Career Motivators | Unhappy in your job and know there must be something better?

How the X factor can be your career coach

Monday, September 8th, 2008

I’ve never watched the X Factor before, but I’ve watched it this weekend.

It’s all about chasing your dreams, and why not go for it? Better to chase a dream and lose then never to try.

The tears streamed down my face as I watched the last contestant who was entering this year after having thought about it for 4 years. It was so sad, his wife had died in child birth and she had encouraged him to enter, but life had got in the way …. so this audition was for her.

He said something very poignant "You regret more the things you don’t do, than the things you did."

If you take this thought and think about your life and your career, you might find something to ponder on …. ?

Posted in CAREER MANAGEMENT, Career Motivators

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Motivation - what motivates you?

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

A recent report by Ashridge has found that over half (55% of managers do not feel motivated by their organisation and colleagues.

This research is confirming what I read about motivation when studying occupational psychology, organisations think that performance related pay and incentive schemes are the number one motivator whilst the results from managers is that they want is challenging and interesting work.

But this is generalisations; managers want to be treated as individuals. Managers should ask their staff what motivates them and, ideally people should feel able to tell managers how they want to be motivated.

The survey included some interesting facts – despite the European Union work time directive, over half of managers are working over 60 hours a week and 63% are taking work home with them. So the 48 hour maximum working week is being exceeded by many.

So what does motivate you - money, status, interesting work, flexible working? Why not be clear what you want and then you may stand a better chance of getting it.

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What does success mean to you?

Friday, June 27th, 2008

One question I ask my clients is "What does success mean to you?" and I ask them to consider this before we meet.

This provokes some very different responses, such as:

What does success mean to you? Success isn’t about having pots of money in the bank, success is being happy with yourself and the life and career you’ve chosen. Success is feeling you’ve achieved something worthwhile and earning respect for being good at your job.

What does success mean to you? Achieving goals and financial reward.

What does success mean to you?

Happiness
Fulfilment
Acknowledgement from your peers
Wealth

It is a very interesting question to reflect on and does not necessarily relate just to money but to personal satisfaction.

Why don’t you consider your answer to this question, it can help you be clearer on your motivation. Why not let me know what it means to you.

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Brilliant customer service at the Students Loans Company - Darlington

Tuesday, June 10th, 2008

So often we receive awful service from large call centres. When I get good service I try and get a contact name or address to let their manager know. So I’ve just written a letter.

I rang Darlington and got to talk with one of your advisors – Alex Taylor. She was excellent, polite and helpful. When she couldn’t help me immediately she took my details and said she would look into it. Too often this is an excuse to fob someone off, but true to her word she got back to me and let me have the information I needed. So my very warm congratulations on having such a customer focused member of staff.

Here’s hoping they look for a way to give her some more recognition.

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What makes you successful - intelligence or life skills?

Sunday, March 9th, 2008

I read in The Tines on Saturday – Learning the real lessons, about success at school. So much emphasis is place on getting into school with good exam results but is this the real determinant of success?

Non cognitive skills such as resilience, self discipline, patience and motivation are very important in developing life skills.

Perseverance which is not related to IQ accounts for 4% of the variation in educational outcomes among adults and self discipline predicts teenage success better than IQ.

I know on a personal level that my success has been significantly helped by my self discipline and motivation and I know many people, with probably higher IQ than me but have not had conventional success as they lack personal motivation.

What do you think?

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Upbeat or downbeat?

Thursday, March 6th, 2008

Just come across this, and thought it would be fun to share

Does your office wall have those motivational pictures on the walls? Would you like something that you feel sums up the situation better? there are pictures, memo squares etc with comments such as “It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.” visit www.despair.com to find out more

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You and your job - happy together?

Wednesday, February 27th, 2008

I’ve had an article published on the HR Zone web site

Some lucky people love their job and look forward to work each day, but for many of us work is just about OK.

Research says that as many as 50% of the working population are unhappy in their career, and my research has found that over 40% of people are going to be looking for a job in the next 12 months. But what can people do in the meantime to make their job more bearable?

These suggestions are not going to turn you from someone who is unhappy at work to someone who is very happy, but a couple of them may work for you or someone you know.

Let’s look at some of the alternatives to moaning about our job and wishing we were somewhere else.

1: Decide to like your job

Whatever we think about is what our brain will focus on so why not decide, for one day at a time, that you will like your job and act ‘as if’ you do. If you did like your job, how would you feel and act? How would you talk with people? How would you tackle different jobs?

I hate my job

Monday, February 4th, 2008

Apparently Sunday is officially the most sleepless night of the week as people have pre Monday jitters.

So how well did you sleep last night?

If you didn’t want to go to work today, think about what it is you dislike? It could be the actual content of the job, the way your manager works, feeling you are not paid enough, feeling tied down when you would rather be doing something you do love to do.

Let me know why you are unhappy in your job and let’s look at ways to deal with this in the short term?

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How we communicate can affect others

Sunday, February 3rd, 2008

If you said to someone “You are hopeless, you will never be able to do it properly” don’t be surprised if they live up to your expectations. But if you said, “You are going to enjoy this task” then they probably will.

So often I hear people tell me that their parents/ bosses/ partners don’t expect them to succeed, and they don’t. But imagine the possibilities if you did have belief in them?

Too often teachers, and trainers try to help, they tell their trainee not to worry and that they are there to help if they get stuck, but this encourages these feelings and thoughts. Far better to tell the person that you know they will do well and they will enjoy the work.

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Getting qualified for your ideal job?

Wednesday, January 16th, 2008

Sometimes people need to gain a specific qualification to follow their ideal path, and they have a choice between full time and part time classes. Many people are put off by the thought of part time study; they want something now, not in a few years time. Without the qualification they are unlikely to be successful, but they don’t want to commit the time and money to study.

I recently read of a hotel doorman who studied law part time. While other people were out having fun, he studied. When he was ready to apply for a job he got a lot of rejection, but eventually got a job offer. I can relate to the need for delayed gratification for career success.

It took me 8 years of part time study to get my honours degree in psychology from the Open University and both whilst I was studying and afterwards as I applied for promotions; every interviewer was very impressed by my tenacity and drive. The part time study made a major contribution to my career success.

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