| Cathy wrote (and I helped edit) a new message for her clients. The goal of this newsletter article is to give everyone something to share so that, together, we can inspire even more people to say “Enough!” and to take their first meaningful next steps.
Will you take a moment to share the message? The more of us who come together to claim our 21st Century Worklife, the more we can start to make real workplace change. Thanks in advance for your help.
|
Cathy’s Recent Self-Leadership Strategies Newsletter
Posted: December 1, 2011 by Steven Joiner in 21CWL, Managing, MotivatingTags: Career, Security, Worklife
Are You a Job Hunter or a Job Developer?
Posted: November 16, 2011 by Steven Joiner in 21CWL, Definition, Motivating, ToolsDo you simply hunt for jobs in the vast reaches of cyberspace or have you evolved into a developer of opportunities?
Do you see needs in the workplace that need to be met or are you content to fill a role created by someone else?
How do you find compensation–fiscal and otherwise–in your life? In your work?
I was at a career development conference in July of 2009 when one of the keynote speakers—a fantastic Career Development professional named Denise Bissonnette—completely changed my view of career development. Her talk focused on the idea that professionals in the workforce today need to stop thinking of the job search as merely just seeing what is available and going for it. Rather, we need to bring an entrepreneurial spirit to our search. This means creating “employment proposals” as well as keeping an eye on emerging social trends and businesses. Read the rest of this entry »
The Face of Disagreement
Posted: November 15, 2011 by Steven Joiner in 21CWLTags: Career, Security, Worklife
Do you have the authority to make your own decisions?
When I speak, I ceaselessly monitor the audience to see that the ideas of the 21st Century Worklife are sinking in. My primary test is to make sure that more people are nodding than nodding off. My secondary test is to see who wears the face of disagreement.
The trouble with the face of disagreement is that it sometimes masks itself as confusion. But there is always a moment when the furrowed brow turns to wide-eyed disbelief followed by the telltale moment: the exasperated head shake.
This really hit home during a recent talk at Harvard when an attendee went through the confused to incredulous to heading-shaking-in-clear disagreement at a record pace. The exchange that followed (I kind of called the attendee out with a questions like, “Who’s having trouble with these concepts?”) went something like this:
(Attendee) ”This whole notion of career entrepreneur and “taking back you job security” is all well and good for a young professional, someone right out of school or someone like yourself. I have a family* and can’t be so cavalier.”
(Me) ”You’re basically talking about making career decisions from a place of certainty and stability, right?”
(Attendee) nods
* Editorial note: this example happens to be of the “I have a family” variety and, while that is the most common form of “this is too risky” rationale, it is not the only one. Student-loan debt, family expectations (parents, partner, children), and lack of confidence are also popular choices.
(Me) ”Let me ask you a question then: could you be fired tomorrow from you job?”
(Attendee) ”Of course.”
(Me) ”And what would happen to you as a result?” Read the rest of this entry »
Are You in a Technology Trance?
Posted: February 15, 2011 by Cathy Wasserman in 21CWL, DefinitionTags: Career, Lexicon, Worklife
Technology Trance (synonym: Connectivity Coma): The numbed, diminished state of mind, body and soul, which results from persistent overuse of any form of technology. Characterized by a reduction in focus and availability for face-to-face, real time relationships and experience. Side effects may include a decrease in Self-Leadership and Career Entrepreneurship as well as access to your Calling Card, the Creative Edge, and emotional IQ.
The glory of nature... as seen from your computer
For the past several thousand years, technology–from stone tools to the latest new-fangled computer applications–has changed the fundamental structure and demands of our daily lives.
On the one hand, it’s increased our exposure to ideas, people, places, and images, which brings an enormous richness to our lives. And, it’s made many things easier, giving us more ‘free time’ to grow, explore, create, and understand our Calling Card.
On the other hand, it’s enticed us into wasting an enormous amount of time and energy by engaging in an endless series of web-tivities like watching silly videos, researching such rabbit holes of attention as our ex-girlfriend or boyfriend (oh come on, we’ve all been there!), and ‘connecting’ more with virtual rather than flesh-and-blood communities.
Talk about a double edged sword…
No problem, you say. I can control it. It’s fun. It’s useful. It makes my life better. I’m no slave to it. I make it work for me.
Really? Are you so sure? I see that you just brought your Crackberry to the john with you, tucked it into your bathrobe last night, and checked your messages before saying good morning to your spouse.
Houston, I think we have a problem. Read the rest of this entry »
Affinity Leadership: Activating Your Community of Genius
Posted: January 16, 2011 by Steven Joiner in 21CWL, DefinitionAffinity Leader: An integrated individual who actively works to understand and co-create opportunities for each Community of Genius member to fully tap into their Calling Card and make their most meaningful contributions. Affinity Leaders take the work of Self-Leaders to the next level by managing the affinities, mutual excitement, and purpose within a COG.
Help is on the way
Leading affinities is easy, we’ve all done it. Ever organized a birthday for a family member? Helped with a wedding in some capacity? Played a sport? Self-organized an interest group? Hosted a potluck?
You get the idea. Finding affinities and rapport with others is what we do as the social creatures that we are.
Affinity leadership, however, is different and much more challenging. Read the rest of this entry »
Community of Genius: The Great Talent Multiplier
Posted: December 22, 2010 by Steven Joiner in 21CWL, Definition, ResourcesCommunity of Genius: Usually a collective of two or more individuals living their Calling Card and sharing the trust, resources, synergy, and inspiration that comes when Aligned individuals commune in a sustained, enlivening and enriching manner. COGs sustain galvanizing, positive tension to work together on the Creative Edge and to support each other as Creators, Travelers, Self-Leaders, and Career Entrepreneurs. They also sometimes involve just one individual connecting deeply with art, nature, an idea or some other entity.
yes WE can!
‘Would all geniuses please raise your hand?’
Why are we averse to claiming our genius? Why does our culture so often ascribe genius to a rarefied handful of people thus robbing everyone from tapping into their own exceptional intelligence, creative power, and natural ability? Go ahead and ask a room full of people, “Would all geniuses please raise your hand?‘ and see what happens. Chances are no one will raise their hands or a few will enthusiastically fire an arm into the air, which will then set off a round of laughter.
Recently author Seth Godin has rightly pointed out that we are all genius in our own way. Yet this is not a new idea: Emerson noticed it and wrote eloquently on the topic; Jefferson envisioned a society where the genius of the individual was not circumvented by the crown or church; and 20th century change-makers like Gandhi, Mead, and King spoke to the transformative power of the individual, especially when the individual finds momentum in community.
Despite this cultural heritage, we resist claiming that genius because we find non-genius to be a safer place. This is reinforced by a culture that preaches fitting in and being comfortable. Geniuses stick their neck out sometimes; geniuses have been known to rock the boat of the status quo; geniuses risk rejection when they share their gifts, their Calling Card with the world.
The root of the word genius comes from the Latin ‘gignere‘ which means ‘attendant spirit present from one’s birth, innate ability or inclination’. That means that we are all born with an inherent, indwelling potential but, sadly, we are often, to quote Buckminster Fuller, ‘de-geniused’ as we go through life.
It is time for that to end. Read the rest of this entry »
Continuums: Moving from Polarized to Nuanced Thinking
Posted: December 5, 2010 by Steven Joiner in 21CWL, DefinitionTags: Career, Lexicon, Worklife
Continuums: The arch between polarized points of view; the realm of critical thinking and personal growth. The points along the continuum are not vastly different from their neighbors but the extremes are quite distinct.
Compensation Continuum: Compensation incorporates, but also looks beyond fiscal returns. A continuum of ‘payment’ that encompasses spiritual, interpersonal, energetic, familial, and intellectual remuneration.
The Overarching Idea
Too often we think in dichotomies: this or that, right or wrong, left or right, up or down, good or bad. Yet much of what we do and think doesn’t lie at the polarized ends of any continuum. The space between these ends–the space of critical thinking–best describes all that we think and perceive in life. This is both/and and not either/or.
Even though we know that continuums exist in our thoughts and around us in all aspects of our life, we frequently choose to live and think closer to one end of a continuum than another. Why is that?
The simple answer is that polarized thinking is lazy thinking. Read the rest of this entry »
Your Calling Card: Come Take a Seat at The Seat of Your Power
Posted: November 8, 2010 by Cathy Wasserman in 21CWL, DefinitionTags: Career, Lexicon, Worklife
Calling Card: The one-of-a-kind combination of your talents/skills, values, experience, knowledge, accomplishments, working style, passions/interests/inspirations, mission/vision, goals/priorities, Mutual Radar Society (formerly known as networking) ideas, curiosities, and much more.
- While you were out… your future called and left a message.
Your Calling Card is the seat of your power, identity, and movement in the world; it is your personal control tower, your unique fingerprint and what you have to share.
Indeed, in the New Career Paradigm, your Calling Card isn’t one thing personally and another professionally. Rather, it is a reflection of who you are authentically as an Aligned individual.
It isn’t static. It’s not an ultimate truth that you arrive at, but rather an ever-changing manifestations of who you are, what you most value, what you’re most curious about, and how you most want to contribute at a particular moment in time. Read the rest of this entry »
Career Entrepreneurship: 21st Century Worklife Rocket Fuel
Posted: October 21, 2010 by Steven Joiner in 21CWL, DefinitionTags: Career, Lexicon, Worklife
Career Entrepreneur: An integrated individual who is 1) Open to some risk and 2) Passionate about their endeavors because 3) They are Aligned with their work and this alignment makes them more daring and more committed to making significant contributions and to growing as individuals. Career Entrepreneurs do not separate their potential from their profession and they do not silo themselves into the polarized thinking of work/life balance. They see their work as a kind of leisure (‘time for enjoyment’) and not as a break from daily delight. They align passion, purpose, and paycheck.
Career Entrepreneurism gets you to that pot of gold faster than chasing rainbows
Career Entrepreneurship is your personal 21st Century Worklife rocket fuel. Is your tank full? Half-full? Need topping off? Totally empty?
View your work as craft and your time spent as honing your art. Put the sweat equity into getting passionately Aligned. Don’t forget you’re the only one who can do the chiropractic on your life and you are the one who cares most about your career success… not your family, your partner, your parents, or your friends.
The Career Caretaker is So 20th Century
Posted: October 4, 2010 by Steven Joiner in 21CWL, DefinitionTags: Career, Lexicon, Worklife
Career Caretaker: A person, organization, company or some other entity that traditionally helped you get a job, rewarded you with, at least, a good enough salary, job security, retirement, and/or upward mobility in exchange for you working long and hard, ‘paying your dues’, following the rules, and giving yourself–your time, energy, focus, and loyalty–over to them.
'I'm not dead yet!'
Perhaps you were taught that if you give some of yourself away to ‘the company’, you’ll get security and resources to build the future life you want outside of the workplace. Truth is, the Career Caretaker model has been on the decline for over 30 years. Now it’s on life support and the prognosis doesn’t look good.
This is what the old equation looks like:
Your time, talent, potential, energy, ingenuity, lifeblood, skills, expertise, satisfaction, and ‘paid dues’ = Competitive pay, pension, professional development, health insurance, promotion, and security.
Today, this is a Faustian bargain; your ‘security’ is now a line item to be cut from the budget… kinda like switching from styrofoam coffee cups to reusable plastic cups because it saves some money.
The questions to ask yourself then are:
- Why are you ‘paying your dues’ and giving away the fullness of your power and potential to an increasingly unreliable Career Caretaker?
- Are you having trouble disconnecting from this behavior?
- How much are you still willing to sacrifice for this security? Is it really worth it?
An improved economy and job market won’t make the Career Caretaker more reliable… or even come back; its days are numbered.
