Archive for the ‘Energy Map’ Category

U.S. Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale

I cleaned out my office today & ran across an index card with the Stockdale Paradox on it. In case you’re not familiar with the Stockdale Paradox, Jim Collins describes it in his book, “Good to Great” as:

“Retain the faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties AND confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they may be.”

I highly recommend reading about Jim Stockdale in this wiki to learn more about his experience as a Vietnam POW & how he was able to survive when many others didn’t: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Stockdale.

Surviving a POW camp is in no way comparable to conducting a job search or developing your career, but there are important lessons we can learn from Jim Stockdale’s experience.

Got Faith?

Stockdale said he never doubted he would prevail and turn this horrific experience into a defining event in his life. He never lost faith.

I think about a time when I was in a job that felt like a prison to me. I felt victimized, like I had no choices. But that wasn’t true. I did have choices. I hired a coach and started working on a plan to not just get me out of there but to really envision a future for myself. I read somewhere that faith is passionate trust. I trusted myself to know what I really wanted, and I trusted God to show me the way.

The Brutal Facts

Stockdale says we must have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of our current reality. There are two important points here – defining reality and discipline.

What is reality? I heard someone say, “If the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.” Well, just like Stockdale, I believe the facts DO count.

There are certain facts about you that should be a factor in your career development. This is the brutal reality of YOU – the brilliant you, and it’s important that you know what it is and can sufficiently describe it to others.

And then there’s the other side of reality such as the people who show up on American Idol who can’t carry a tune and can’t understand why they aren’t chosen. Or the person who doesn’t want to learn anything new and thinks they can coast to retirement. Or the person who knows their performance has been lagging but thinks people won’t notice. This is our blind spot, and it is essential to make that spot as small as possible.

After you have a good idea of your reality, it’s time for discipline. Discipline might conjure up some images as being grounded or a drill sergeant commanding you to take 100 pushups in the freezing rain, but consider another definition of discipline: “self-control, training for improvement, and a systematic method.”  It seems to me that discipline is at the heart of leadership, so when it comes to determining our careers, it is essential to have a system in place to help us reach our dreams (strategies, intentions, goals). I hired a coach, increased my knowledge, and put a system in place to be more accountable so that I could expand my choices.

So, CAN be anything you want?  Maybe! Use these tips to guide you in deciding what you really, really want:

1. Take a look at the brutal reality of you. Who are you, and what are your strengths (skills, knowledge, abilities)? What is important to you? What would make you want to go work every day full of energy and passion?
2. Have the discipline to do what it takes to get you what you want. Invest in yourself by hiring a coach, going back to school, updating your resume, networking, etc. Stop doing those things that are getting in the way of what you want.
3. Have faith that you will prevail despite difficult circumstances.
4. Allow yourself to be surprised. Don’t wrap up your life so tightly that you miss some amazing detours off your path.

Do you have something else to add to this discussion? If so, I’d love to hear from you!

Values are the kind of thing that are hard to see and know, until you are out of sync with them. For example, I didn’t realize freedom was such an important value for me until I left the corporate world and reveled in the freedom I had to take a shower in the middle of the day if I wanted to. I still get giddy that I can do that! Mid-day showers are nice; having the freedom to make choices that support my being at my best – now that’s essential!

Sometimes we see the importance of values by how we respond to the behaviors of others. Take public or prominent people who talk about the importance of integrity, and then have an affair or engage in behavior they have condoned or lie on the company accounts to make results look better than reality … I don’t just see being out of sync with the espoused value of integrity. I feel sad that these people have created such misery in their lives just because they can’t be honest about what brings them joy! Enjoying the delicious delights of life in ways that are good for me and others – is really, really important to me!

For me, values are those things that are important, meaningful and that enliven me – aspects of being my best. Knowing how my values align with the values of others is critical – for me being at my best and giving my best to others.

In the IAM Follow Your Values lesson we look at how to determine your values ongoing, and how to align with them to create magical synergies within yourself and with others.

What do you know about values that’s useful? What are values and why might they be important to you?

My top strength is Achiever. I know this because I’ve taken the Gallup Strength’s Finder assessment twice. All my strengths changed – either the strength itself or it’s order of appearance – between assessment event number one and two. Except Achiever. It’s number one and doesn’t look like it’s changing.

According to the Gallup folks: “Your relentless need for achievement might not be logical. It might not always be focused. But it will always be with you.” (Now Discover Your Strengths, pg. 83).

Imagine a person like this coaching. Where other people are achieving. What am I ever getting done?!

Thankfully, I have discovered a passion for writing about coaching and topics related to coaching! I love seeing the tangible results of the words on a page (these days, usually a web page).

In the IAM Leverage Your Strengths lesson, we explore how to use your strengths to create sustained levels of engagement – essential to being at your best ongoing.

How do you use your strengths in ways that bring out your best? And we’re not just talking about performance. We’re striving for more. What about using your strengths in ways that are fun and create extraordinary value for others?

Values, strengths and motivations are a part of one of the IAM Maps called the Energy Map™. Originally, motivations were passions, but when we took the Energy Map™ into a corporate client they had a little problem with the word ‘passion.’ I bet you can imagine …

So we changed passions to motivations. Then some of our corporate clients thought we were talking primarily about money (our non-profit clients tended to naturally have a broader focus). Yes, money is nice. But if it’s your only motivation, we end up with excessive greed and ridiculous bonuses like we’re seeing now!

The word ‘motivations’ works well as long as we can think about it broadly. Yes, basic survival needs are motivating, including the need for income. For many people, this level of motivation is not sustainable in the long run; work that does not challenge you to learn or grow or engage your heartfelt passions could be a terrible fate (this is how I feel).

In the IAM Honor Your Motivations lesson, we challenge people to use the chaos and uncertainty around them as an opportunity to seek growth and fulfillment ongoing. Not because we’re terrified. But because it’s really, really fun and because it’s a way to differentiate yourself in the marketplace.

We like to honor the culture of the people and organizations we work with … and so we changed ‘passions’ to ‘motivations’. But maybe the word ‘passions’ might actually inspire more growth and fulfillment?

What are your motivations and/or passions? And how might our different cultures and perspectives inspire deeper levels of passion in each of us?