Tag Archives: career

Career Road Mapping for Enterprises and Professions – Part 1

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Full utilization and retention of human resources is one the most strategic areas that companies need to improve. This will include providing employees a clear picture of rewarding career paths that can be built within the corporation or within an operating unit. Can employees see career progression of current successful employees in the enterprise and then connect the dots to see how these examples apply to them? Are they then afforded the encouragement, career planning and skills building activities to grow their careers?

I have developed a unique and innovative approach of building career roadmaps within an enterprise or a profession group that will fully engage participants. The first step is to identify 20 – 30 successful professionals currently within the job area. The pool should be diverse representing a wide range of backgrounds, experiences and routes to their current positions. Participants create one page career maps that highlight their job progression and very importantly, the skills their built with their various roles. (Or I could create the maps from resumes and interviews with participants.)

The second step is for me in my consultant role to analyze and “data mine” the collected maps for 5-7 key career development themes which can be packaged and presented to employees or professionals within a job area. Overall career development concepts can then be added to the presentation to provide a foundation, concepts such as:
• The importance of each individual taking ownership of their careers and taking the time to assess their own strengths and ambitions
• Combining both short term and long term career planning
• Making job decisions analytically instead of emotionally
• The importance of engaging a good set of diverse mentors

An additional step can then be taken. All the skills developed by the road map participants over their careers can then be groups into categories, and then learning activities identified for the skill groups for professionals to add into the career development plans.

I will continue to expand on some of the concepts within this blog in future entries.

Public Speaking Availability and Recent Television Interview

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In addition to offering my consulting services in the areas of diversity management, career mapping / skills development and organizational effectiveness, I also offer my services as a public speaker for your business, organization, network or educational function. I can speak for any length of time you require on my topics of expertise that include:

• The business case for and importance of diversity (overall or LGBT–Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) in a corporate or non-profit setting

• The criticallity of career and skills development either at the person or corporate level

• Leadership focusing on the intersection of elements, talents, and style as well as an depth review of those areas

• On my experience as the new president of the North Carolina Council of Churches

Click here for details on my speaking topics.

If you want to see me in action, you can view the recordings of my recent television interview on Byline with Donn Ansell broadcast January 23, 2011 on CBS-WILM Channel 10 in Wilmington, North Carolina. The recordings come in three segments. They are available on YouTube.


SEGMENT 1: Introduction to the North Carolina Council of Churches and the newsworthiness of my election.


SEGMENT 2: More on my election and long time involvement with the Council, my own faith and coming out journey, my role at IBM and its diversity practices, and discussion of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.


SEGMENT 3: Discussing gay bullying, my agenda for the Council, the gay marriage issue, me as a role model, my new consulting practice and my vocational center in Africa with Global Roots.

Thank you for watching. I look forward to you contacting me.