Six Types of Professional Development & How They Can Serve You

I’ve been hearing from several clients that it’s the season for setting professional growth plans.

“Professional Development” is a big umbrella. Let’s take a look underneath it in order to understand different types of learning and how they might serve you.

Here are six different types of professional development. No one is more valuable than the others—they’re all helpful in different situations. But they are different.

Which of these match with your specific needs?

1. EDUCATION 

Education is about the bigger picture. What are the systems at work? What context is important? Which larger considerations need to be kept in mind?

This is what most people think of when they talk about “going back to school.” Getting an MBA or an advanced degree is about this big picture thinking. It can also be about becoming part of a network that will help you to grow and advance.

But sometimes, education can be a form of hiding. We are driven to further education because we don’t believe that we’re enough as we are. If I just take this course, we think, then I’ll feel ready; then I’ll know enough to go for that job. As coach Tara Mohr says, we “look to an external qualification to give [us] a sense of internal permission to lead and create.” But consider: How might you already be ready now?

If you’re thinking about going back to school, ask yourself:

➡️ How might your desire for further education be coming from a place of purpose? (Getting this perspective and context is going to open doors to the opportunities that I’m interested in!)

➡️ How might it be coming from a place of fear? (I’m not sure I’m enough, so maybe getting this diploma will make me feel like enough, or delay the need for me to figure out my path now.)

2. TRAINING

Training is learning a specific skill. Think certification programs and badges for targeted learning. A LinkedIn Learning class is training; a leadership development program is training; a class on how to be a wizard at Excel, or a certification program in project management is training.

Training is different from education because instead of focusing on the big picture, it loads your toolbox with specific on-the-ground tools. It’s highly practical and often less expensive and time intensive because of its focus.

If you’re thinking about pursuing training, ask yourself:

➡️ Where do you want to be and where are you today? What are the skills you need to close that gap?

➡️ What skill-learning will help you round out and demonstrate transferrable skills for a career pivot?

3. COACHING

Coaching helps you to combine big picture thinking and specific skill development. Working with a coach, either one-on-one or in a group, is an opportunity to rise up from the weeds of your day-to-day and take on a new perspective. As your coach, I’ll help you to reframe narrow thinking and see things differently—so you can build new capabilities to effectively move through challenges.

Together, we’ll pinpoint your specific areas for skill development. I’ll find targeted tools and resources for you to try out—and I’ll hold you accountable to putting them into practice and reflecting on how things went.

The magic of coaching happens in partnership: you bring your real-life challenges, and I bring tools and questions to help us dig deeper and understand them, strategize a plan, practice new skills, and integrate them into your toolbox. I’m biased, but this is a growth method in which I truly believe. 😉

If you’re thinking about working with a coach (call me!), ask yourself:

➡️ What are your top three professional challenges right now?

➡️ What would a successful outcome look like for you? In other words, what do you want to be different at the end of our work together?

4. JUST-IN-CASE LEARNING

Just-in-case learning is about proactively building knowledge up front so you’ll be prepared for what comes your way.

On the one hand, it can be viewed as a virtue. Like the Scout motto, it encourages us to Be Prepared.

But on the other hand, it can mean gathering up knowledge and credentials and wearing them like armor. If I keep learning, you think, maybe these will protect me—from judgment, mistakes, or blame.

If you’re a hoarder of just-in-case learning, ask yourself:

➡️ How might you share what you already know?

➡️ How might you embrace confident humility on the job?

5. JUST-IN-TIME LEARNING

Just-in-time learning is about taking on knowledge and skills as they are needed and applying them right away. It involves trusting yourself to think on your feet, and to figure it out along the way.

Just-in-time learning does require some planning ahead, though: you need to hold time on your calendar for learning needs that arise. On-the-fly learning can’t take place when you’re maxed out—it needs space.

If you’re a just-in-time learner, ask yourself:

➡️ If you zoom out and look ahead, where do you see yourself and your work going?

➡️ How can you proactively make space on your calendar for learning needs that arise?

6. JUST-BECAUSE LEARNING

Just-because learning is learning for the pure joy, excitement, and engagement of it. It’s not necessarily something that you “need” in order to advance professionally—it’s something that you’d love to nerd out about.

So often, in our capitalist culture, we are pressured to make our pursuits productive and profitable. Did you learn to paint? Open an Etsy shop to sell your wares! Like dabbling in design? Take on some freelance clients! Are you a fan of podcasts? Create your own! It’s hard to give ourselves permission to simply enjoy the thing rather than trying to monetize or conquer it.

Another reason we might avoid just-because learning is that it can be highly uncomfortable to be new and bad at something—especially as an adult. I plan to take a beginner ukulele class for grown-ups this summer, and it’s been a long time since I’ve allowed myself to be a novice (especially in a group)! It’s healthy to be a beginner at every age, and reminds us to cultivate a growth mindset. We can learn new things and savor that process, too.

We all need to ask ourselves:

➡️ What would you really love to nerd out about?

➡️ If you had time and resources to learn something new, what would you want it to be?​