Sunday Roundup: A Common Language Around Careers, and Meaningful Work
Greetings. I just got back from Washington D.C. where I had the chance to celebrate my Father, who won a leadership award for his contributions to the Association Industry. My Dad has worked in the association world for a long time and over that period of time has built numerous relationships that have positively impacted my life. There are a million reasons why I love, respect and ultimately look up to my Father, but one of the big ones is that he is the best at connecting people, ideas, and opportunities together to help other people, not for personal gain, but someone bigger than just himself will benefit in a meaningful way.
As a result of this in addition to watching my Father get recognized it also gave me the chance to connect with CEOs and leaders of Associations, many of whom I have known since I was a teenager, and who at various points have helped me in my career. Whether it was opening a door through a warm intro email, writing an amazon review after reading my book, or offering words of encouragement as I chose to move on from the corporate world, these individuals have shown up for me in big and small ways. Getting the chance to reconnect with them and to see them in person was rewarding and meaningful, and a part of my life that I am forever grateful for.
A number of the executives I spoke to are retiring at the end of this year. As they reflected back on their career, they shared some of their most memorable moments and learnings from their time, and seemed excited (but sad) about what they were leaving behind. Like my Dad, many of these people chose to come to work each day to build something and create something that would be bigger than themselves, and last longer than their current jobs. It got me thinking a lot about how we see ourselves and our work, and how we define and describe what that is.
We all know the Great Resignation is causing many of us (myself included) to re-think our day jobs, but how does that factor into the rest of our lives? For some of us, that means doubling down on finding a job that does give us meaning or purpose, for others, it may mean stepping in a different direction to find a job that allows us to do other things that are meaningful and purposeful. My friend Nick deWilde writes that there are typically three ways to look at your work and meaning, and the more that I talk to other professionals the more that I ponder this myself.
My Father has and always will love to work, and I think it’s because not only does he get a sense of meaning and purpose out of what he does, but he truly has a higher calling (say a vocation) for the elements of the work he does each day. While he’s talented and intelligent in his own right and has an incredible work ethic, he is able to kick it into another gear because I truly believe he believes this is his highest best use of his time and what he was put on the planet to do. Watching him over the years in terms of how he has used his talents and skills to make an impact in his work and career has been inspiring. I can certainly say it has impacted not only the work that I do, but how I view the role that work plays in my own life.
The point of this story is not that everyone needs to have a vocation, nor devote a significant amount of hours of their life to a higher calling, but that we can do more and better to help people define and make sense of what work should mean for them, and once they define it, helping them find the workspaces and cultures that allow them to do that.
Note: My family is not great at taking pictures together, but we’re trying…
What I’ve Read
Why Everyone is Hiring But Nobody is Getting Hired (Vox)“For some of the jobs available, people don’t have the right skills, or at least the skills employers say they’re looking for. Other jobs are undesirable — they offer bad pay or an unpredictable schedule, or just don’t feel worth it to unemployed workers, many of whom are rethinking their priorities. In some cases, there are a host of perfectly acceptable candidates and jobs out there, but for a multitude of reasons, they’re just not being matched.”
With So Many People Quitting, Don’t Overlook The People Who Stay (HBR) “Businesses are hurting and at the root of that pain for many today is a shortage of people to do the work. Your existing people feel that pain as they extend themselves to pick-up extra shifts to provide coverage, listen to customer complaints when they are helpless to fix the real issue, or witness one more colleague call it “quits” when their tipping point is reached. So, be bold and engage your people in helping you solve problems.”
Dignity at Work (Forbes) “As employers create hybrid workplaces, keeping the notion of dignity front and center creates a workplace where people want to be. It makes a value system where people feel they can contribute and want to contribute significantly. Why? Because they think they belong.”
What I’ve listened to
Why Relationships Matter at Work (Anh Phillips & Jen Fisher, Work Well Podcast: In addition to being former colleagues of mine, Anh and Jen are the Co-Authors of the WSJ Best Selling Book Work Better Together. In a world that has indexed to technology and an always on culture, Anh and Jen remind us about the importance of connection and relationships and how they promote well-being which drives engagement and productivity in the workplace.
The Long Game with Dorie Clark, Hello Monday Podcast: I had the privilege to meet Dorie back in 2013 at a Leadership Conference and we’ve stayed in touch over the years. I’ve always been impressed with her ability to work toward a clear vision and take steps along the way to achieving it. Her most recent book, The Long Game came out last week and is already a Best Seller on the WSJ list. This is a testament to how she is actually living out the advice she gives in her book
Do You Have True Self-Confidence, Whitney Johnson Podcast: Whitney is one of my favorite podcast interviewers and this one does not disappoint. Harry Kraemer is the former CEO of Dupont, where he started his career after graduating from Kellogg. Harry’s stories of his time at Dupont are interesting and worth listening to, as is his methodology and approach for leading and managing
Katie Burke, on The How I got here Podcast: This was a connecting the dots episode for me. I have followed Katie’s work for years, as she was one of the key architects behind Hubspot’s culture code. I have also met and interviewed Lara and Eric, the two hosts of the How I got Here Podcast, both of whom I enjoy and like a lot. Katie talks about her journey to Hubspot and provides some great career advice reflecting back on where she has been and where she is now, as the Chief People Officer at Hubspot.
What I’m Reading
Hybrid: The Worst of Both Work Worlds (Ann Helen Peterson, Culture Study)
Managers: Why The Best Managers Ask More Questions (Kevin Delaney, Charter)
Productivity: The Theology of Productivity (Sarah Chappell, Every Collective)
The Future of Work: Play to Earn: Crypto and The Future of Work (Forbes)
Three Thoughts
1) What Do The Key Players in the Hiring Process Need to Do Better? I thought alot about this when reading the Vox article about the brokenness of the hiring system right now. What do hiring managers, recruiters, and candidates need to do differently to overcome the challenges in the hiring process?
2) We Need a Common Language Around Careers - Reading the article about job, career, hobbies, and vocations has solidified my belief that the way we use these needs to have a common and concerted effort around consistency, or else we’ll continue to unintentionally coach+mentor+advise employees in the wrong way
3) Managers Need to Be Human- First - As the Charter article points out, so much more of being a good manager today relies on either embodying human and people related skills (coaching, listening, giving feedback, showing empathy) or encouraging your employees to demonstrate those skills. We need to do a better job of encouraging and teaching managers to be more in touch with their human, and to bring the human out of their people.
Cheers,
Al
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