Archive for the ‘Skills, Interests & Values’ Category

Do people say that you work too much? Does work occupy your thoughts most of the time? Are you often the last one to leave the workplace? If you take a vacation, do you always connect with the office or do work while you are away?

If you answered “yes” to the above questions does it mean that you are addicted to work? Possibly. But assessing work addiction is not that simple.

Some people are passionate about their work to the extent that they loose themselves in it and completely lose track of time. Being fully engaged in one’s work is invigorating and energizing and might resemble  “http://www.lmars.com/workaddiction.htm” work addiction in some respects. However, there are major differences between the two.

Being passionate about work feels totally different than an addiction. For one thing, it is fueled by desire rather than compulsion. A person may strongly want to continue with a project or work-related task that they enjoy, but, at the same time, they maintain the ability to quit in favor of something they value such as a special gathering with a loved one. Being passionate about work can lead to cycles of overwork, but these cycles eventually end, allowing a better balance between work and life.

Addictions have a tendency to take over a person’s life. In  “http://www.12step.org/” 12-step programs – resources for addictions of all types – it is said that a person is “powerless over their addiction”. They may be aware that they have a problem, but feel incapable or have had many failed attempts of solving it on their own. Or, they may be in denial that anything is wrong, despite pleadings from family and friends to change their behavior. If no remedial action is taken, addictions typically get worse and raise havoc in the addict’s life to the point that their whole life revolves around it.

If you want to know more about work addiction and its  “http://www.lmars.com/workaddiction.htm” warning signs, read the book: “http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081477556X/ref=pd_sim_b_2/102-3610309-1675342?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155” Chained to the Desk: A Workbook for Workaholics, Their Partners and Children by Bryan Robinson. It gives good insight into the one addiction in our culture that is so willingly adopted, rewarded and praised.

“http://business.mainetoday.com/virtuallyorganized/005296.html” Celia’s blog was a good resource for anyone thinking about working at home. It made me recall the many conversations I’ve had with clients about how their particular work environments might be adding to their stress or dissatisfaction at work. Here’s an example with a happy outcome:

Jane was a 38-year-old psychologist who worked in a university counseling office. Her job was dynamic and in any given week, she juggled one-on-one therapy appointments, meetings with faculty, and workshops on a variety of topics geared to young adult students. While she enjoyed her job, she longed for work that would provide more flexibility and time for her other life interests and family commitments.

In graduate school, she had always imagined herself in business for herself, but was not sure how to get started. I mentioned the “http://www.womenworkandcommunity.org/microenterprise.shtml” New Ventures Program through Women, Work and Community. It’s a 10 week program where a group of aspiring women entrepreneurs meet once a week to learn the ins and outs of owning a business. Over the years, I’ve referred dozens of women to this cost-free program and all have shared rave reviews.

Jane felt confident enough with this supportive resource to resign and begin to plan her next career move. Within six months, she had set up a private practice and began to advertise that she was accepting clients. It seemed that all was going well and according to plan.

After a year, I heard from her again. She had the flexibility and time she desired, she was not prepared for the solitary nature of a private practice. She was lonely and missed the variety in her workweek that she had experienced on campus. In fact, while her new job fit the criteria she was seeking, it did not fit her outgoing personality. Having had a year on her own, she did not necessarily want to work for someone else.

Once the problem was clear, we could begin to think about her existing practice and how it could be modified to meet her skills, interest in teaching, and need for a community of colleagues.

Today, Jane’s practice works for her. She has added to her individual therapy work, teaching at a local college, assuming a leadership role with a professional association and weekly networking with colleagues and business groups to market her practice.

How well does your job fit with your personality?

Full and balanced life: flexibility and health work hours
Calls on skills that the person enjoys using and is proficient in
Work and the organization’s mission is in alignment with values
Work itself is interesting and appropriately challenging
Overall workplace is safe, cordial and supportive

If you’ve pondered this question, you are not alone. In fact, it may be asked more in New England than anyplace else in America. A study showed that we have the lowest rate of job satisfaction in the country. Perhaps with some exploration, we could change that statistic in our favor.

Clients sometimes ask me if job satisfaction is even possible. They wonder if I have ever encountered people who like their jobs and are happy with their work situation. Being truthful as well as reassuring, I respond affirmatively. But their inquiry begs the question, “What does it take to be satisfied and happy at work?”

In my opinion, there are five essential factors to sustained job satisfaction. The first, and often much underemphasized in our culture of busyness, is that the job allows for a full and balanced life. This means that the work hours are flexible enough to accommodate important family obligations and commitments, as well as appointments that support an individual’s health and wellness. It also includes a work environment that encourages vacations and discourages and monitors regular, unhealthy patterns of overwork.

In American workplaces that continue to demand more and more time from its workers, this concept may be considered counter-culture. But, there are signs of hope emerging. A recent edition of …. Indicated that ….

The second essential factor is that the job contributes to a sense of purpose and connection to a greater effort. If the job requires skills that a person enjoys using and in which they feel adequately proficient, then the job is more likely to add to their sense of contribution and purpose. However, too often I see people who are rewarded and promoted for a particular skill or talent that leaves them indifferent at best. In these cases, it is difficult for the person to understand and accept their dissatisfaction since for all intents and purposes; it appears that they have it made: doing something well and recognized for it.

The third factor is an alignment between a person’s values and both the mission of the organization and the job itself. More and more, people want to have a sense of meaning in what they do for work. If they are disconnected to or disapprove of their employer’s mission or if they cannot find personal meaning in the contribution they make in their job, they are not likely to feel satisfied, no matter how much their employer might recognize their efforts.

The fourth factor involves interests. Recently I asked a client if he could imagine reading one of his professional trade journals purely for pleasure. He looked at me as though it was an absurd question. Not only was he not interested in the emerging information in his field, but he rarely opened the journal covers to find out what was pertinent to his job.

There is another component of this factor that extends beyond the area of interest, and that is appropriate compatibility between the job and the person’s capabilities. Being underemployed is stressful just as is being in over one’s head. If people find themselves in a job that is interesting, but where the tasks required are far below their potential, they will quickly become disenchanted and unhappy.

The last factor involves the workplace setting itself. Even if the four factors I described are all in place, when the environment seems physically or emotionally unsafe to the extent that a person feels ill at ease, or if co-workers or bosses are not supportive, a person will not be satisfied.

That’s the title of a training workshop I’ll be giving in Bar Harbor today for the. I typically plan too much to present in the time allowed, mostly because my style is to engage with the participants and facilitate discussion around the topic.

This particular workshop will have a blend of information and statistics on the factors that contribute to working with passion, those conditions that tend to block work satisfaction and exercises and focused writing to help participants recognize where their own work scenarios need attention.

The “simple steps to love your work” come down to something many of us are in need of today: increasing balance in our lives. Unless an individual slows down at times, they become oblivious to what is going on around them and within them. Theologian and philosopher Thomas Moore, in his popular book, Care of the Soul, writes about our inexhaustible search for health and balance with lives that are essentially void of connection. “Naturally, we feel empty if everything we do slides past us without sticking.”

I propose that being connected in our lives requires attention to four areas: Self, Others, Nature and Purpose.

Connected to Self, means we are aware of and address our physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual needs.

Connection to Others allows for a flow of energy in our lives where we give as well as receive from others.

Because nature is all around us, we seem guaranteed to be connected to the natural world. However, in our hectic, over-committed lives, we forget to notice the beauty and wondrous changes in our immediate surroundings. Connection to Nature grounds us in our corner of the planet and reminds us that we are part of a larger eco-system.

Increasingly, people are seeking a greater sense of meaning and purpose in their lives and they look to work to fill this need. This is in sharp contrast to the fact that: “Twenty million Americans are staying in jobs they hate in order to keep their health insurance, when ironically it’s the way they are working that is likely to make them sick!” (Barbara Rinehold, Toxic Work). Connection to Purpose is an alignment between what you most value and what you uniquely offer the world and can be a result of your paid or volunteer experience.

If you resonate with what I’ve written, take note of which area of connection needs attention in your own life. Identify an action step you can take within the next two weeks to increase a sense of connection with it.

On my recent flight back from France, the New York Times supplement to Le Monde front-page article, “Pursuing Happiness in a Complex World”, caught my eye.

It focused on the small Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. While many countries, including the U.S., equate their national well being with its measure of consumer confidence, or gross domestic product (G.D.P.), Bhutan has embarked on a campaign to broaden the scope of its public welfare and national happiness to include many other factors.

Since King Wangchuck of Bhutan noted that nations that concerned themselves primarily with economic growth were experiencing an array of serious problems, he decided on another approach and has established his country’s priority its G.N.H. or “gross national happiness”, or G.N.H. Bhutan’s goals for G.N.H. include: a balance of prosperity across society, preserving cultural traditions, protecting the environment, and maintaining a responsive government.

Even though Bhutan is a nation of only 750,000 people (about the same as San Francisco), the country is serving as an example as they factor into the evaluation of a nation’s well being among other economic factors: access to health care, time with family, and conservation of natural resources.

As Bhutan’s home minister has said, “Material well-being is only one component. That doesn’t ensure that you’re at peace with your environment and in harmony with each other.” Interestingly enough, larger, more powerful nations are following suit. This spring, Britain said it would initiate an “index of well-being”, taking into account mental illness, civility, access to parks and crime rates”.

Recently, 400 people, including a large delegation from Bhutan, attended a weeklong conference in Nova Scotia to discuss new ways to design and assess prosperity. While there was no consensus reached on how countries would define happiness and prosperity, it seemed to me a positive sign that people were engaged at all in the question. A Venezuelan economist spoke to the difficulty of the conference agenda by saying: “The most important things in life are not prone to measurement—like love.”

If you had been a delegate to the conference, how would you have defined happiness?

It seems that I have a theme going. First there was the conversation with my colleague about the job candidate who turned down a position because the salary was too low even though other conditions of the job met her top criteria. Then I heard from my daughter, Kate, that she was indeed offered the job she wanted with a salary within her requirements but was advised by a mentor to negotiate for a higher salary. I was only too happy to offer my opinion when she asked me what I thought about her options.

Of course, I was delighted to hear about her job offer—a verbal one followed by an e-mailed job description with the promise of a letter once the details were agreed upon. I’ve heard too many stories about people accepting verbal offers without anything in writing only to find out the job responsibilities, conditions, or compensation changed once they started the job.

I reminded Kate about her research regarding salary ranges for her new job responsibilities and that the salary offered was commensurate with the lower end of the range and also represented a 20% increase over her current wage. The salary seemed fair to me. While she had demonstrated the required skills, she had never actually done the particular job for which she was being hired. I’m not sure where her advisor was coming from in suggesting she ask for more compensation. I think some people are inclined to push for more no matter if the offer is a good and fair one

I also asked her to weigh the non compensation-related aspects of the job in terms of her ideal. She rated them highly with one exception—vacation time was half what she currently has. Since she is on the west coast and I’m in Maine, it was next to impossible for me to be objective on that issue! I was in favor of her trying to negotiate another week on the basis of the salary being on the low end of the scale and anticipating some evening and weekend time because of the nature of the job.

I did manage to step back from the situation enough to ask if more vacation time was a deal breaker for her. She said no, but hoped for it. It is always important to know what your bottom line is when you present a counter offer.

Kate asked for the weekend to consider the offer and has set up a time on Monday morning to discuss the issue of vacation along with other less important questions. Given the circumstances, I think that it is safe for me to send out her congratulatory package that I’ve been saving for this event!

A reader comment to my last blog raised the important issue of salary negotiation. In this case, the reader wanted to know what to do about a significant discrepancy between a salary offer and what she wanted. My response addressed some of the most immediate issues, namely criteria for negotiating a higher salary if she wanted the job.

On a broader scale in decision-making about a job offer, the issue of salary needs to be considered among many factors that are less tangible, but not necessarily less important.

Compensation is easy to evaluate since it’s specific and we know how it will impact our lives–whether it’s enough to achieve our financial needs and goals or not. Some people find it difficult to step back from the bottom line offered and determine how the job itself will affect the quality of their lives. This emphasis on the financial benefits is understandable given the values of our culture where there is an assumed connection between how much one earns and their innate worth.

Recently, I was in conversation with a colleague who had extended a job offer to a candidate after a lengthy interviewing process. The salary he offered was less than the candidate was currently earning, but high in the advertised salary range for the new position. The candidate was disappointed in the offer and stated she had anticipated an increase over her current salary. Note: This is not an adequate reason to request a higher salary. Clearly explaining your value-added and how you skills, background and experience particularly lend themselves to the position will take you much farther in the negotiation for a higher salary than your salary history will.

Her response was a surprise to my colleague since she stated during the interviews she wanted to change jobs for reasons other than an increase in salary. Eliminating a commute and working in the community in which she resided plus having more of a direct impact on the people served by her organization were key reasons she wanted to change jobs and ones that were consistent with the new position. But when the offer came in, she hedged on her priorities and ultimately turned down the offer because of the salary.

However, a new client with whom I recently spoke is clearly attempting to walk his talk. While he currently makes a six-figure income, he is keenly aware that the demands of his job have taken a toll on his health and eliminated any semblance of work/life balance. Not only is he adjusting his lifestyle so he will be in a position to increase his options and consider a lower salary, but he is taking the time to explore organizations that support the type of balanced lifestyle he desires. He has determined that finding a job that allows him time to play his favorite sport, explore a new relationship and have a dog, far outweigh the compensation package.

Sometimes it is what is lacking in one’s current job that helps a person clarify what they need in the next one. The challenge is often to remain vigilant to what is truly important in the face of the ever-present lure of more money.

I’ve been writing my blog since July and have covered a variety of work-related topics, all of which have come up in my years as a career counselor. Reader comments have been gratifying and I’d like to know what continues to be on your minds that might serve as future topics for my blog.

Good idea? For some perhaps, but not for me. My reasoning may shed a light on the option that many people consider from time to time.

I admit it; I am a fine paper fanatic. I look for shops and stationery boutiques wherever I travel and get goose bumps if I happen to find one with more than just a corner dedicated to paper. When I find the time, I make paper keepsakes for friends and family–from personalized journals to cards and little books. It’s a hobby that is satisfying and can put me in the zone for hours on end. People have even suggested that I start a business and sell my paper creations. After I remind them that I already have “http://www.barbarababkirk.com/” one business, I think about the possibility of shifting my leisure time pursuit to a moneymaking one. Immediately, I start to tense up at the notion of having to fill orders and create according to someone else’s timeframe. It’s not appealing, but why?

In my”http://business.mainetoday.com/lifeworks/002340.html” last blog, I wrote about the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), an assessment tool based on the personality theory of Carl Jung. The framework of the MBTI helps me understand why my hobby is a perfect part-time outlet for me, but not necessarily a great idea for a business venture. Essentially, by looking at my work and my hobby through the lens of the MBTI, I see that my “day job” calls on one of my favored functions, that of “http://www.myersbriggs.org/my_mbti_personality_type/mbti_basics/sensing_or_intuition.asp” intuition. In my career counseling practice, I strive to see the big picture of a client’s situation and help them consider their work within the context of their entire life. My hobby, on the other hand, relies on the opposite of that function, “http://www.myersbriggs.org/my_mbti_personality_type/mbti_basics/sensing_or_intuition.asp” sensing, where attention to detail is key. According to Jung’s theory, it’s everyone’s challenge in life to develop the lesser-known parts of themselves. As we progress through life, we would seek out opportunities to become whole, often through hobbies and leisure time activities.

I recall once working with an investment advisor who, at midlife, thought he might want to shift into another career. It was interesting to hear that one of his recent and most rewarding experiences was chairing the board of his child’s private school. An admitted “http://www.myersbriggs.org/my_mbti_personality_type/mbti_basics/extraversion_or_introversion.asp” introvert, he surprised himself with the level of enjoyment he had for this role, which, at times, was more outwardly focused than he was used to in his employment. Here was another example of a person exploring a different type of activity that resulted in a sense of satisfaction.

However, to assume that his enjoyment indicated he should be in a more extraverted job, would have been off base. I think that it was precisely because his board experience was voluntary and short-term that it allowed him to feel secure enough to try something different. After all, neither his salary nor his professional identity were at risk.

Then there was a woman client who had a developed a career in the non-profit world. She was clearly ready for a change and eventually decided to go back to school and focus on a long-standing interest of hers: organic gardening. While the decision did reflect a “hobby-turned-to-job” type of situation, it was one that aligned with her personality, interests and values—a winning combination.

So, if you are considering whether to make your hobby your work, don’t dismiss it because you fear you’ll tire of it or that it’s not practical. Consider if this option fits with who you are, what you most enjoy, and what energizes you. If the answer is “yes”, it may be just the turn in your life you need to make.