Talk over your career plan with your boss

You are responsible for the direction your career takes. Hence, it ought to be your responsibility and your boss or any of your colleagues may not be genuinely concerned for you. They may periodically give you advice and also indicate opportunities that you could grasp, depending upon your enterprise. Though you may have clarity of thought with regard to your career plan and what you desire to accomplish, you cannot have a presumptuous approach about others also being equally clear.

If you think that your boss can facilitate accomplishment of your objectives, there is no thing wrong in talking over your career plan with him. 

• Know yourself & have a plan: Your career objectives have to be set before you  need to set discuss your career plan with your boss. It is essential that you are well-aware about yourself and the endpoint of your career journey. That calls for serious reflection on the the shape of things that you want the future to roll out for you. Before meeting your boss, you should be able to clear about what you seek to do in the immediate future, the skills that you need to possess for that and likely obstacles in your dreams that will prevent your advancement. You must clarify to your boss how certain responsibilities, if assigned will help you make progress in your career. A well-formulated career plan will send positive signals about you and also indicate your determination to do well in your career. 
• Advance appreciation of viewpoints: You should keep it in mind that you were hired for a particular job and responsibility. Therefore, discussing a career plan is a sensitive issue and hence should be undertaken intelligently. You must gauge what your boss thinks prior to entering into any discussion with him. In the light of the foregoing, you should be clear about the degree of encouragement that your boss is likely to give to you and others as well; and pressures, if any being exerted on him. You should also know the whether your company is favourably disposed towards the career growth of its employees or not as distinct from your boss’ capability to influence the management in your favour. It is only after such appreciation that you can decide on how you should proceed with the discussion.
• Organise your discussion suitably:  You cannot question your boss about his plans, particularly the time for which he is going to be there so that you can step into his shoes. You may aspire for it alright, but you should not make such an intention known. If you are able to convey your thoughts intelligently, you will be able to get support and encouragement. What should then be your line of action? First and foremost, you should express your gratitude to your boss for looking after your career interests; talking about specific instances will be of great advantage. You must also talk about your present work profile and the level of expertise that you have been able to develop; expressing gratitude to your boss for it will be beneficial. At the same time you can express your view on your career journey in your present company and that you are enthusiastic about making useful contributions. Having done that, you should talk about how you envision your future, higher responsibilities that you want to shoulder, people with whom you like to be associated with and qualifications that you want to acquire to realise your dream. And finally, you can request him for his support for and guidance in your efforts.    

It is essential that you identify an appropriate time-slot for a discussion with your boss. It may well turn out that your preparation for the discussion is perfect and your boss is envisaged to be good, But you apprehend that things may not turn out in your favour because of other reasons. Under such circumstances, you must defer your decision to talk with him. Actually, the best time to for discussing your career plan with your boss is during appraisals because your boss will be able to appreciate your performance better as it would be on record. 

The best of career plans will serve no purpose in the absence of a favourable disposition of your boss. To achieve that, the need is to be clear about your goals, understand what your company stands for and how your boss is disposed. You need to have confidence in yourself and your fortes to do well in your career.