Are You In The Right Job?

The Pursuit of Job Happiness

I believe that a career is a terrible thing to waste. So in addition to developing executives’ leadership skills, I selectively apply my skills for Career Direction Coaching.  In these engagements, I meet some really talented executives who find themselves in the wrong job.  When their frustration level gets high enough, they seek help to gain clarity for what the right job and/or a better place should look like. There are several scenarios.

• Sometimes they are in a job that doesn’t fit their skills and interests.
• In other cases, they are being mismanaged.
• We might discover that the work culture conflicts with their values.
• Or, their industry and/or experience is no longer relevant in the information age.

How Happy are You?

Our business partner for talent assessments, Target Training International just created a 15 question Workplace Happiness Survey to measure your degree of happiness with your job.   How will you score? Discover your fit.

Download the Job Happiness Survey (PDF).

Parental Advisory

For those of you that are parents, I urge you to be careful about your well-intentioned career advice to your children.  Many of the executives that I’ve helped with career clarity were guided by their parents to career paths contrary to their inclinations. I’ve worked with execs who yielded to parental influence and chose college majors that conflicted with the inherent interests.  In too many cases, the result is:

• Low scores on the Job Happiness Survey
• Years of an unhappy work life
• The need to change careers in a highly competitive job market

Avoid Blaming Others

For those with a low Job Happiness Survey score, have you…

• Received and heeded misguided career advice?
• Have a really bad boss?
• Find yourself in a culture that presents ongoing ethical dilemmas?

Remember: assessing blame does not serve your purpose.

You are the captain of your ship. It is your responsibility set your course and sail it in the right direction.

A Word from Our Sponsor

Even the best captains utilize the expertise of a navigator. For those seeking to calibrate their career compass, I’d be honored to discuss how I might help.

Related Articles & Resources

• Are You Playing The Blame Game?
• Lessons From Frogs Insight on decision-making from amphibians
• Is Your Bad Boss Killing You?
• Career Direction Coaching
• MasterMind Connections – resources for transitioning senior executives