Are You Pursuing the Wrong Career?

"HIDE NOT YOUR TALENTS. THEY FOR USE WERE MADE. WHAT'S A SUNDIAL IN THE SHADE?" --Benjamin Franklin


In my many years of management, I saw all kinds of situations where I wanted to say to someone; have you considered "xxxx" as a career path? But, I hesitated to provide this unsolicited advice because I didn't want to make a person feel as though they were not valued by me in their current position. One thing very important to me as a manager, was that my staff knew I valued each one and I made the appropriate investment into them as employees and into their careers. Finding a person not well suited for what they were doing was difficult; nudge them gently into the right situation without taking the 'wind out of their sails!'

How do you know if you are in the right job? Success in that field is one way. However, I was very successful and yet one day, my Director said to me "Have you ever thought about getting your doctorate degree and teaching at a university or being an account manager?" My thought was; why is he saying this? Is he unhappy with my work? Does he know my days here are numbered at this Fortune 100 company we worked for; which, by the way, was a political nightmare on a good day. Here it is, ten years later and I think I understand. He wanted me to have the success in life I deserve, being highly intelligent, good looking, a people person, WITHOUT THE STRIFE! It wasn't that I wasn't cut out for my job as a manager of engineering (most male field, highly competitive) but what he wanted was for me to ENJOY MY DAY a little bit more. I am a "people person" with a natural gift of sharing, teaching and selling. I sell my ideas. I convince people to go my way. I never demand, I convince. For me, pursuing a career in sales was my very next move and it was a wonderful experience. I was a natural at it, and it never seemed like work. Now, I am thinking strongly about the university professor idea because the "road warrior" in me wonders if all that travel is necessary to enjoy life. By the way....I love being the "road warrior" and travel!

If you are wondering about your career, about your choice in what you do every day when you get up, there is a great book called "Strengthsfinder 2.0" written by Tom Rath. He breaks down people into 34 "themes" of talent and ideas for action. There is a code in the back of the book that allows you to sign onto a site and take a test that analyzes your personality traits to help you pick your best career path based on your natural gifts. Mine was:

-Activator
-Individualization
-Strategic
-Achiever
-Futuristic

Here is an example of the results one can get from the testing, and yes, this one is mine:
Your Personalized Strengths Insights
What makes you stand out?
Because of your strengths, you make good choices and draw sound conclusions. Coupling this with
your strong sense of urgency, you can produce results quickly. Less decisive individuals are still
trying to figure out what they should do after you have finished one task and moved on to the next
one. By nature, you may be an independent performer who needs to be busy. You usually want to
start working as soon as you have concluded what to do and how to do it. You probably are frustrated
by delays caused by people or circumstances. Instinctively, you urge people to attain their goals by
pressing ahead without stopping. Some people feel threatened by your forceful messages. You
probably use this technique with individuals who are slow to start or who are inclined to quit before
the work is finished. Chances are good that you realize that individuals can be easily threatened by
your proficiency with various topics or skills. You intentionally use your authority and mastery to
convey a sense of urgency. This prompts certain people to comply with your wishes. Simply put: You
have a way of taking charge and moving others to action. It’s very likely that you strive to energize
people. You are determined to generate a lot of enthusiasm around various projects, events, or
activities.
Activator sounds like this:
Jane C., Benedictine nun: "When I was prioress in the 1970s, we were hit by the energy shortage,
and costs skyrocketed. We had a hundred and forty acres, and I walked the acreage every day
pondering what we should do about this energy shortage. Suddenly I decided that if we had that
much land, we should be drilling our own gas well, and so we did. We spent one hundred thousand
dollars to drill a gas well. If you have never drilled a gas well, you probably don't realize what I didn't
realize: namely, that you have to spend seventy thousand dollars just to drill to see if you have any
gas on your property at all. So they dug down with some kind of vibratory camera thing, and they told
me that I had a gas pool. But they didn't know how large the pool was, and they didn't know if there
was enough pressure to bring it up. 'If you pay another thirty thousand dollars, we will try to release
the well,' they said. 'If you don't want us to, we'll just cap the well, take your seventy thousand, and go
home.' So I gave them the final thirty thousand and, fortunately, up it came. That was twenty years
ago, and it is still pumping."
Jim L., entrepreneur: "Some people see my impatience as not wanting to listen to the traps, the
potential roadblocks. What I keep repeating is, ‘I want to know when I am going to hit the wall, and I
need you to tell me how much it is going to hurt. But if I choose to bump into the wall anyway, then
don't worry -- you've done your job. I just had to experience it for myself.'"
Ideas for Action:
Seek work in which you can make your own decisions and act on them. In particular, look
for start-up or turnaround situations.
At work, make sure that your manager judges you on measurable outcomes rather than
your process. Your process is not always pretty.

Note the highlighted line in blue: seek work in which you can make your own decisions and act on them.

You get the idea. We all have a great opportunity in the midst of this economic turmoil to reassess oursevles for the right path; the one that suits our stride, our personality, and our gifts!

Enjoy your day!
Dianna