Do you really want that promotion? Will the boss include you in the group of people groomed to manage the new offices? Does management appreciate your efforts at work? Read on and find out what the boss is looking for in the perpetual whitewater of the "information age."

More than ever before, executives and corporate managers are extolling the importance of developing the key people in their organisations. They've known for the better part of a decade that business in this fast-paced world will rise and fall based on how well they manage their human resource portfolio. Why? Because productivity is about performance, and performance is about people!

That means they are looking to see how well you develop the talents you were born with, and how well you build up the ones you weren't.

jSo, what's a hard-working, forward-looking person like you to do? You think you know yourself pretty well, right? After all, you've been with yourself for…well, for just about forever. Maybe you think you're already doing everything you can to improve your game. You've gone to training seminars, continuing education classes, and motivational speakers. You even went to the company retreat where they made you climb across high wires and join the finale with the group hug. What more can you do?

"I'll bet most of the companies that are in life-or-death battles got into that kind of trouble because they didn't pay enough attention to developing their leaders." -- Wayne Calloway, Chairman, Pepsi Co.

Listen. Career Development is not just about skill building or training. These things are necessary, but they account for a very small percentage of why the good get even better.

Decades of experience and research demonstrate that, when executives either stall or derail in their careers, it's typically a result of their heavy reliance on strengths and strategies that were effective in the past. However, these tried-and-true methods simply cannot carry the day during dramatically changing times. Yet, the under-performing executive does not admit this and resists embracing a new approach.