The Visual Professional Development Model: And Experiential Counseling Model for Professional Development

Abstract

This paper is a participatory action research progress memo and the after-action report of an exploratory case study. It describes an innovation in practical routine assessments and should not be generalized beyond the limits of the setting of the pilot project. However, the results are promising and suggest that other organizations may benefit from this broad approach to developing co-creative assessments of individual professional development between an advisor and a student, between a teacher and student, or between a mentor and mentee. It was developed during a Masters thesis inquiry at a military college, exploring innovative ways to improve talent management within a profession, and was piloted in a small cohort of students with several faculty members at a military college which educates mid-career organizational leaders. It has proven to be satisfying to faculty and students alike, and students who graduated last year that applied it in their next units of assignment report favorable reactions in the field. The model is being more broadly applied in a second pilot program in this year of the virus, and initial feedback looks promising for a wider application in the future. The author believes the method is easily adaptable to other professional domains based on application in private consulting among financial service professionals and in conjunction with business school faculty from a major university. The model was briefly presented during ABSEL 2020 Pre-conference workshop, and if accepted this abstract will be amplified with examples, a case study and instructions on how to adapt and apply the model.