I really believe in what John Miller, author of QBQ! the Question Behind the Question, calls the “believe or leave” philosophy. If we aren’t engaged and committed to what we’re doing it’s time for a change. Perhaps it involves a change in an approach to a job or career. In more extreme cases it means doing something else altogether. However it is critical to be honest about how much the job and not something else is driving discontent; as the adage goes, “wherever you go you’re still there.”
So here is a framework to make a job believe or leave assessment.
Psychiatrist Edward Hallowell in a great Harvard Business Review article provides some thoughtful guidelines. His view is we should spend most of our career/job time intersecting in three spheres:
- What we LIKE to do best.
- What we do best.
- What adds value to the organization.
There is much research that shows the relationship between job fit and personal contentment. To help us take a deeper dive on this Hallowell provides a self assessment set of questions. Examples include:
- What do others say most often are your strengths? (Read my blog on feedback in today’s workplace.)
- What were you doing when you were the happiest in your work life?
- What sort of organization culture brings out the best in you?
Please give yourself some reflective time on this. But whatever you do please don’t sit in the middle of a misery puddle. Believe, by liking what you do and adding value with purpose, or Leave and contribute elsewhere.
Live the Triangle,
Lorne