Archive for the 'Work Stories' Category

I was having dinner with some friends the other evening and one of them was thinking about changing jobs. He had been in his current role for close on 12 years at the same company and felt that it was time for a change. Round the table, we all had different work profiles - a self-employed consultant, a full time employee at senior level, a freelance webdesigner and me (working part time in the City and also a self-employed coach and consultant) - so we had a range of perspectives on what looking for a new job means. Our conversation got me thinking.

What do we look for in a new job?

There are the usual “external” things: salary level, location, big corporate or smaller firm, medical insurance, pension scheme, how much responsibility, who’s your boss, who are you boss to, challenging/ interesting work. We all have a mental checklist of these items and know that we want ideally and which ones we could compromise on.

But how often do we think big when it comes to changing jobs? What about taking advantage of this moment of transition to take stock of where we are in our lives and where we’d really love to be? To refresh our thinking and reconnect with our creative, passionate selves?

I’m talking about asking ourselves different questions when it comes to a possible new job. As well as wondering, “Do the benefits include a company car?”, ask yourself, “How would this new role give my life meaning and purpose?”. Or “How does the company culture fit with my values?”. Or “How can I use my creativity in this new career?”

What’s the point of asking these big questions?

Because someone whose life has meaning and purpose and who can fully honour their values in everything they do, will be more naturally motivated in their work and happier and more fulfilled in their lives. Yes, the “external” package is important. I’m not suggesting you ignore them. What I hope to inspire is an additional perspective on how you can design your future. Our lives are more than our jobs - but we spend much of our lives at our jobs. So asking the big questions can help you approach your new job in a way that opens up opportunities for happiness and satisfaction beyond the “external” checklist.

What do YOU look for in a new job? What will you not compromise on? What’s not so important for you? Please add a comment and share your experiences.

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Photo: thanks to AlicePopkorn from flickr.com (CCL)

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The contents of this blog, including this post, comments and links, are subject to this Disclaimer - please read it by clicking here

Not being a hip hop fan, I had never heard of Chamillionaire. But something he said really stuck in my mind.

I heard him giving a talk at Stanford University as part of their Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders series. The series is recorded in a set of podcasts which is available to the public via iTunes and focuses on technology leaders and strategies for starting up and running technology driven companies.

He was an early adopter of social media and internet technology, creating a following for his music outside of the record industry by engaging with fans online and making his songs available for download online long before other musicians caught on. This gave him the fan base to then move into the big time.

What stuck in my mind though was not so much his story of how he used social media - it’s not so unusual for outsiders to build a name for themselves using blogging, Twitter and MySpace etc which then enables them to break into the mainstream, as I’ve blogged and written about elsewhere.

What stuck in my mind was this:

He always knew he would be successful. When people asked him how he could be so sure, he said that it didn’t matter what he did, he was going keep on doing whatever it took until he found the thing that he was a success at. He started out trying to make it in basketball but found that he was not getting as far as he wanted to as a basketball star so he tried something else. Eventually, he came to hip hop and made a huge success of that.

What interests me about this is that he was not attached to the specific outcome eg becoming a superstar basketball player but rather a general outcome of being successful at what he did. He might have thought of himself as a failed basketball player but that did not even seem to enter the equation. For him, it was just something that was not the right fit for his talents - so he moved on and in so doing, found something that was a perfect fit for making him successful.

So, what might be the take away from Chamillionaire for the rest of us?

There is a time for specifics of course but a looser approach can sometimes allow us to explore possibilities and options that we would never otherwise consider.

Looking at the success that you want in your life or business, what would it look like if you were less specific in your definition and envisioned a more general picture of success? (For example, thinking less in terms of “I want to be a lawyer” or “I want to expand my business to that specific locality or district” and more in terms of “I want a job where I am respected as an expert and rewarded well for my skills” or “I want my business to reach those clients who would most benefit from my services”.) What does that open up for you or your business?

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By the way, the Stanford Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders podcast series, available free from iTunes, are a terrific series of lectures and interviews with many of the world leaders in technology and business. Even if you’re not a techno-geek, the insights are relevant for anyone considering starting up a business or who is interested in what it takes to drive a company forward, including personal stories and also, fascinating perspectives on how to pick yourself up from business failure.

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ZenGuide is evolving - I now offer business and career development coaching, of which social media consulting forms a small part.

Photo: from Stanford’s ecorner website, with thanks

The contents of this blog, including this post, comments and links, are subject to this Disclaimer - please read it by clicking here

Things have been quiet on this blog for the last little while because ZenGuide is in the process of evolving.

We’ll post more details in the near future. But to give you a taster…

Social Media Trainer and Blog Project Manager, Angie Macdonald is striking out to set up her own Web Design Business. We’ll be announcing the launch of her new site and contact details soon.

As for me, I’m evolving the ZenGuide brand from pure social media consultancy to include guidance on business and career development. Helping clients with their business and career development forms the basis of the coaching I give on how to communicate in an authentic way using social media. And I’d like to adjust the focus of my services to bring those aspects out more strongly.

Authentic communication is about aligning what you say with who you really are and what you truly value. Through the process of a business and marketing audit with my clients, I’ve been privileged to help them define those core values in themselves and in their business so that they can blog with authenticity. I’m excited about re-aligning ZenGuide’s core services so that I can guide clients towards authentic success not just in their communications but also in their life, business and career.

Coming up will be a new site design, a new logo and a new service for professionals looking to develop authentic success in their business and careers… so stay tuned.

In the meantime, please feel free to explore my new services:

I offer free 30 minute taster sessions for anyone who may be curious about how coaching can benefit their business or career.

Next Steps

If you would like to discuss how my coaching and consultancy services can help you develop your business or career - or try a free 30 minute taster session - please get in touch via my Contact Page.