The Lifelong Pursuit of Professional Development: Enhancing Creativity, Problem-Solving, and Productivity in Business

A business owner's focus is usually on the company's day-to-day operations, not their development. Yet, professional development is a must for anyone who wants to grow because it is a lifelong pursuit.

The benefits of professional development are enhanced creativity, improved problem-solving skills, higher levels of energy and alertness, and increased productivity.

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Podcast Transcript:

Kiva Slade: [00:00:01]

Hello, and welcome to Collab With Kiva. I'm your host, Kiva Slade. From the marbled halls of the US Congress to my racing-themed office chair, I've learned that there is no perfect path to the life of your dreams. My journey over the past 20 years has included being a legislative director for a member of Congress, policy director for a nonprofit, stay-at-home mom, homeschooling mom, jewelry, business owner, and now the owner of a service-based business. Whether your journey has been a straight line or full of zigs and zags, join me and my guest as we share insights, hope, and lessons learned from our female entrepreneurship Journeys. May the collaborative sharing of our stories be the tide that lifts your boat. Let's dive in.

[00:00:55]

Hello, and welcome to another episode of Collab With Kiva. I am your host, Kiva Slade. Today, let's talk all things professional development, shall we? And I think professional development, it's one of those things where you can teeter on the edge of constantly always learning but never implementing, or on the other side or the other extreme of I don't need to know anything new, I can still just do what I'm doing. And hey, wherever you find yourself, it's where you find yourself. But I do want to talk about just the importance I think, of professional development. If we're honest with ourselves, things change. Platforms change, methods change. There are things that do change. And it is often important, depending on, of course, what it is that you do and the service that you provide to your clientele to actually invest in yourself through professional development.

[00:02:03]

And whether that is professional development through an actual university or something or online courses, Coursera, things of that sort, or working through training or some sort of certification, those are all things that focus on you continuing to grow yourself in what you know, how will you know it and how you then can use that to help your clients as you grow your business. And speaking from experience here, I know for myself, as I approach three years in business that I've spent some money in professional development, quite honestly.

[00:03:00]

Coming into the online space, I was new to so many things, and I feel like many women that I've spoken to did not always see where my skills laterally transferred into the online space and felt like, Oh, I need to learn this or I need to learn that in order to do what I'm doing. And I have invested in becoming a certified online business manager. Shout out to my OBM community. And I've also invested in becoming a certified Director of Operations. Shout out to my DOO family and you know. Those are two big, I want to say investments or large investments that I've made. I've also invested in Facebook ads course. Shout out to Abu Fofanah with Power Your Launch.

[00:04:05]

And I've also invested in smaller things along the way as well. There have also been some things that I've done that have been free. For example, the Cornell Bank of America Women's Entrepreneurship Program, totally a free program, but definitely one that was an investment of time and energy. And I think that's the thing. Sometimes we think those investments are only monetary. They're not. Sometimes it's that investment that is time and energy that also can yield results. For example, in the United States, Google and Coursera have partnered up to offer free certifications and things of that sort.

[00:05:03]

I believe you have to have an LLC. I don't know if people who have a sole proprietorship have been able to qualify. You do need to have a business email like through Google Workspace with a domain for your business. But you can literally sign yourself up. You can sign your team up. And there are free courses. I'm doing one on data analysis. It's many months long with eight different courses within it, but it's taught by Google people. It's very comprehensive. It's not costing me anything monetarily, but it does definitely cost me in time and energy because the modules, there are real tests. When I say real tests, I really mean real tests.

[00:06:03]

And you have to have a certain score in order to pass. And real notes are taken during this course. So, it's not something that has cost me anything financially. And honestly, I have signed up my team for it. So, my team member, Susanne, is taking a course. I let her choose what she wants to take. But I feel like that benefits her and her growth in her entrepreneurial journey. And again, it's not costing me anything. I already pay for her email address at my company because it's my email address. But Google does allow that. So, that is something that has been a blessing to both of us in that she knows I am supportive of what she is looking to invest in herself and how she chooses to grow herself. And I'm also at the same time growing and improving myself.

[00:07:14]

Another thing that I've recently done, which was a very interesting course for the month of September, I did a live Google Analytics for a cohort with Jeff Sauer of Data Driven U. And we met two days a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1 to 3 with a ten-minute break. And you had to have your camera on. Obviously, too, it's a live cohort. We were literally going through all of this live. And he has quizzes as well. Like dudes, these people, it's like the quizzes are killing me ... I'm back in school again, but it's all good.

[00:08:02]

But it's super important and such a unique experience to go through this cohort live. Obviously, I didn't know anyone in the cohort. I have this whole new group of friends now, colleagues in the online space who are in very different circles than people that I tend to or have usually associated with. But what's been interesting is, as some of us have connected on LinkedIn, I see that we have other people in common and I'm like, "Wow, how cool is that? Such and such knows her too and has commented on her post." So, I've gained a bunch of new colleagues, which has been amazing. And again, they're international. And we're all connected because we've gone through this cohort together. And it was totally solely focused on Google Analytics 4.

[00:09:07]

So, it's so important, I think, to get out of your comfort zone or outside of the normal things that you might invest in, that someone else that you know has said, "Oh, you should go do this", when you're probably going to be continuously surrounded around by people who are the same people you always see. Get yourself in some other ponds. Swim with other fish. There are so many possibilities, opportunities that exist out there. And oftentimes it's because we may not know about them because we're not swimming in these other ponds, we're not networking with other people.

[00:10:00]

And I just think that that's really a byproduct of professional development is that depending upon what kind of course that you invest in, program that you invest in, you will get to meet some new people. And those new people are new connections in your network that if you take the time to get to know them, to nurture them, you don't know where that can lead. So, when it comes to professional development, I think it's important that you not just learn to learn because that obviously doesn't get us anywhere. But I think it's important that we continuously strive to make ourselves better in order to show up and serve with the level of excellence that comes from us investing in ourselves.

[00:11:10]

And I just really always have felt that, if I've shared before, I'll be honest, Learner is my fourth on the Clifton Strength. So, I am saying this as somebody who I'm always pretty much looking to learn something new. I'm always excited about learning something new, so I am saying this from that perspective. And I know that for some people that may not be fourth on your Clifton Strength, but I want to encourage you to stretch yourself, stretch yourself in the area of professional development. Challenge yourself. In the Google Coursera course I'm taking, which is on data analysis, I'm learning Sequel, seriously program language, and doing things in BigQuery.

[00:12:10]

Are the clients that I'm working with now necessarily able to take advantage of that skill set? Not really. One of them might possibly one day, but for the most part, they're not. But that's okay. I feel like I'm preparing myself for those other clients, or at least there might be a way to work that information into the work that I'm doing now. And really understanding that data, we know it's everywhere but putting into place plans to really comprehensively look at and work with a company's data and all the privacy and so much more that goes with that, that's a bonus for me because I'm coming at it not just with, Hey, let's harness your data and make you a dashboard.

[00:13:15]

There's a heck of a lot more that goes into that. And I feel that it is so critical as we continue to live in this information age that we are open to taking in new information and understanding that that's what keeps us growing, that's what keeps us improving, that's what keeps us front and center on the changing landscapes that are occurring in some of our areas, in some of the ways that we show up and we provide services to others. So, my message to you is stretch yourself, develop yourself.

[00:14:14]

Because that pouring into yourself that you do to grow your own skills, that will manifest itself in the work that you do for your clients, and it will set you apart from others who you may feel are doing the same thing. Remember, you always have your own unique special sauce, but in addition to your own unique special sauce, no one has those previous experiences that you have. And those experiences are part of your special sauce and what will always set you apart from the others that you feel do something similar or in along the same vein that you do.

[00:15:08]

Your professional development that you embark upon brings a new perspective and often a different perspective to the way that you work. So, make sure you swim in other ponds with fish, not gators or snakes and things of that sort, but swim in other ponds. Challenge yourself, stretch yourself and grow beyond what you know. And keep learning. Keep being curious. Keep being open to learning something new. So, thank you for tuning in and I will see you next time.

[00:15:58]

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Collab With Kiva. Each of us has a different path. And I hope that this episode gave you some takeaway that has left you inspired and motivated to keep pressing forward on your unique path. Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss out on any future episodes. And of course, your reviews on Apple are greatly appreciated. If you're a small business owner ready to start making data-driven decisions in your business, and you know that without the data, you're really just guessing, make sure to visit my website the516collaborative.com, and let's schedule a time to talk to make sure that you can harness the power of data in your business. I'll see you next time. Bye.

Meet Kiva Slade - the Founder and CEO of The 516 Collaborative. With a unique background in high-power politics on Capitol Hill and sixteen years as a homeschooling mama, Kiva found her calling in the online business world as a trusted guide for entrepreneurs looking to build the business of their dreams.

Kiva's work began behind the scenes, orchestrating the back end of businesses and managing teams. But her inner data diva couldn't help but notice that small businesses needed help harnessing the power of data for growth. So she and her team set out to uncover and tidy up the data required to enable clients to grow their businesses confidently and easily.