Professional Passion

No one likes robots. Sure they may be efficient and they don’t talk back or chuck a duvet day to watch the world cup, but they are just machines. All a machine can do is what it programmed for and once a better machine comes along, it will be replaced. Machines cannot improve themselves (at least not yet). Every leader needs to look at himself once in while and see if he has become a machine – one that does a great job and stops there; with no ability to develop and grow. If you, on objective analysis, find that is happening to you, something is missing in your life. And that is passion.

Let’s not confuse doing well with success. Doing well is meeting expectations. Success is growth. To grow you need a passion to go beyond what is expected of you. An executive without a passion for his job comes across as dull, no matter how efficient he may be. And this concept of being dull is reflected back to you and feeds upon itself until the dullness becomes part of your personality. This personality will impact how well you perform. And worse, it will become part of how others treat you. You do not work in isolation. How you are perceived by others is an important of how successful you are. Not only will you not receive the respect you are due from your peers, you will become an uninspiring leader. The words boring and leader cannot coexist. A manager needs to inspire others to follow and work with him. If you are not inspired yourself, how do you expect to inspire others? No matter how boring and uninspiring your work is, your passion can turn that around, and the way you do it will be an example to others, allowing them to enable their passion. And that will earn you their respect.

Every job has it boring and frustrating moments – its when these get to be a major part of the job that passion dies. Do not accept boredom. Focus on the big picture. If you know where you are going, the boredom and frustration become only hurdles to be overcome, and not the race itself. If your target is not something that inspires you, your target is too easy and you are lazy. Just like a muscle, if your ambition is not exercised and pushed to do more, it will become weak. In fact, it may become so weak that you become incapable of even doing today’s job. If you are 40 today, you will not have the energy you had when you were 20. But that’s not important if your passion for your job pushes you to keep doing better. The passion in the mind and heart will more than compensate for the slowing of the body. If you allow your passion to carry your forward, you will be respected. And once you have respect, you will have opportunities to do more. And as you do and contribute more, you so will your need to continue on this path. And that need is passion.

What do you want in life? Once you know that, focus on how you will achieve your goal. Not if, but how. The “if” will be taken care of by your passion.

Company Purpose and Passionate Employees – the imact on staff and bottom line

A company with a well-defined purpose and passionate employees who share it, can unleash a massive boost of employee enthusiasm that can only be born when purpose and passion align. Unfortunately, this is a ‘free’ resource that most companies are not tapping into nearly enough.

Stephen is among a growing number of talented individuals who have struggled with finding a role in their organizations in which their purpose and passions could flourish.   Moving up the career ladder he eventually felt so disconnected with his profession he wondered what it was that even attracted him to it in the first place.  At this current phase in his career he was spending more and more time with politics and less on building meaningful relationships, making a difference and achieving any kind of success or results.  “I began to wonder why I turned up, each day I felt a little more of my energy and enthusiasm disappear.  I was also getting more frustrated at the lack of authenticity within the company, what it said it stood for and what it asked for / rewarded where very different.  At this point I decided enough was enough and I needed to take action.  The very first action being to take time for myself and consider my future, so I hired my coach.”

This phase of reflection helped Stephen to see just how inauthentic he too had become, slowly his values and strengths and passion had been eroded and he had to accept that he’d let that happen.  However the coaching also helped him to reconnect to what was really important, both in terms of why he’d originally chosen that profession and also what was important to him now.  This discovery process enabled him to connect not only to his purpose but back to his real self.

Then came the review of his current job and company.  Armed with what he knew about himself and what he wanted for his future he could evaluate his next steps and his relationship with the company.  In Stephen’s case he decided that the company was no longer the right environment for him, realising he’d be asked to compromise again in order to fit in and get on, yet this time he’d be doing it consciously which was even worse.

Interestingly (and weirdly all too common) when he went to resign the organisation came back with a salary increase, He promptly refused, but they said they really valued him and so offered an even bigger financial package.  “At that point I had an insightful discussion with my boss and explained just how much either he or the company didn’t understand me if this was their approach”.

Many talented people we speak with mention that within their career or job it is core that they can express themselves and have a sense of fulfilment.  That success without this is no longer real success.  Of course they have mortgages to pay and people to feed, at least one being themselves.  Yet they very often take the most courageous decision of all, push through the fear and pursue this intrinsic desire for a life and career filled with meaning and purpose.

Stephen moved on to a role and company that played to his strengths, shared his values and their corporate mission was aligned with his purpose.  “I’m invigorated, what I achieve in a day is phenomenal compared to before.  Yes there are tough days and occasionally I still ask myself why I’m doing this, but the difference is now an answer comes back and it gets me going again.”

Many large organizations do take the time to define a corporate mission that underpins their vision of the future.  The short sentences can be used as a guiding compass and a decision making tool for everyone’s actions.  This enables those that are considering joining to decide if it aligns with who they are too.  If these sentences are a shell then the worst that happens is they recruit someone who buy’s the shell and within 6 months finds it’s hollow.  Then it becomes an expensive business as they move on or even more expensive if they decide to stay.   Mission, values, vision and purpose are valuable leverage points for both an organisation – whatever the size and an individual.  When they coincide the payback for all is huge.  As Stephen’s story shows there are some things you just can’t buy.

Are you fed up, disillusioned and ready to take your career to the next level?

Pretty much everyone we know has at some point, if not several, becomes disillusioned with their career or job. This dissatisfaction can get you down, especially if others around you are feeling the same. This can feel even worse now, as we have the news of layoff’s and redundancies on TV and in the Newspaper.
If you’re looking for some practical advice that you can implement straight away to rejuvenate your career then we’ve got just the ticket.
Our eBook, sensibly titled Career Rejuvenation Action Plan, covers things like

• What your current behaviour might be saying to your colleagues
• What to do if you’re in a downward spiral
• The common questions most people ask themselves to improve their performance – and why they don’t work.
• The 3 questions you should ask yourself to improve your performance
• What your strengths are, beyond your skills
• How to focus on getting the job you want

What’s more it’s yours with our compliments – get your copy here.

If you’re looking for even more help and advice, then check out our August offer.  Yes the lack of sun in the UK must have gone to our head.

Career Change – Searching for a new job

If you’re in the process of undergoing a career change, you know that looking for a new job is not always as simple as mailing out CV’s / resumes or perusing the wanted ads.   Many jobs aren’t always published, and the competition can be intense.   Without the right network contacts, and not being in the right place at just the right time, you could be out of luck.

Then again when you’re looking to make your next career move, or indeed change career, the more you understand about you, not just your skills and competencies, the more you can search for the right match.  As our career path develops we’re always unconsciously looking for a company that fits with our intrinsic desires.  We’re consciously looking for a company that fits our current skills base and has the possibility of future development.

Each time we move job there is a risk, will it work out, will I fit in, will I get on, will I still have a job in the future or is the company going under.  If we change career the uncertainty and risks can appear even greater.  If we thought about it for too long we’d probably become paralysed and take no action, figuring it was better to stay where we were and make do.

Those who experience authentic career success are the one’s who have invested in making the unconscious drivers conscious.  Right now we’re being bombarded with news telling us there are a lot of companies struggling, what we hear less of are that there are lots of companies doing fine and some even experiencing growth.  These latter companies are still looking to recruit excellent staff, and yes now they’ll have even more choice.  So it’s even more important that you shine and that becomes far easier the more self aware you are.  It also reduces the risks mentioned previously.

There are many routes to this, you could read books, here are a few recommendations.  You could have some career coaching, there’s probably a few in your area, have a conversation with them first, even experience their coaching, so you know when you hire them they’re the right one for you.  Now sometimes this route either doesn’t fit your timeline, or doesn’t fit your budget.  Which was why we developed the option of a structured multi media format.  Through DVD, CD and workbook exercises you can rapidly increase your self awareness and discover what’s unconciously driving your career.  What’s more if you purchase this in January you’ll save 33% and the product comes with a 12 month risk free guarantee.

Whatever you decide about your career, don’t let inaction and analysis paralysis hold you back.

Book Recommendations – Job & Career

Here are a handful of books that can help take you through the various aspects of finding job fulfilment.

We’d love to hear your recommendations on the books and sources that have helped you through redundancy, career transition and promotion.

Coping with redundancy

Well it’s the run up to Christmas and not all the news is festive.  MFI, Woollies fell and other companies are announcing redundancies and lay-offs, so what can you do to smooth the uncertainty and pain.  No leader ever wants to give the news “your role has gone”, let alone have to do it on the run up to Christmas.

The Sunday Times ran an article on helping redundant staff start again and if it’s time to look for something new then it’s daily version has a few tips on finding a new job .

As uncertainty increases what matters most is you taking action to feel as resourceful as possible.  Being told you’ve lost your job can be a little like having your legs whipped from under you, a stunning blow and one that leaves you reeling like a kelly wondering what to do next.  Having helped many people through this difficult time the one constant is that the more you know about you, the more resources you have.   You don’t have to wait until you’re coping with emotional shock too.   Here’s s a product you can work with which will equip you well for your future.