Many of our clients at VOCA Center (the organization where I serve), hate their jobs. They come to us so we can help them create a map to better work: work that connects more consistently with who they are and what matters to them. So we work with them to first understand what is missing. And with a subgroup of these sincere, smart, hardworking people, is a very interesting common theme: they are dissatisfied with their current work simply because... Read more
Know What’s Next For Your Career: Again and Again Have you ever had that sinking feeling that the finish line is not the end of the race? Maybe you were an athlete, and you’d have a coach who would pile on extra conditioning just when you thought you were done with practice. Perhaps you’ve been through some life-challenge, like a medical one, and just when you think the worst is over, something else pops up. Maybe it’s dating, and although... Read more
How do you know what to do next in your career? Career moves always involve renegotiating the link between your talent-skill package and the job market. The great temptation is to take the path of least resistance: staying if it’s comfortable; jumping at the first “shiny object” opportunity if your current gig feels like a dead-end. The opposite of the “path of least resistance” approach is developing deep knowledge about yourself and the market for your capabilities. In the last... Read more
What’s next in your career? What’s the next move you need to make to be fully engaged in God’s calling for the work dimension of your life? In our first post [insert link], we explored the most common mistake people make when pondering their next move: they take the path of least resistance instead of the path of clarity. Clarity is won through a deep understanding of ourselves, the market for our talent, and the process of connecting job openings... Read more
The challenge of what’s coming next: You are at a decision point in your career. You have to choose what’s next. Maybe you’re wrapping up college, trade-school, or graduate school. Perhaps it’s become painfully apparent that continuing on in your current job will result in years of misery. Maybe you’ve gotten wind that your unit, your company, even your industry is headed for massive layoffs and/or restructuring. Where do you start thinking about plan b? This post begins a four-part... Read more
We All Want To Win Here’s what I know about you: to win at work, you must relate effectively to your boss. We can make a practical argument here. Perhaps no other single factor will better determine your advancement and well-being at work than your capacity to understand and influence your direct supervisor or supervisors. We can make a spiritual argument as well: the writers of scripture simultaneously taught their readers to 1) respect those in authority and 2) to... Read more
The Practical and Spiritual Priority of Leading Up Leading Up is a series of posts that reveals wise ways of winning with your boss. Peter Drucker, the father of modern business management, says this: “There is nothing quite so conducive to success as a successful and rapidly promoted superior. So effective executives make the strengths of their boss productive.” (Peter Drucker, The Effective Executive) The ancient wisdom writer says this: “My child, fear the LORD and the king, and don’t... Read more
Checkers or Chess? This is part two of our Leading Up series, where we uncover the secrets to influencing your boss so you can find greater effectiveness and joy at work. A summary of our first post: Your boss (or bosses) are in charge. This is reality. Face this truth, so you can learn to master it. In both this article and the following, we’ll do a deep dive into the motivational profiles of four different types of bosses. Before... Read more
“My job would be great, except for my boss…” “My boss is a &*#$%.” “My job was great, but then my boss took a new role and the atmosphere tanked.” As president of an organization that helps people find joy and effectiveness at work, we hear these types of sentiments all the time. These complaints reveal one of the givens of the universe, a truth none of us can hide from. And this truth also holds the key to much... Read more
Every week, people ask me how Audrey is doing (note: if you’re just joining this series, Audrey is my wife, and she’s in the process of being treated for colon cancer, which was discovered around nine months ago). We have several hundred friends keeping up with our journey via email and dozens of others who ask in person. I provide the facts and figures, the next steps, and then I shock my inquisitors. I tell them that all through chemotherapy,... Read more
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