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“Creating Successful Leaders”

Tag Archives: Career Coach Advice

December 3, 2013 If It’s Getting Too Easy, Shake It Up

We’re all familiar with that awful feeling of being stuck on a plateau, in a dry spell, up a river without a paddle, whatever you want to call it. After the excitement and challenge of learning something new, we get to the point of proficiency, and there is where you’ll encounter the deadly lull.

This is because your brain lights up to new challenges, releasing that feel-good chemical we call dopamine as a reward for reaching new milestones. You know what I’m talking about: that feeling you get when you finally nail the recipe that you never figured you could make, or hitting a personal fitness goal you thought impossible. It’s the joy of landing the big job, acing the tough class, or taking on a project that’s ripe for new personal growth. In other words, it’s the satisfaction that comes after long hours of frustration and failure where you go, “I got this!”

Unfortunately, once you get it, “its” magic wears off a bit. You do this new skill over and over, until your brain no longer feels challenged by what once took your full concentration. Welcome to proficiency, where it’s not a big deal anymore. It’s expected.

Author Whitney Johnson argues that the way to combat a plateau is to implement some personal disruption, writing that “We may be quite adept at doing the math around our future when things are linear, but neither business nor life is linear, and ultimately what our brain needs, even requires, is the dopamine of the unpredictable. More importantly, as we inhabit an increasingly zig-zag world, the best curve you can throw the competition is your ability to leap from one learning curve to the next.”

Don’t think of seeking out new challenges as a task you must do in order to meet the demands of the world at large. Instead, do it for yourself. Want to get that burst of accomplishment you used to get when you were still learning? Then seek out new tasks that push you outside where you’re already proficient. This is where real growth happens, and real growth leads to mastery.

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November 7, 2013 Thinking For Yourself

There’s true power in thinking for yourself. We need only look at history to see that the great minds–Edison, Einstein, Galileo, Newton–all shared in their questioning of the status quo, and found breakthroughs that have impacted society up to present day. They thought for themselves.

Like all of our cliche phrases, thinking for yourself isn’t very well defined. We might hear someone explain, “That gal over there thinks for herself,” and we’d nod our heads approvingly, not really thinking about what that actually means. The best definition I can come up with is someone who doesn’t just assume that the usual way of doing business is the best way. These type of people don’t feel comfortable operating unless they have a full understanding of why their role is necessary. They aren’t afraid to experiment with “what if” scenarios. They trust their instincts and their ability to reason their way to innovation.

These kind of people find themselves in an awkward position in the professional world. On one hand, the mavericks provide innovation, and innovation is what fuels thriving businesses. So we all rely them. On the other hand, they’re often perceived as the rebels, the trouble-makers, the ones who won’t get with the program and shut up. They’re often ridiculed, dismissed, or persecuted for their beliefs and actions.

If you’re an outside the box thinker, congrats! We owe the world’s innovations to your kind. Here’s some advice to keep you optimistic about this strength:

1. You’ll encounter resistance and doubts. Don’t be discouraged! Keep challenging the norm, but do it in a productive way, which leads me to…

2. Be patient and humble. Although can expect to be rejected and misunderstood, persistence wins in the end, as like-minded people tend to flock together and feed off each other’s energy. Keep in mind that every new idea isn’t automatically better, and it takes time for people to grow accustomed to change.

3. Give the outside the box thinkers on your team room to experiment. As a manager, you may be hesitant to encourage your creative types to explore, but you’ll be rewarded in kind by an improved dedication and some really stellar ideas on their part.

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October 30, 2013 What Makes You Tick? Brain Science and Fulfilling Work

Deep within all of us beats a primal desire to contribute something of value to this world and to stand out as a positive person in the eyes of others. Great managers make this happen.

It’s always nice to find authors who base their ideas in good research. The quote above comes from the book Shine: Using Brain Science to Get the Best from Your People, and its author, Edward M. Hallowell, M.D., does just that.

It turns out–surprise–that happy workers are better workers, but what makes this book interesting is the way it explains the brain science behind why this is true.

Although it is primarily directed at managers, its insight applies to all of us regardless of our position. One of the book’s main themes is that the human brain is wired to work hard, and we are fulfilled when we are fully engaged in our work. Even so, Hallowell points to several common pitfalls people encounter even in work they enjoy. Examples of this are feeling disconnected from peers, feeling overworked, and being afraid to take risks.

The formula for what Hallowell calls “shining”–excelling in your work and feeling fulfilled–is a concise, five step process:

1. Select-choosing the right job

2. Connect-interacting face-to-face with peers on a daily basis

3. Play-having room to experiment and get creative in your position

4. Grapple and grow-being challenged, but not overwhelmed

5. Shine-when all the above steps come together, you find real excitement in your work

Many clients come to me feeling unsure about whether they’re in the right job. Although we’re often able to work together to make positive changes within the job itself, there are cases where clients would do better to fill a different role. But you can’t know what job is best for you until you know your own strengths, and this is where Insights comes in. I’ve helped numerous people “re-calibrate” themselves by helping them fully appreciate the unique strengths they bring to their teams. Once you get that big ball rolling, the rest follows. You connect more easily with your peers. You feel comfortable in your ability to experiment, or “play.” You’re confident in your ability to take on challenges. And you find fulfillment in your job, as it is based on something you’re good at doing, and like doing. But it all starts with being in tune with yourself.

Reference

Hallowell, Edward M., MD, Shine: Using Brain Science to Get the Best from Your People. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing, 2011.

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