Focusing On What We Are Rather Than What We Are Not (My Confession)

Last night, I was paid a visit from my blogging gremlin who goes by the name of “You’ve-Been-Doing-This-For-How-Long-And-You’re-Still-Not-Semifamous” though I prefer call him Boris (as in Boris Badenov). He entered quietly through the back door and whispered very persuasively in my ear about all the things I’m not and all the things that the Alchemy of Soulful Work blog is not and all the things that Bailey WorkPlay is not. This dark little fiend can be extremely effective in sucking the joy and purpose from my work. As you can imagine he’s not a very welcome visitor but always manages to pop up and hang around longer than necessary.

Fortunately, I had some help from my friends on Twitter who helped me crank up the light and usher his black evil soul out the door (thank you tweeps!).

Once Boris and his joy-sucking presence was gone, I went in search of some help to at least address the still-lingering blogging doubts. When I need blog help, one of my favorite sources of inspiration and a good old kick in the pants is Darren Rowse and his Problogger blog. And once again, he came through for me with flying colors with a terrific and well-timed post called What You Say Is What You Are - The Problem of Blogger Inferiority Complex.

The three keys Darren listed are:

• Identify what you have.
• Build upon what you do have.
• Build upon what you’ve already built.

It’s that first bullet that really hit close to home for me. It’s built around the question: Are You Focusing More Upon What You’re Not than What You Are as a Blogger? Wow! I’m not sure I was prepared for the truth behind that question but the continuous learner in me recognizes that I’ve allowed myself to get pulled into a way of thinking that is focused more on deficiencies than strengths, failings rather than gifts. If this sounds familiar to you too, don’t worry…we have company (read the comments to both of Darren’s blogposts).

So, let’s figure this one out together. Let’s aim to get reacquainted with our greater self. Let’s commit to creating great work and a life where our passions burn bright. Let’s move forward in the knowledge that we’re never in this alone. Let’s start a dialogue and share what we need to be spectacular in who we are and what we do.

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In The Middle Of A Job Change? It’s The Perfect Time To Enhance Your Portfolio

Regardless of what the popular press might have you believe, not everyone who is job hunting is living in a crappy work situation. There are other reasons to want to leave a job besides being miserable. You could be wanting to learn more, become a cardcarrying member of management, try new challenging projects, or move to a different city (to name just a few options).

If this sounds like you, you may also note a strange limbo-like feeling where you’re standing in two different worlds. It’s a peculiar window of time that starts when you’re thinking seriously about changing jobs and the time you actually make the jump. It can drive some folks nuts. But it’s in this window that opportunities continue to appear if we’re open to seeing them. The problem is that we focus so much on that next great gig, we often don’t see them. These can be important stepping stones we can use to continue building our professional portfolios.

Here are a few springboard questions to ask:
Is there a gap in my resume or portfolio that I can work on now?
If you’ve started putting feelers out there for a new job (in particular if you’ve had some interviews), you’ve likely started getting ideas on areas where you can add a little extra meat to your portfolio (or extra tofu if you’re of the vegetarian persuasion). I’m a firm believer that a portfolio can always be enhanced so look for opportunities to improve your marketable expertise and results.

Is there a network or contact relationship that I can cultivate?
Don’t discount your internal contacts now. Just because you’re thinking of leaving a workplace doesn’t mean you have to stop making professional connections. If anything, this is a prime time to keep meeting and talking and learning from people. Oh…and those external networks are pretty good ones to continue to cultivate, too.

It could be that you’ve tapped out all of your opportunities. If that’s the case, then it’s definitely time to move on quickly. But if you recognize that there’s still something left in the tank, take some time to step back and reflect on what you can do right now to build a stronger portfolio rather than dwell exclusively on a future yet to come.

Any other road-tested wisdom out there from folks in job change limbo?

Also posted at Career Hub…read more articles at the #1 HR Blog according to HR World.

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You’re Going To Need A Bigger Hammer For The Square Peg

Over at Mission Minded Management, Michelle Malay Carter asks whether hiring star performers can be a mistake. At the heart of the question is the danger of hiring someone who is overqualified per the job role (as well as underqualified):

Our data shows one in five people is in a role that does not tap their full capacity, i.e. they’ve been overhired in a role. In contrast, only 15% are slotted in roles that they simply do not have the mental bandwidth to handle. So our data shows that overhiring is a larger problem than underhiring. Either shoots engagement in the foot.

When I was a hiring manager, the notion of job fit was important. The last thing I wanted to do was bring in someone who had a more advanced skillset than was necessary for the work defined by the carefully crafted job description. Isn’t that how we’re all trained by HR when we interview candidates? You find square pegs for square holes. Well, what if that approach, that system is what’s broken?

A square hole may turn out to be a teeny tiny box.
If you craft a job description too tightly, how can you possibly hope for an employee to be able to move freely about? I’ve seen job descriptions that honestly ought to be called job “prescriptions.” No need to worry about a manager micromanaging an employee - the job role has it’s own built-in mechanisms to do it for them.

What you can do as a manager…Focus on setting the position’s big picture. Start with wide boundaries and let your employees co-create the work details along with you.

A square hole may need to be a round hole at times.
Be careful what you wish for. You might want an employee who meets the specific criteria laid out in the job description. Ahhh…but then the job needs to shift to meet new organizational goals. You now have a potential misfit to contend with.

What you can do as a manager…Think broadly and openly when weighing your candidates. Consider their aptitude for being flexible when work needs to shift. Consider altering the job description to better fit a candidate who offers some intriguing upsides to the organization or brings new strengths to your team.

Square pegs can become round pegs over time.
What? People learn and change? Yes, Mr. Organization it’s true. That individual who you hired last year and was perfect for the role has now exceeded the expectations and competencies of the job description. So, now what do you do? Ignore it and hope they won’t notice? Promote him or her? Start making subtle hints about how exciting working at that new business down the street might be?

What you can do as a manager…Learn about what other talents your employees bring to the party. Could be the individual sitting right outside your office has a skillset that could lead to a breakthrough in how your team does things. Ask what types of things your folks like to learn. Just don’t assume that your square pegs are always going to be square.

Regardless of what this all may sound like, I’m not knocking the ‘concept’ behind work roles. Each employee must know what their core work is and what’s expected of them. Boundaries are essential to engagement. But the art of employee engagement is knowing how to build constructive boundaries that tap into each person’s unique qualities and help them bring them into their work. A round peg in a square hole may be complaining because he or she wants the freedom to bring more of themselves to the organization. And it’s to the organization’s detriment not to find out how to meet this desire.

(And if you’re interested in learning more behind Michelle’s post which inspired this one, head over to Mission Minded Management…the thought and care she uses in thinking about these issues never fails to amaze me.)

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