Bev's Tips for a Better Work Life

Tips for a more rewarding and resilient career

For almost 20 years, Bev has been coaching
professionals to thrive at work, navigate
transitions and grow as leaders.

personal growth

How to be happy at work

Posted by Beverly Jones on

How three basics of happiness

promote workplace engagement.

The most recent of bestselling author Dan Buettner’s insightful “Blue Zone” books shares lessons from healthy and thriving people around the world. In “The Blue Zones of Happiness,” Buettner summarizes a broad sweep of research and recommends ways for all of us to achieve greater well-being.

According to Buettner, the latest studies suggest that by cultivating three elements of happiness, you can achieve greater fulfillment. He says you need:

  • Purpose, which means you find opportunities in your daily life to use your gifts and talents in pursuit of meaningful goals;
  • Pride, meaning that your jobs and activities give you a sense of accomplishment, and;
  • Pleasure, including fun, awe and joy – particularly from socializing for hours every day.

I agree with Buettner’s wise advise about building a rewarding life. And I was intrigued by his three-part formula, because I have been using a similar framework when coaching clients around issues related to happiness at work.

“Engaged employees” tend to be relatively happy and committed to their work. And these upbeat workers are likely to achieve more than their negative, disgruntled peers. Because research underscores the link between attitude and job performance, organizational leaders often feel pressured to find new ways to promote “employee engagement.”

There’s no single, easy technique leaders can use to generate enthusiasm. But whether you want to inspire your team or yourself, a starting point is to reflect upon the things that do help you feel happy while you’re at work.

When coaching clients, one way I get at these issues is by exploring what I call the “Engagement Triangle.” Often, workplace happiness is the result of managing three basic factors. You’ll feel more jazzed about your job when you have:

  1. Purpose. It’s easier to love your job if you’re working for something that matters more than just a paycheck.
  • Sometimes your work has meaning because you support the vision or values of the organization. Among successful companies known for their core values, Zappos says it will “create fun and a little weirdness.” At Salesforce.com, leaders say nothing is more important than trust. And Google says, “We believe everyone deserves the chance to learn, succeed, and be heard.”
  • Your team’s values can be motivating even when they are unstated. People share a sense of purpose in groups that offer superior service or a highly valued product.
  • Even a tedious job can feel rewarding if you have a good reason for working so hard, like supporting your family or laying groundwork for the next phase of your career.
  1. People. Your job satisfaction is influenced by your colleagues, by your broader circle of clients and professional contacts, and by the other people you bump into throughout your career.
  • According to Gallup research, having friends at work is a key to employee retention. And if you have close friends at work you’re likely to be happier than your colleagues, more productive and better at engaging customers.
  • Many studies confirm that we accomplish more in an environment where coworkers treat each other with respect, gratitude, trust and integrity. Studies suggest that your office culture is more likely to promote success if people treat each other like friends.
  • In “The Culture Code,” bestselling author Daniel Coyle argues convincingly that highly successful groups tend to develop a culture that feels much like a family. He says that in strong teams people have a sense of belonging, communicate constantly and feel safe around one another.
  • If you work alone, or in an environment doesn’t feel friendly, it may be time to broaden your professional network, and explore activities that allow you to interact with simpatico folks.
  1. Performance. You’ll probably love your job if you find enjoyment in your tasks, if you continue to build expertise, and if you frequently feel a sense of accomplishment.
  • Buettner suggests that time can move quickly in the best jobs because “your goal is clear, the task is challenging and you’re getting immediate feedback on how you’re doing.”
  • When work starts to feel dull, a good way to find new energy is to learn something new. The sense of accomplishment that comes from acquiring a fresh skill or deeper knowledge may jumpstart your next upward spiral.
  • Workers with autonomy tend to be happier and more productive than their micromanaged peers. If you are the team leader, be specific and consistent about goals, and let folks on the ground decide how to reach them. If you’re the one feeling micromanaged, focus on the decisions that you can control, and gain greater satisfaction from repetitive tasks by continuing to find ways to improve each process.
  • The way you perform your tasks helps you to support other people, contribute to the shared vision, and define your role within a group.

Do you want to have a bit more energy tomorrow morning? Try starting your day by writing answers to these three questions:

  1. What core value will I keep in mind during my work today?
  2. Who will I remember to appreciate in the course of the workday?
  3. What task will I perform with special attention?

Quit saying “If only”

Posted by Beverly Jones on

 Two plaintive little words

can keep holding you back.

“If only I’d done more networking, I’d be able to find a new job.”

“If only they’d stop bothering me with trivial meetings, I could finish this project.”

“If only I’d gotten that promotion, I wouldn’t hate this company.”

“If only I were younger, I bet they’d listen.”

One of the more self-destructive phrases to use in discussing your work life is “if only.” And yet we hear it all the time, and maybe even say it ourselves.

These two words might simply mean that if we had done one thing we could have avoided big problems down the road. At times the assessment can be accurate, like if you find yourself saying, “If only I had studied I probably would have been a better student.”

But frequently the phrase is weighted with mournful meaning that goes far beyond what the words seem to say. “If only” can suggest that you are in despair about the past and are dissatisfied with the present. People who say “if only” seem to be throwing up their hands, casting blame for the current situation and declining responsibility for creating change.

“If only” resonates with woulda, coulda, shoulda. It feels like the speaker is bogged down in a yesterday that can’t be changed. Or is immersed in a today that is out of control, when what would be helpful is taking steps toward a better tomorrow.

Maybe you occasionally say “if only” out loud when you’re at work. Or perhaps it’s a silent refrain that pops into your head when you’re worrying in the middle of the night, making you to feel even more sorry for yourself.
You’ll be a happier, more productive person if you get over the “if only” habit. Start here:

  • Don’t use it as an excuse. You’ll sound like you’re not coping if you tell your boss or client, “If only we had more time we could do a better job.” Reword your sentence to suggest that you are aware of the problem and are taking action: “Here’s our plan to manage the time pressure.”
  • Don’t use it to throw blame on someone else. You may come across as a nag and undercut your goals if you say, “if only you could get to the office on time, we might get more done.” Instead, propose an action plan: “Let’s set the schedule so we can be sure to finish before the deadline.”
  • Don’t use it to avoid tough facts. It’s normal to wish that things were better, and to think, “if only I were smarter/thinner/younger/richer.” But you can actually make things better once you accept that you are what you are, or embrace the reality that the situation is what it is. When you hear the “if only” lament bubbling up, ask yourself: “What can I do today to start moving in a new direction?”
  • Refocus on the future: Saying “if only” can be a sign that you’re getting stuck in the past. If that sounds like you, then learn to resist the temptation to wallow in the same old set of problems.   First, think of a more useful phrase, like: “what do I do next?” Any time you feel “if only” on the tip of your tongue, replace the two words with your alternative phrase. And when you shift your attention to the future, work on your list of helpful action items.

When you are in an “if only” mood, it may be a sign that it’s time to rebalance the way you think about days gone by. For the next few days, try noticing how much attention you focus on the past, rather than looking to future or enjoying what is happening right now.

Bev wrote the Career Press best-seller, Think Like an Entrepreneur, Act Like a CEO. Her career podcast, Jazzed About Work, was produced by WOUB Digital and is heard on NPR.org.

When “working hard” isn’t enough — refocus

Posted by Beverly Jones on

Want to create change?

Short bursts of targeted work

may get you further, faster.

 Like most successful professionals, you probably respect the power of hard work. But are you always “working hard” in the smartest way? When things aren’t going well, it’s tempting to redouble your efforts on your major projects. But sometimes a better use of a few hours may be to concentrate briefly but intensely on other things that you’ve been avoiding.

Working hard isn’t the same as working smart (Image by kanjana via Fotolia)

“Angela,” an attorney in a large company, learned though coaching that simply keeping busy on her favorite work just didn’t cut it. A single woman without much social life, Angela worked long days and was proud of devoting entire weekends to drafting insightful memos. But she felt unappreciated, as she watched other lawyers move past her up the corporate ladder. Her analysis of why her career was on a slow track boiled down to a conviction that she was the victim of favoritism and unenlightened leadership.

Despite her frustration, Angela didn’t give up. She put her head down and kept drafting documents, hoping that someday her hard work would be recognized. And she signed up for her company’s executive coaching program.

When we first spoke, as we sorted through past feedback from Angela’s bosses, it seemed that she had been given hints about how to move ahead. She had been encouraged to support and mentor colleagues, to develop a broader range of expertise, and to volunteer for teams and committees. And she had been told bluntly to do better at administrative tasks, like keeping up with the case tracking system.

Angela had heard the suggestions. But, she said, “I just don’t have the time.” She liked research and writing, and knew she was good at it. And she treated any other activity as trivial. “I’m already working so hard” was the excuse she used when she didn’t want to shift her attention to her bosses’ promptings.

After a few sessions, Angela saw a bigger picture and committed to allocating some of her time and energy in different ways. Recognizing that she felt burnt out, she decided to actually reduce the total hours in her workweek. And, while at the office, she would schedule short but regular blocks of time devoted to activities she had been avoiding. For example,

  • Instead of treating most meetings as annoying distractions, she started working hard by fully engaging in any gathering she attended. That included arriving on time, actively listening, and restraining the urge to stare at her phone.
  • Instead of procrastinating, she began to schedule weekly time blocks for bringing routine reporting and other tasks up to date.
  • Instead of resisting new kinds of assignments, she adopted a stretch goal of devoting at least ten percent of her time to projects beyond her comfort zone.

Angela’s career was transformed when she understood that concentrating only on her favorite priorities is not enough. She admitted that seeking perfection in her top assignments had become her excuse for avoiding other vital stuff she didn’t want to do. One new habit that helped her turn things around was to routinely list any activities she’d prefer to avoid, and then work intensely for short periods on some of those. And she found that in some cases “working harder” might not require more time, so much as an attitude shift.

Here are 5 situations when a spurt of focused hard work beats keeping busy on just your top goals.

  1. When it means accepting change. If your organization puts new systems in place, and you don’t have the clout to say “no”, don’t waste your energy on resistance. Instead of complaining that you’re too busy, embrace the change and show that you are willing to do your best. You will win points by being an early adapter, and you may get more support in the implementation stage of a new process, while proponents are still eager to help.
  2. When you connect with other people. If professionals stumble, it often stems not from a lack of technical skills, but rather from a failure to build critical relationships. It’s not enough to be good at your craft. You also have to understand how your work products impact other people. And that means routinely interacting with your coworkers and clients, and hearing what they have to say. By taking advantage of every chance encounter, and spending even a few minutes a day on other outreach, you can build connections that may support your near term objectives and empower your career.
  3. When your boss asks for help.   A key to workplace survival is to know what your boss needs and to give it to her. If your supervisor asks for assistance or a special effort, don’t dawdle even if you think she has a dumb idea. Understand what will help your boss succeed, and jump into action if she needs your support. If she knows she can count on you, she’s more likely to be in your corner.
  4. When you’re avoiding something. If you put off your least favorite tasks, they can distract you, weigh you down and perhaps become more complicated as a result of your delay. If you tend to procrastinate about certain items on your “to-do” list, decide if they are really necessary. If it’s not wise to avoid them, schedule regular but brief time slots when you can rush through the list of items you’ve left hanging.
  5. When it means branching out. Sometimes we hesitate to go after a new opportunity because we don’t know where to begin. The trick is to give up the idea that there’s a perfect starting point for building new expertise. Instead, schedule a couple of hours and just plunge in. Anywhere. If you commit to exploring a new kind of project, and you work on an outline or mind map or first draft, you are sure to stumble upon a good opening.

At times, hard work is more important than talent or education or powerful friends. But working frantically on only your favorite tasks can become a trap. Even if you spend 80 percent of your time on your top priorities, what may set you apart from the competition is the smart way you allocate the other 20 percent of your hard work.


Want even more tips to empower your career? Check out my podcast, “Jazzed About Work,” from WOUB Public Media. Each episode brings you lively career stories and expert tips for a thriving work life. Tune in to  informal conversations about everything it takes to create your resilient and rewarding work life.

Don’t get stuck in the past

Posted by Beverly Jones on

How you live in time —

yesterday, today and tomorrow

— helps shape your career

I felt refreshed at the end of a phone call with a client I’ll call “Mark.” It wasn’t just because Mark, like many of my clients, is smart and likeable. What made the conversation energizing was listening to a person whose orientation to the continuum of time is so nicely balanced.

Mark is comfortable with his past and has fond memories of growing up within a big family. Of course, he has experienced career bumps over the years, and has faced discrimination and other types of unfairness. But he has come to regard his tougher moments as opportunities for learning.

For the future, Mark has a dream job in mind, and he seems remarkably confident that he’ll reach that goal when the time is right. It will take a while for him to get there because so many people are ahead of him in his organization’s hierarchy. But, he said, he’s in no hurry to move up the ladder because his “work/life balance is so perfect today.” Even though Mark cares passionately about the mission of his nonprofit employer, he sticks close to a 40-hour workweek because, for the moment, his top priority is being with his young family.

Not everyone has Mark’s healthy attitude about the past, present and future. As a coach, I often encounter clients whose focus on the timeline of life is impeding their career:

  • “Elaine” cannot distance herself from earlier career situations where, in her view, she was dealt with unfairly. Elaine often complains about past mistreatment, and her bitterness limits her ability to pursue current opportunities. And when she gets bogged down in endlessly recycling yesterday’s disappointments, Elaine bores her colleagues and has trouble engaging in the projects on her desk today.
  • “Jack” lives today fully, but doesn’t prepare for tomorrow. While Elaine’s coworkers tend to avoid her, Jack is popular wherever he goes. He is playful, funny and interested in whatever you’re doing right now. But Jack’s career is stalled because of the way he avoids assignments involving a lot of planning or tedious, front-end work.
  • Ambitious “Harry” is focused on the future but neglects the present. He is determined to rise to the top of his field and he’s a master of networking and self-promotion. But Harry spends so much time chasing opportunity that he often is sloppy about tasks on his plate right now. And despite his broad circle, Jack has few close friends because social activities without a professional focus strike him as a waste of time.

Executive coaches understand that, although you may not be conscious of it, the way you think about time can impact your behavior and attitudes, and profoundly influence the course of your career. Coaches often ask questions intended to help clients develop a clear, hopeful vision of their future, as well as a realistic sense of their priorities for today.

People with a positive and balanced perception of time tend to be effective performers in the workplace. And simply noticing ways that you focus on the continuum of time can help you to better set your perspective. The relationship between performance and time orientation is one focus of The Time Paradox, a fascinating 2008 book by psychologists Philip Zimbardo and John Boyd. According to these authors, research suggests that for a happy life and a successful career, the best time orientation is one that features:

  • A high past-positive and low past-negative time perspective. You can’t change your past but you can adjust your attitude about it. An upbeat view of the past can help you feel rooted and stable, but a negative preoccupation with old events can make you suspicious, risk-adverse and driven by guilt or a fear of all that is new or different.
  • A moderately high future time perspective. Being oriented toward the future means you are more likely to engage in appropriate planning and scheduling and better able to anticipate to challenges. This perspective is associated with strong reasoning, patience and self-control, and with a focus on goals. It allows you to envision days ahead filled with hope, optimism and power. The down side of an over-the-top preoccupation with the future is you may be unable to enjoy today’s activities and experiences.
  • A moderately high present hedonistic perspective. The authors say, “A hedonistic present gives you energy and joy about being alive…Present hedonism is life-affirming, in moderation.”

If you’re interested in seeing how your time perspective compares with the authors’ view of the optimum profile, you can go to their website and take the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory. If you don’t feel like answering their 56 questions, simply try noticing, for a few days, how much attention you focus on the past, the future and what’s happening right now.

Smiling can make your day and boost your career

Posted by Beverly Jones on

This one little thing

can turn around your day

In his popular 1936 book, How to Win Friends & Influence People, Dale Carnegie offered advice for becoming popular, persuasive and successful. Among the book’s well-known techniques is Principle 2 of his “Six Ways to Make People Like You.” That rule is brief: “Smile.”

Carnegie quoted this Chinese proverb: “a man without a smiling face must not open a shop.” Your smile, he said, “is a messenger of your goodwill,” and a simple way to make a good impression. Carnegie advised us to smile even when we don’t feel like it, because action and feeling go together. If we smile we’ll feel happier, and those around us may as well.

In the roughly 80 years since Carnegie drafted Principle 2, psychologists and other scientists have undertaken countless studies of the human smile. In her fascinating book, “Why Smile?“ social psychologist Marianne LaFrance examined research getting at “what makes smiles so powerful, and powerfully consequential.”

You smile at me, and I’ll smile back at you

It seems that the phenomenon is more complicated than Carnegie realized. LaFrance explains that your smile and the message it carries are shaped in part by your culture. For example, in the American South people smile often, and to stone-faced northeasterners their friendly demeanors may come across as fake. Also, immediate circumstances can shift the way your expression is interpreted. Normally your smile is positive for the person who receives it. But if you flash a big grin when you win the game, it might get under your rival’s skin.

Despite the complexities, however, the research affirms that “smile!” is often excellent career advice. Here are some why’s and how’s of smiling:

  • It feels good. Smiling can increase the release of endorphins and other mood-enhancing hormones. It can calm your heart rate and blood pressure, reduce stress, contribute to a heightened sense of well-being, and support good health.
  • It looks good. When you smile, there’s a better chance other people will perceive you as attractive, likable and memorable. They are also more likely to find you approachable and see you as trustworthy. And they’ll think you look younger.
  • It’s contagious. We are hardwired to mirror each other’s happy looks. When you smile at colleagues or clients, they may automatically return your expression. More importantly, as you exchange smiles with another person, the two of you connect in a more fundamental way. They actually experience the positivity underlying your smile, and as a result could be more satisfied with your conversation.
  • It spreads. If your smile makes a team member feel good, his mood will improve and he’ll be more likely to smile at the next face he sees. The wave of good feeling can become viral, moving from one person to another.
  • Even fakes work. The most powerful smiles are genuine, emanating from deep within you. But social smiles, that require some effort on your part, are effective as well. And they can start a virtuous cycle. If you struggle to smile, but then I smile back, you will respond to my facial expression. Soon your tentative smile can become heartfelt.
  • You can get better at it. The more you practice a positive expression, the more likely it is that you’ll experience spontaneous smiles. The trick is to start your smile from the inside, by thinking about something that makes you feel good. Simple techniques include summoning up the image of a loved one, or remembering a particularly happy event.

If you smile more regularly, the new habit can retrain your brain to see the world in more optimistic ways. The new dose of positivity might boost your creativity and help you to be more productive. An excellent way to get started is to begin each morning with a smile. When you first wake up, summon up a happy thought and practice your best grin. Then your smiles will come more easily for the rest of the day.

 

How to be a true professional

Posted by Beverly Jones on

Build characteristics shared by

the very best professionals 

“Bob,” my coaching client, had recently changed jobs and was unsure about his new team. He said about his staff, “They’re great. Really good people. They have a lot of skills. But, somehow, they’re not real professional.”

Bob liked his new team members and believed they had potential. But, while he couldn’t put his finger on why, he felt the team’s performance was less than it could be. As he thought about his first year goals, the challenge he took up was to help his team become “more professional.”

As a serious careerist like Bob, you want to be supported by people who are highly “professional.” And, of course, you want others to regard you as a true professional. But just what does that mean?

What is a “professional”?

proThe meaning of the term “professional” has shifted in recent decades.
The traditional professions included doctors, lawyers, architects and other experts who were specially educated, usually licensed and often relatively well-paid.

But today’s definition is much broader. The word can describe anybody who is seriously engaged in meaningful, challenging work. Professionals are found in myriad fields, from IT to the culinary arts, but all workers aren’t professional.

Knowledge can set professionals apart. Today’s professionals are committed to building their skills and expertise regardless of whether they have specific degrees or certifications.

In addition to continuing their education, professionals strive to maintain quality and ethical standards. They believe their work is valuable. And they expect more from their careers than just financial compensation. They want satisfaction, some sense of identity and community, and the opportunity to make a contribution.

What does it mean to be “professional”?

Just because you have a professional type job doesn’t mean others will regard you as highly “professional.” [Read more…] about How to be a true professional