Tag Archives: Career

Finding Meaning Is Key to Engagement

careerconnections-at a crossroadsIt’s not surprising. . when we find meaning and purpose in our daily work we are significantly more engaged. Think about it. When are you the happiest? Feel the most excited, passionate, and energetic and focused? It’s when you see the deeper reason and benefit to your efforts.

And as leaders committed to inspiring and guiding others, we know that we can create that authentic meaning at work and when we do so, we tap into the key to full engagement.

As Tom Rath describes in Are You Fully Charged?, creating meaning in our work evolves over time rather than just falling in our lap. It’s the culmination of small actions that result in people becoming more energetic, optimistic, creative and flexible. It is a commitment to a deeper purpose that brings out the best of what each of us has to offer. But how do we as leaders do that?

Here are three questions that I ask and encourage my coaching clients to consider each day. You may also find them helpful and could modify them to work in your own unique work setting.

  1. Ask yourself each morning: “What will I do today that will make a positive difference in someone else’s life?” Set that intention, follow-through and then observe what happens for you. It’s almost always a sense of increased well-being.
  2. Ask yourself: “How does my daily work provide positive benefit to others, or doesn’t? Is there a way I could change it up to be more impactful? What would that greater positive ripple effect look like?” Have the courage to make those small changes.
  3. Ask yourself: “From what perspective or lenses do I see my world each day? Is it from an abundance or scarcity perspective?” This has an enormous effect in your own sense of well-being as well as your ability to be fully engaged in meaningful work.

Let me know how these three questions and resulting actions work for you. I’ll be doing the same – and even picking up the pace as we speak!

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Am I Drifting in My Career? 3 Ways to Know

Time moves very quickly in our busy professional and personal lives. And it’s easy to allow things to just happen because they seemed like a good idea at the time. But before we slip into the second half of this year, let’s step back and do a “career health checkup”.

Remembering that we each have unique needs, here are my 3 favorite ways to help us honestly assess if we are simply in “career drift” or actively creating the career and life we want at this time.

First, let’s start with engagement and that intuitive voice in your head that often asks questions (and challenges) you as you drive home from a typical work day. Questions like: “Where has the day gone?” or “Did I really get anything worthwhile done?” With an answer like: “It was just a day like any other day” followed by a deep sigh. Your intuition is telling you something you already know but may be reluctant to admit. . . . You really are not fully (or even semi) psychologically engaged in your work at this time.

Second, where is the genuine joy in your work? It’s a simple question. . . . “Do you enjoy your work most days?” Or do you find yourself dreaming about how things could be different? There may have been a passion you deeply enjoyed in the past and now you don’t even allow yourself to dream about it because “it’s simply not possible anymore”. Where is the joy?

Third, are you enthusiastic about your work? Or do you find yourself a bit sensitive and even defensive when others ask you about your current work? That’s a red flag that you are in career drift. And if you hear yourself justifying your choices with lots of “shoulds”, “its better in the long run” or all the reasons why it’s not as “bad as it could be,” then you are drifting for sure.

I hope these simple questions get you thinking as these delicious days of summer approach. If you need anything, always feel free to contact me!

And in the spirit of not letting life drift by . . . my twin sister and I are headed to Lima, Peru, for three weeks (6/4 – 6/25) to work with Global Volunteers, an international organization serving developing communities. We will be working in a very poor village up in the hills of Lima. This is our second international assignment and although this one will be quite challenging physically, it will no doubt be emotionally very rewarding as well. I’ll have lots of stories to share with you in July!

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Video: Gretchen Rubin on Career Drift

Here’s something a bit different . . . one of my favorite authors, Gretchen Rubin, is featured at a 5×15 New York – 2013 presentation here on YouTube.

Rubin is sharing her own personal story on how she “drifted” into a law career before finding her way to a much more satisfying career as a writer with a specialty in “Happiness”. She gives us excellent tips on how to catch yourself in drift as well as clarifying that “drifting” is not always an easier path which can be deceiving until one steps back and asks the hard questions. The video is brief and excellent!

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Do You Have the “Right Stuff” to Become a Free Agent?

I am a free agent and love it. Earlier in my working life, I worked for both San Diego County and for Kaiser Permanente HMO (west & east coasts) and enjoyed both a great deal. But as my professional career has matured I’ve gravitated to working for myself as a sole practitioner, independent contractor, business owner etc. I’m all those things rolled into one. Yes, I work harder, but I enjoy the challenge of using my years of experience and expertise in any way I want.

But being a free agent is not for everyone. Here are three questions I would suggest you ask yourself before making the leap into this new way of working and of being.

  1. Do you have the initiative and drive to build a business from the ground up? It takes focus, commitment and a large dose of optimism to stay with it. Do you have those qualities?
  2. Are you willing to learn the new skills – or hire someone who does – to market your business, to establish the infrastructure and to do the business of running the business?
  3. Is the rest of your life fairly stable? Do you have a separate income that can help pay the bills until this new venture is profitable? Can you commit the necessary time and energy?

No time is a perfect time. But with some careful planning you may find that becoming a free agent is just perfect for you in this time of your life. Lots of other people of all ages are embracing this idea – think about it!

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Free Agent Nation

Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself, Daniel H. Pink, Business Plus Hachette Book Group, New York, New York, 2001.

I am a big Daniel Pink fan! Ever since I saw Pink present at one of the international coaching conferences, I have been buying his books and using his strategies and ideas in both my training and coaching work. In Free Agent Nation Pink captures the evolution of how professional work is being defined now by the Millennial generation. He gives us an appreciation of how our history as a country, and particularly the economic trends, have influenced these significant changes in today’s work world. Pink’s books are always on the cutting edge and this one is no exception!

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