Seth has his finger on the pulse and always manages to be one step ahead of the mainstream. Whenever you read one of Seth’s posts or books you gain new insights and feel it was time well spent. Unfortunately, those who really need to be reading and up to speed with the subject matter that Seth writes about prefer to keep their heads in the sand, to the detriment of themselves and their employers. Those who tap into his research, thoughts and ideas are certainly the better for it. When it comes to HR, Recruitment and Marketing professionals, being across what Seth has to share is a must. Likewise, his books and blog are a valuable resource for all of us in our careers – particularly those looking to challenge themselves and achieve greatness.

Back to Fiona’s article that promoted this post. Fiona did a review on his latest book Linchpin, focusing on a couple of the key subjects covered in the book – risk taking and fear. Her article “How fear stops us from achieving” is focused very much on the world of work and how fear stops us from taking risks in our careers. The end result is that we don’t get where we want to on a professional level. Perhaps this could account for why so many of us don’t feel engaged or satisfied with our careers. The obvious is quoted, that the world of work has changed – no more chain of command. We have fluid and flexible work now with new jobs being created all the time. Today’s workers are operating in a world where brains, creativity, problem solving and calculated risk-taking are increasingly being rewarded. Subservience and following instructions to the tee won’t get you as far as they did in the past. As Seth so rightly states “more people are unemployed today because they followed instructions.” This is fairly major and many of us are still getting our heads around what this means and how we adapt our approach to this new world of work to remain relevant.

Seth goes on to explain fear – pointing out that “we evolved to survive because we are full of fear” and that we need to conquer our fears if we want to get ahead in our careers. What we perceive as the ‘safe’ approach in our careers is probably the most dangerous of all.

By coincidence, after just having read the article by Fiona, I picked up and flicked through the book by Dr. Suess ‘Oh, The Places You’ll Go!’ that was given to our recently born son. What struck me about the article ‘How fear stops us from achieving’ and this Dr. Seuss book was that we start life with so much potential. We are fearless and have big dreams. Our parents have big dreams for us and we ourselves believe that anything is possible when we are young. However, as we age we take fewer risks, we let fear rule our lives and can often settle for the status quo. So where do things go awry?

As Dr. Seuss writes in this inspirational book -

“You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where you go.”

At what point do we let others decide our fate? When do we forget that we are the ones who decide where we go?

Dr. Suess goes on to talk about “The Waiting Place … for people just waiting.” A place where it seems many of us are stuck in our careers. Not satisfied where we are; however, not willing to take the risk to make a change, to try something new. So we remain where we are, going through the motions at work. Dr. Suess continues in the book “And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.” The book takes you on the journey of the ups and downs, overcoming fears, enforcing that we will succeed despite the challenges we will face.

FInally, Dr. Seuss ends with “Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So … get on your way.” Some of the best career advice I think you will find!

For professional complimentary career resources, articles and guides we invite you to visit our six figure Job Seekers Articles and Guides.

In his post ‘Raises *do* matter’ it is clearly not as black and white situation as perhaps it once was – pay them more and they will work harder. Pink highlights that employees will not succumb to childish practices such as “If-then” rewards — “If you do something great, then you’ll get a raise”, which he views as being dangerous.

Pink is an advocate of paying people well and ensuring there is a certain amount of equitability amongst employees for similar roles to keep people motivated. However, I would suggest that for some roles, such as sales, an incentive or bonus scheme can be very effective (i.e. the carrot and stick approach). This may not translate well into all professions and so requires us to look at the topic of incentives on a profession (and potentially individual) case by case basis. Pink concludes his post with “The best use of money is to take the issue of money off the table . . . Effective organizations compensate people in amounts and in ways that allow individuals to mostly forget about compensation and instead focus on the work itself.” No doubt there is some truth in this but in reality we all have bills to pay; have career, educational and financial ambitions; etc which means that remuneration is never too far from our thoughts and can be a good motivator.

Share your views on the topic – are you motivated by salary increases and/or other incentives at work?

Just when you thought everything had been said and done before, you wake up from your corporate lull when you read this wonderfully engaging and inspiring book by MacKenzie. A short book, Orbiting the Giant Hairball follows the career and life of Gordon MacKenzie who spent 30 years of his career working for Hallmark Cards and was a Maverick in too manyways to list.

With so many business books (some brilliant, many repetitious) it was just delightful to read this unique book where MacKenzie offers a refreshing insight into corporate life and how we can all perhaps let loose a little and unleash the creative genius that is within us all. “MacKenzie teaches how to emerge from the giant hair ball – that tangled, impenetrable mass of rules, systems, based on what worked in the past and which can lead to mediocrity in the present.” Most importantly he shows us we can benefit as employees and as individuals in achieving a more satisfying work life, through engaging more creatively at work and taking a few risks!

The entire book is brilliant however I have selected a piece that I think many of us who have worked in larger organizations have or are experiencing.   “But if you are hypnotized by an organization’s culture, you become separated from your personal magic and cannot tap it to help achieve the goals of the organizations. In losing connection with your one of a kind magic, you are reduced to nothing more than part of a headcount.” Perhaps this is the reason why so many of us are unsatisfied with our work and why so many are looking to leave their jobs when the economy bounces back.

The book will appeal to anyone who is perhaps feeling a little uninterested at work and who is looking for a lifeline to re-charge themselves, their staff and even their organization. Regardless of your profession, this is a book that will have a wide appeal and hopefully be the catalyst for some changes in your work life.

If I have not convinced you to loan or purchase this book, Fastcompany magazine also has a great article on the book “How Is Your Company Like a Giant Hairball?”

The article chronicles the rapid growth of degree qualified people in America however this has been concentrated in specific regions. “Increasingly, the most talented and ambitious people need to live in the means metros in order to realize their full economic value. The physical proximity of talented, highly educated people has a powerful effect on innovation and economic growth.” When you step back and look at it this makes sense. Across the globe you see cities and regions that are hotbeds of talent and success, whilst others don’t even register on the radar.

The research then goes on to look at the impact of migration on different regions and ultimately the differing affects this has on growth, education and wealth. Migration and this “geographic sorting of people by economic potential” is what Florida terms as means migration. Which it appears plays a fundamental role in our economic prospects as workers.

This is a great read and thought provoking article that explores demographics and economics and the significant role they play in innovation, our careers and our incomes. You may want to consider moving after reading it!

This article is excerpted from Florida’s recent book Who’s Your City? How the Creative Economy Is Making Where You Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life.

The book goes against much conventional training and development theory that suggests we should be focusing time, effort and money on developing our weaknesses. Buckingham and Clifton paint a compelling and logical case for identifying where you excel, the key areas that you excel in and enjoy, and then building upon and developing these strengths to a superior level. The message here is forget your weaknesses, as even if you work on them you will only ever be average.

It is inspirational, practical and instructional. The book cites examples of inspirational people who have built their success around the same philosophy, including Warren Buffet who “identified his strongest threads, wove in education and experience, and built them into the dominating strengths we see today.” He also does was he loves – passion is a key ingredient.

According to Buckingham and Clifton the three themes mentioned below combine to create your strengths:

1. Talents are your naturally recurring patterns of thought, feeling or behaviour. Your various themes of talent are what the StrengthsFinder Profile actually measures
2. Knowledge consists of the facts and lessons learned
3. Skills are the steps of an activity

The StrengthsFinder profile tool helps you to identify your dominant talents; the authors are very conscious of not attempting to label you. The tool is designed to reveal your 5 strongest themes of talent, with the view then that by highlighting your key areas of talent with the greatest potential you can develop these into world class strengths.

Below is a list of the Thirty-Four Themes of StrengthsFinder:

‘Now Discover Your Strengths’ is a recommended read and tool for anyone who wants to get more out of their career, both in terms of the opportunity to excel as well as the chance to experience career satisfaction. Using your talents and feeling good about the work we do is possible but – as demonstrated in this book and by other successful individuals – it requires a great deal of effort on your part. However, the upside of this effort is that the rewards are there also!