text, Career Management & Worklife Integration,
Chapter 4, pages 92-94, you will research, gather, and analyze information from your self-
assessments (i.e. the Kuder assessments in Unit 1, in particular), thematic analysis (themes),
career resources and more to create your Career Decision Matrix.

Career options are broader than jobs. They are paths you can take to get to where you want to be.
Here is a resource that can assist you in determing:
https://careerwise.minnstate.edu/careers/pathways.html

Answer the following:

Career Options

Option 1: Chief Strategy Officer at my Desert Financial Credit Union

This position is the path that I’m currently on. I’m currently the Vice President of Strategy,
responsible for strategic planning and execution. I’ve held a multitude of roles at Desert
Financial over the years, with constantly increasing scope and responsibility. Desert Financial Is
the state of Arizona’s Largest Credit Union, with over 450,000 total members

Chief strategy officers have a very large scope, driving strategic planning processes, ensuring
execution of strategic work, communicating the vision of the company, and holding others
accountable to adhering to corporate strategy. The Chief Strategy Role has grown significantly
over the past decade, as the world has gotten very complicated and it’s become very hard for the
CEO to keep up with everything that’s going on in addition to all their responsibilities (Breene,
2014, para 3). They need to balance 4 specific mandates; driving innovation and growth,
ensuring alignment, managing risk, and building organizational capabilities. (MYSAN
Management Consulting, 2023)

Option 2: Credit Union CEO

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Option 2 for my career is to become a credit union CEO. Credit unions are similar to banks, but
are not-for profit organizations owned by their members (Bieber, 2023) Because of their
structure, they tend to be more mission-focused than banks, with better rates and lower fees.
There are approximately 5,000 credit unions across the country, but this number is shrinking, as
smaller credit unions are having trouble keeping up with larger credit unions and multinational
banks (McCarthy 2021)

As a CEO, the job responsibilities would be broad and varied, from laying out the vision and
strategy of the company, to communicicating the vision and priorities for the company, to being
the face of the company to external partners and stakeholders.

Option 3: Chief Product Officer, Artificial Intelligence Company

Product Management has always been a field that’s been interesting to me, and one that’s been
growing rapidly, expected to grow 10% next year with no signs of slowing anytime soon (Job
Outlook for Product Management, n.d.) This is primarily because the of a desire across industries
to drive innovation and product growth with data-driven decision making. AI is also a field that’s
expected to grow rapidly over the next over the next decade, growing at an average rate of over
37% annually (Artificial Intelligence Market Trends and Size (n.d)

Chief Product Officers are responsible for leading teams through the entirety of the product
management process, starting with vision and research, leading into planning and development,
product launch and marketing (Chief Product Officer, 2023). They often manage a team of
product managers, product owners, business analysts, and sometimes product marketing
managers.

Option 4: Owner, Strategic Planning Non-Profit Consulting Company

This career option would involve starting my own business, which would do strategic planning
and consulting for non-profits, including charities, NGOs, and mission-driven private schools.
The role would help these organzations develop strategic plans and implementation plans,
conduct research to help them better understand their market and positioning, and provide them
with advice and guidance on how to proceed.

There’s a real need in the market for this. Non-profits are notoriously bad at strategy, because
they are generally too focused on the operational aspects of their business. While many are
mission driven, they lack the experience and knowledge to build a strategy the same way many
for-profit businesses do (Cantor, 2022) I’ve experienced this as I helped my wife’s school, which
is a small Christian private school, develop a strategy required for their accreditation. This
would likely not be the most lucrative career, but from a purpose and mission perspective, could
be very fulfilling.

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Unthinkable Career Option
Executive Coach

At the core, an executive coach’s job is to “help individuals become aware of their strengths and
the mindsets that sabotage them (Minter, 2016). Executive Coaches work with leaders, both
those with high-potential, and those that are struggling, to make them more effective leaders.
They are often self-employed, but come from backgrounds where they were executive leaders
themselves, so they have relevant experience to draw upon. Their days are varied, sometimes
meeting one on one and sometimes meeting with leadership teams.

There are several perks to executive coaching as a career. First, it can be quite lucrative, with
the median coach billing approximately $500 per hour, but some top coaches billing much more
than that (Sufi, 2020). Second, coaches get to set their own schedules, decide if they want to
work full-time or part-time, and entering this field requires little in the way of investment.

Career Decision Matrix

CSO at Credit AI Chief Non-Profit Executive
Desert Union CEO Product Strategy Coach
Financial Officer Consultant

Family First 5 1 1 3 3

Greater 5 5 3 5 5
Meaning

Autonomy & 3 5 3 5 5
Independenc
e

Growth 3 3 3 5 5
through
Reflection

Able to be 5 3 3 5 5
authentic

Problems to 5 5 5 5 3
solve

Taking Risks 5 5 3 3 1

Being 3 5 1 3 5
Inspirational

A New 3 3 3 5 5

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 Journey

Servant 3 5 1 5 5
Leadership

(Summary) 42 40 26 44 42

What have I learned

I think that this helped me realize a few different things. First, it shows me how truly blessed I
am to be on the career trajectory that I am. I believe that the first career path is one that I’m
already on, and it scored very highly across the items that I value. Second, there was one career
I’ve thought about, because it would be challenging and lucrative, but it doesn’t appear to fit
with my values, so I am going to pass on it for now.

The rest of the career options were pretty close in score, however, for different reasons. When I
reflected as I went through this, though, they don’t appear to be completely different paths, but
potentially sequential ones. I’m currently 37, and very close to the job I’ve been trying to get for
the past few years, Chief Strategy Officer. I could theoretically do this for 5-10 years, transition
into becoming a CEO for a while, then transition into self-employed, having the best of all
worlds in some of the jobs I’m interested in.

Job(s) I’m interested in researching Further

For the purposes of the remainder of this paper, I’m going to assume that I’m shortly promoted
to CSO, as I’ve already accomplished much of the work I’d write out below. As such, I’m going
to focus on a career path that leads to continued progression at my credit union while pursuing
the skills and network to become an executive coach.

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Section 2: Networking Plan
Now that you have completed your Career Decision Matrix we now need to move forward and
develop a networking plan that you can use to help you reach your career goals. Review
Harrington & Hall text, Career Management & Worklife Integration, Chapter 4, pages 77-83.
Developing and managing your network of people who can help you is an important ongoing
process whether or not you are currently happy in your career.

The purpose of this activity is to:

• Help you assess and enhance (extend or strengthen) your developmental network relative
to major challenges you will face in the next 1-3 years
• Help you develop a networking strategy that will work for you
• Help you develop a specific plan to pursue over the next 6 months to 1 year
• Create an accountability mechanism

Research on leadership development has demonstrated that people benefit from a variety of
developmental relationships, including short-term and long-term alliances with bosses, peers,
senior executives, coaches, subordinates, and family members, the more diversity and depth
there is in your developmental network, the better. Depending on our dominant learning tactics,
we are more or less likely to pay attention to the quality of our developmental network.
This assignment was adapted by Professor Kathy E. Kram from a worksheet developed by
Professor Deborah Kolb, Simmons Graduate School of Management. Adapted by permission.

Answer the following:

1) As you think about the major changes that are likely to take place at your place of
work in the next few years, what major challenges and opportunities do you foresee
that you will need to deal with in the next 1-3 years?
Challenge 1: New Teams

I expect that at some point over the next 1-3 years I will need to take on additional teams that are
not currently in my purview. This will require me to learn new skills, as well as lead people who
are currently my peers, which will require a shift in the relationship that we have. It will also
require me to lean more on my current team to get some of my current responsibilities done.

Challenge 2: Emerging Leaders

I have two very talented individual contributors who report to me right now that will both shortly
start transitioning into leadership. This is a hard shift, and one that I’ve encourage them not to
take lightly. I believe it will be a challenge for me as a leader to help them successfully make
this transition.

Challenge 3: Couragous Authenticity

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I work a LOT with our senior and executive leadership today, and by nature of our roles we are
not peers. As such, I sometimes hold my tongue and don’t share my thoughts or opinions on
what’s happening, because I don’t want to rock the boat or damage a relationship as with our
senior leadership. As I transition into a peer, I want to work hard to be more courageous and
authentic with my thoughts and opinions. To do this, I’ll have to continue working on building
these relationships with people.

Opportunity 1: Practice more inspiration and mentorship

I recently discovered that people find my journey and life inspirational given what I’ve
accomplished. This changed my view on what my role as a leader can be. I want to carve out
specific time to practice inspiring others, even those who don’t work for me, to find their prupose
and help them live it. By doing this, I’ll feel fulfilled and make a difference in the lives of many
others.

Opportunity 2: Build a Network of Peers at other Credit Unions

While I’m very well thought of at my credit union, there are thousands of CUs across the
country, and the industry is one where cooperation and sharing are encouraged. I’d like to build
a network for a few reasons. One, the information will make me more effective at my job. Two,
it will help to have a network of peers if my goal is to work as an executive coach someday.

Opportunity 3: Be more intentional with my time

My job and my life are such that there are a lot of demands on my time. If I don’t intentionally
plan my time, I it gets planned for me. I need to be more diligent inesruing that how I’m
spending my time is aligned ot my purpose and what my goals for myself, my family, and my
company are.

2) Given these challenges and opportunities, what type of help are you most likely to
need? Check one and explain why.
a. Help in getting the job done ___X___
b. Help in advancing my career ______
c. Emotional support ___X___
d. All of the above ______

I talked to my leader yesterday about how the nature of my job is transisitioning in real-time,
aiming to move away from the doing and towards inspiring and motivating others. This will
ultimately make me a better leader in the long-run, and something that I want, but it’s not

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 something that I feel like I’m great at yet. I’ll need emotional support as I face the ups and
downs, inveitible challenges, and successes. I’ll also need help building the skills and
abilities necessary to do this.

3) If your major challenge or opportunity is related to your work, how well positioned
are you to get information, advice, and resources about new opportunities and
possibilities? Check one and explain who can help you and why.
Very Well ______ Okay __X____ Need to Expand My Network ______

With most of my challenges and opportunities, I feel like I have a strong network to lean
on. My leader is amazing, supported, and has always championed me, given me advice, and
provided me with resources and opporutinities to grow. I expect she will be there for me for
the next 10 years. I also have access to an amazing executive coach who’s able to challenge
me, get me to think differently, and provide me with the resources I need.
On the flip side, I still believe that I need to develop my network of peers across my
industry to be able to build relationships that could turn into career opportunities later.

4) If your major challenge or opportunity means making a move into a leadership

position, do you have relationships with people who can give you advice and
effectively advocate or champion you for important assignments or other
developmental activities? Check one and explain who can help you and why.
Yes __X____ No ______

See the answer above. I have an amazingly supportive leader, and one who has walked
the path I’m currently walking and is where I want to be. We have an extremely close
relationship and she’s always championed me, given me advice, and consistently advocated
for me and my professional growth.

5) If your challenge or opportunity means that you will need emotional support, to
what extent do you have people who can give you support? Check one and explain
who can help you and why.

a. I have a strong support network to help me. __X___

b. I don’t have people to help me through changes I will have to make. ____

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 In addition to the leader I mentioned above, I have a very strong emotional support
system, starting with my amazing wife, who’s always been there for me and supported my
career endeavors. I also have a strong network of peers inside my current organization, many
of whom are personal friends, who are also extremely supportive emotionally.

6) If your challenge or opportunity means that you will need help getting the job done,
advancing your career, or getting emotional support, do you have people in your
network who can fulfill these functions? Check one and explain who can help you
and why.
Yes ___X___ No ______

See answers above.

7) What is your approach to building relationships? How are you at initiating

relationships? In what settings are you most comfortable meeting people?

a. Joint or shared work, projects, and committees ______

b. One-on-one appointments, with specific agendas __X____
c. Informal “no agenda” social settings ______
d. Going for coffee, lunch, or drinks __X____
e. Leisure activities such as golf, tennin, or theater ______
f. Other ______

I’m most comfortable meeting people in a 1x1 situation. I like to be able to have a
conversation where I don’t have to worry if I’m interrupting somebody or wondering if
they’d rather be talking to the person across the room. This allows me to be focused on
talking to the person I’m talking to, rather than what’s going on around me.
That said, I’m also good meeting people over drinks in particular. I find that a drink or
two loosens me up in a way where I am less distant and more comfortable talking to other
people.

8) What is your preferred style?

a. Occasional phone calls or e-mails just to ask “how are you?” ______
b. Phone calls, e-mails, or visits with specific requests or questions ___X___
c. Holiday cards and letters ______
d. Dropping in or calling when you’re in the neighborhood ______
e. Arranging in advance to get together at professional meetings ______
f. Relying on the chance that your paths will cross ______
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 g. Inviting people to join you for lunch, coffee, golf, and so on ______
h. Contacting people when you find some information, an article, or an opportunity that
might interest them ___X___
i. Other ______

I personally find it easier to meet and talk to new people and relationship build when we have
a “reason” to talk and build a reslationship. I don’t think this is probably the most productive
way to relationship build, though, and am working on puttingmyself out there to do the other
things on this list.

9) Now turn your attention to the “Action Planning” part of the exercise (top of page 82).
Respond to the following questions:

a. What are your goals in developing a professional network? Be specific.

I’d like to develop a broad network of peers in similar positions across my industry to be
able to talk to for advice and potentially leverage as if I transition into a career as a coach.

b. How will a well-developed network of contacts help you achieve your career goals?

There are 3 things a well-developed network of contacts will help me achieve. First, it
will create a peer group that I can bounce ideas off of and get outside perspective, making me
more effective at my job. Second, it will connect me with more people across my industry,
potentially making me more well known if some position at a different company in my industry
comes available. Finally, it will give me a network of people I can reach into if and when I ever
decide to become an executive coach.

c. What are some of the characteristics of the people you are looking to include in your
network?

I am looking for smart, mission driven people who work in the financial industry and
have similar to that which I expect to be in shortly, which are at the c-suite level.

d. Where might you come in contact with these people? How will you grow your network /
initiate contact with new potential networking contacts?

I have access to several industry events and workshops where I can meet these people.
First, I have been taking part in a roundtable for leaders of credit union strategy. I expect that I
will continue to take part in this group going forward. Second, I am part of a consortium of
credit unions leaders focused on financial wellbeing, which meets quarterly virtually plus once

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annually in person. I want to develop good relationships with people in this group. Finally, my
company is part of a consortium of other credit unions focused on technology innovation. I
should get more involved with this group.

e. Who in your network are you looking to enhance your relationship with? How will you go
about enhancing these relationships?

See the answer above. There are several people who I met in the groups above that I have very
surface level relationships with. I need to be more intentional in reaching out to these people and
sharing ideas and asking questions. Proactive reach outs will help me to enhance these
relationships.

f. How can you leverage your existing network? Might some of your existing networking
contacts know others who you should be in contact with?

I’m very close to the senior leaders in my organization, many of whom have much many
more industry connections than I do and who would likely be willing to connect me to others. I
should reach into them and ask if there are people at other credit unions who I should begin to
build relationships with.

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Section 3: SMART Career and Networkings
Using a SMART goals-based approach, as well as project planning and management skill best
practices, create a detailed project plan for at least two specific goals. At least one must be
related to your Career Plan, and the other related to your Networking Plan. Both of these goals
need to be things that you are passionate about accomplishing.
Your selected goals and SMART plan (see SMART goal information provided in the Unit)
should be structured based on a one to two-year timeline. It should include specific milestones,
action items, sub-tasks as well as task-related interdependencies as applicable. With respect to
each goal, critically think about what specifically are the things you will do in the next one to
two years to achieve these goals.

Develop a clear and detailed SMART plan, with facilitating goals and steps/actions required
to accomplish your selected goals. It should be evident, by looking at the format and structure
of your plan, that you have developed some significant skills respect to project management.
Include Gantt charts or other visual project representations as you see fit, and be sure to address
your approach to tracking/measuring your progress.

1) What is your Career Goal?

Become a more inspirational and motivational leader, moving from just somebody that
people come to when they need problems that need solving to somebody people believe
can ehlpe them achieve their own personal purpose and goals

a. I’d like to move beyond a leader who is looked at as a leader of initiatives, and become a
true motivator and inspirer. I want to mentor people, spend time on inspiration, and focus
more of my time on intentional development of other people.

b. I’ll measure this in two specific ways. First, I’ll measure some of the tactical outcomes
that I”d like to achieve. I can measure how much time I’m spending mentoring people,
and how many people I’m mentoring, etc. Second, I can retake the leadership circle
assessment that I took several months ago and see if I’m making progress towards some
of my gap areas, such as tendencies toward being distant, lack of caring connection, and
courageous authenticity.

c. I have always been able to make intentional behavior change if I focus enough on it. All
of the goals I have above are completely within my control. I need to focus on
intentional behavior change and intentional usage of my time. I told my leader one of the
reasons I like this focus is how much control I have over the outcome.

d. There are three reasons that this is important to me. First and foremost, it will make me a
better leader and benefit other people. Second, it gives me a focus for my personal
development and growth. Finally, the times I’ve done this it’s been extremely fulfilling.

e. Time-Based (provide the timeframe in which you’ll complete this goal)

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 2024 2025 2026
Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q
Tasks 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Mentorship
Identify a persona for mentees
Share persona with other
leaders
Take on 2 mentees
Time Usage
Begin new time planning ritual
Coach up employees to take on
more
Start Delegating More
Behavioral Change Focuses
Reduce Sarcasm
Ask People about their personal
lives
Practice Couragous Authenticity

2) What is your Networking Goal

Create a newtwork of peers across the industry.

a. Develop a network of 10 peers across the industry that I can ask for advice,
bounce ideas off of, and potentially provide me with further career opportunities.

b. Measure if I’m able to generate a network of 10 people who I have regular (at
least quarterly) communications with outside my credit union.

c. I have many opportunities ot network with people outside my organization, as

outlined above with consortiums and roundables I’m involved in. I also have
leaders in my organization who can be connectors, helping introduce me to new
people across the industry.

d. As mentioned above, there are three benefits for me to creating this expaned
network. First, it will create a peer group that I can bounce ideas off of and get
outside perspective, making me more effective at my job. Second, it will connect
me with more people across my industry, potentially making me more well
known if some position at a different company in my industry comes available.

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 Finally, it will give me a network of people I can reach into if and when I ever
decide to become an executive coach.

e.

2024 2025 2026

Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q
Tasks 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Financial Wellbeing
Consortium
Strategy Roundtables
Innovation Meetups
Ask Peers for Connections
Connect with reccomended
peers
Identify 10 people
Begin Proactive Reach outs
Create Peer Group Meet Ups

References:
Artificial Intelligence Market Size & Trends, Growth Analysis, Forecast [2030]. (n.d.).

MarketsandMarkets. https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/artificial-

intelligence-market-74851580.html

Bieber, C. R. (2023, July 10). What is the difference between a credit union and a bank? Intuit

Credit Karma. https://www.creditkarma.com/advice/i/difference-between-credit-union-

and-bank

Breene, R. T. S. (2014, August 1). The Chief Strategy Officer. Harvard Business Review.

https://hbr.org/2007/10/the-chief-strategy-officer

Chief Product Officer. (2023, February 23). https://www.productplan.com/glossary/chief-

product-officer

Job Outlook for Product Management. (n.d.). https://www.nobledesktop.com/careers/product-

manager/job-outlook

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McCarthy, K. (2021, August 27). The number of credit unions is shrinking. Can the trend be

slowed? American Banker. https://www.americanbanker.com/creditunions/news/the-

number-of-credit-unions-is-shrinking-can-the-trend-be-slowed

Minter, H. (2016, July 1). A day in the life of an executive coach. The Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/women-in-leadership/2016/jul/01/a-day-in-the-life-of-an-

executive-coach

MYSAN Management Consulting. (2023, June 27). The Rise of the Chief Strategy Officer: Why

This Role is Becoming Increasingly Important in Modern Business.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rise-chief-strategy-officer-why-role-becoming/

Sufi, S. (2020, May 7). 12 reasons to pursue the executive coaching Career now.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/12-reasons-pursue-executive-coaching-career-now-

saleem-sufi/

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