The Enlightened Manager

Finding the Joy in Work

Hello Enlightened Leaders.

I write to you tonight (Sunday) from my living room.  There is a cup of hot British tea next to my feet, carelessly propped up on my coffee table.  It is pitch black outside the windows, and the lamp behind me is casting shadows on the floor where one of my tabby cats is napping.  It's been a nice couple days.  I spent most of this weekend laughing and swapping stories with a group of girlfriends while my hubby went camping.  He's home now, asleep, and I've just spent the last hour writing.  Don't you just love it when the words just flow from your fingertips?

I've been thinking tonight about this old saying that my Dad used to bring up now and again.  "Do the work you love and you'll never work a day in your life."  This is partially true.  I do love my work, but that doesn't change the fact that some days feel tedious.  And even when I worked a job I hated, there were always the positive aspects of it.

So I think that there is always the potential for joy in work and life.  When we ask ourselves "what makes me happy here?" or "what are the most joyful parts of this?" we are giving ourselves permission to pay attention to the things that lift us up.

We all know there are going to be crappy days right?  It's a given.  But we don't need to focus on them, and give them more power than they deserve.

So I've been trying to apply this principle of joyfulness to my life, and so far it's created some real surprises for me.

I've been 35 pounds overweight for some time now, but looking at exercise as a "chore" or a "should do" has put me on a roller coaster of weight fluctuations.  So I've begun asking myself what joy I can find in taking care of myself, and I have found some workouts that make me happy, and for the first time exercise feels like anything *but* a chore.  Focusing on the scale has brought me nothing but stress, but focusing on fun has helped me exercise consistently. 

I've been trying to write a book for years, and suddenly I've found myself more productive than ever.  I've stopped worrying about word counts and deadlines.  Now I'm finding several new outlets for my writing, focusing on "what I'm excited to share"  rather than creating this arbitrary outcome - a book.  Who knows?  Perhaps a book or two will come out of it.  But I'm no longer forcing it.  And I'm writing more.

I'm one of those type A overachiever people.  Are you?  I think what I'm discovering is that taking my dreams and turning them into a kind of mountain to climb can sometimes be unproductive.  Some things work best as a kind of inspired play.  Find the fun, and see things change for the better.

So what is the joy in your work and life?  I hope you'll take some time to discover it.  And let me know how it works out for you.

Enjoy your day! :)

Event: Go Put Your Strengths To Work

Today I had the opportunity to meet Marcus Buckingham and listen to him speak about his new book Go Put Your Strengths To Work, which is about harnessing your strengths in the workplace.  Marcus was an engaging speaker and an appreciative guest.  I was volunteering at the event as part of the Pacific Northwest Organizational Development Network, and before his talk began he came down to shake hands and thank the volunteers for helping out with the event.  A nice guy, if you haven't had the chance to meet him.  I'll be reading his book this week.  It includes a free strengths assessment using his SET personal development tool.

Because I operate from a strengths-based consulting approach, I was very interested to hear him talk about the fact that organizations are even less likely to focus on strengths than they were seven years ago.  Note, this fact ignores overwhelming evidence that strengths are a key leverage point for organizational success.

Buckingham referenced a study reviewed in the Journal of Applied Psychology four years ago.  This study demonstrated that work teams that focus on strengths outperform teams that don't - and in several areas.  Productivity, profitability, and customer satisfaction ALL increase when teams are connected to strengths.  Focusing on fixing "problems" simply doesn't have the same effect.  And yet overwhelmingly, companies choose to focus on problems.

Are you interested in moving your organization or team from a problem-focus to a strengths-focus?  For many, this requires not just a shift in practice but a significant shift in perception.  Reading the book is one way to begin to change your perception.  Looking into Appreciative Inquiry is another.

I'm an "Appreciative Inquiry Consultant" because I believe that it is a relatively rapid way to mobilize an organization around it's strengths in a way that is motivating and easy to implement.  As much as I know Appreciative Inquiry works, it always still amazes me the rapid transformation that can happen through the simple process of asking different questions. 

If you are interested in the empirical evidence that supports the "Strengths Movement" I encourage you to check out the following links:

The Appreciative Basis of Organizing - This information is pretty dense, but it gives the theoretical underpinnings of "why Appreciative Inquiry works"
Appreciative Inquiry and Culture Change at GTE - A case study of AI in action. (PDF)

One of the "perks" of using AI in your organization is the fact that it is largely employee-driven, that is it is your own staff that is doing the majority of the heavy lifting.  This builds skills and accountability.  If you're interested in learning more about how you can bring strength based approaches to your organization, let's talk about it.