The Career You’ll Love

I previously wrote about the process of becoming grounded and mentioned that you probably have hundreds of resources at your disposal. Let’s explore that a bit further.

Read more on my WorkBloom blog>>

Check out my latest blog post on Workbloom.net entitled Who are you, anyway? – Tips on How to Build a Fulfilling Career.  I talk about the importance of getting grounded in who you are.

I’ve started posting over there as a way to increase the reach of the value I can bring to people who are struggling with career issues.

I’ve been a bit under the weather for the last week, recovering from an unpleasant bout of stomach flu.  Now that I’m back up to 98% again, I was thinking about the value of taking a break from the intensity and stress.

One of the nice things about getting sick – if you permit me to say something might be “nice” here – is that it gave me a great excuse to let things slide a little bit.  I had a great reason to blow off some the less important meetings and to reset expectations.  After all, everyone has first-hand experience with being ill.

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Peter Bregman, in the Harvard Business Review, wrote an interesting article this week about what motivates people to help.  If you haven’t seen it yet, follow that link and have a look.  Peter raises an interesting question about why people are motivated to give to others, to help.

In general, people like to be helpful.  I suppose part of it is an expectation of getting something in return, but that’s not the core.

The fact is, you get a rush just from knowing you’ve done good.  It actually physically feels good to you, and in many cases that may be enough reward in itself.

Of course, we get rather cynical about all this.  Many charitable organizations prey on our need to be loved and to feel like we’re making a difference.  After a while we get the sense that maybe we’re not actually making the difference that we’d hoped, and that some of the unscrupulous types might be taking advantage of us.

That’s why Peter’s example is so powerful.  It’s about making a difference to someone here and now, in a way that makes a difference that you can actually see.

Here’s what we learn about giving:

• Let people see the difference they’re making, in as immediate a way as possible, and in the way that person values.
• Entering payment into the equation introduces a whole different dynamic – it becomes about the money rather than about the value delivered.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help.  People like helping.

As I said before, the act of giving has great value.  Remember that in your own life, and those of people who you work with.

How do you convince people to like you and give you a break?

Here’s a core principle of human behavior, so simple:  When people receive something they value, they’re more inclined to give back in return.  Pretty obvious, right?  But it’s absolutely true, and is one of the reasons why those charities send you small gifts in the mail.  They’re hoping you’ll find some value in them, and give back in return.

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Who are You, the real person?

On this blog, I’ve talked a lot about career issues, but let’s face it:  That’s only a part of who You are.  I would hope that you recognize that there’s other important areas of your life:  your family, spiritual growth, your physical self, contribution to important causes, your social circles – and perhaps more.

Your Authentic Self is the person underlying all that.

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Well, we survived the first decade of the third millennium.  It’s been an amazing and ever-accelerating ride for me, and I hope that you can see your own sparks of potential which will help you build your own future success.

Now it’s time to look forward:

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Sometimes it seems like I’m hard-wired to look for risks, for dangers.  Perhaps I am.  So here’s a powerful question that I use to help break me out of that mindset:

What’s the best that could happen?

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As you might know, I was in London this week attending the followup class to the Coaching Fundamentals class I took back in September.  That class was, in essence, the high level overview of the process, so the last few days were much more deep study and practice around some key areas:

• Core principles: Trust the client, partnership, possibility, accept/blend/create, and presence
• Emotional intelligence
• Articulating core values
• Core skills: listening, questioning, reflecting, and supporting

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I had a chance to attend a fantastic workshop this morning, led by the incomparable Gus Lee.  Never heard of him?  He’s a leader in challenging people to find and develop a core of character in their lives.

Read more on my Partnering in Possibilities blog »