Work, success, and meaning at every stage of your career
Having a defined list of priorities is the key to confident decision making. Your list of priorities might be global (family, health, quality of life) or specific to a decision (no more than a 30-minute commute each day; requires no more than 25% overnight business travel.) Knowing what your values and priorities are helps you evaluate each option carefully and objectively.
Dr. Rubin defines a “real” decision as one that is “a free, unconditional, total, and personal commitment to a choice or an option.” He writes that many people abdicate their right to make decisions, making themselves and those around them miserable. We’ve all met people who dither over even the smallest decisions, or choose what everyone else is doing – or the opposite, just to be different. In the matter of what to order for lunch, not a big deal, perhaps, but being unable to make a decision and stick with it can be crippling to a relationship or a career.
Whether you’re currently working, or in an intense job search, being organized and feeling organized (which, by the way, are two different things) should become a priority for you.
Michael V. Pantalon, Ph.D., is the author of Instant Influence, How to Get Anyone to Do Anything Fast. The book outlines six steps to persuade people to make changes in their work, their lives, or for themselves. You may want to master the steps as outlined by the author in detail, but what was interesting to me is why they work. Pantalon spends some time talking about the science of motivation, and his conclusions may surprise you.
One of his most important premises is that everyone already has all the motivation they need to change.
The term heuristic, which Wikipedia says comes from the Greek word for ‘find’ or ‘discover,’ “refers to experience-based techniques for problem solving, learning, and discovery. Where an exhaustive search is impractical, heuristic methods are used to speed up the process of finding a satisfactory solution.” We call heuristic approaches “intuition” and “guessing” as well. We all use this part of the brain – imagine how hard it would be to have to think about every choice we make, to reason through every decision. Our brains would be overloaded. So nature allows us to use heuristics for many common tasks.
If you think of your career goals as a problem to be solved, then creativity would be a wonderful asset to have. Indeed, being considered “creative” has a wonderful ring to it and beings up all kinds of positive associations. Yet only a small percentage of people would describe themselves as creative. Why?
Just as Luck was promoted to Manning’s coveted spot, many professionals find themselves faced with the intimidating responsibility of filling the shoes of an all-star employee who moved up or out. This former employee was popular, respected, and (incidentally) great at his job. Although you may have been the king (or queen) of your old department, the fact remains that you are you, not the other guy who used to do the same job. Just not being him can be a liability, no matter how good you are.
The other day, I was in a small committee meeting with people I know, I like, and with whom I’ve worked for quite a while. Halfway through the meeting, and I found myself wanting to smack them all. The meeting had degenerated into a series of one way discussions, with neither side actually listening to the other. We were driving each other crazy, and the project we were discussing was probably doomed. How could reasonable, friendly people get so far apart in such a short time?
Geisler cites an example: suppose you’re a manager who believes in rolling up your sleeves and working alongside the staff. You happily pitch in on a project and give helpful feedback along the way. You see this as an egalitarian ‘Boss of the Year’ moment; your staff sees micromanaging interference. I’ve seen it myself; a boss who thinks he’s being deliberate and judicious in his decision making is perceived as dithering and indecisive by his staff. What’s a leader to do?
Lauren Berger bills herself as the Intern Queen, and her book All Work, No Pay: Finding an Internship, BuildingYour Resume, Making Connections, and Gaining Job Experience is a practical guide to how and why to get an internship. In her experience, only about 20 percent of students pursue internships in and right after college. Here are the five benefits she attributes to internships, and why you should pursue on if you’re a student.
Your Work, Your Way 