Marcus Buckingham says that you look at your career or job through 3 lenses:
I absolutely think this is true in many cases. For me, I actually liked what I did working at a large consulting firm. But in my case, the 'why' changed. The chance to be home to watch my son grow up and really influence his life far outweighed both the 'who' and the what. In other words, it was an emotional decision.
Now that I've had some time to settle in, I've assessed happiness with my current situation based on two criteria:
- Why is this important to me?
- Who am I going to be working with?
- What am I going to be doing?
I absolutely think this is true in many cases. For me, I actually liked what I did working at a large consulting firm. But in my case, the 'why' changed. The chance to be home to watch my son grow up and really influence his life far outweighed both the 'who' and the what. In other words, it was an emotional decision.
Now that I've had some time to settle in, I've assessed happiness with my current situation based on two criteria:
- Do I feel as though I am adding value to my clients and to the company?
- Do I feel as though I am valued by my company and my clients?
Adding value- For many people, it can be very easy to get into the trap of working 8 to 5 and collecting that paycheck every period. Let's say you are making $1,000 a week (for simple math purposes). Adding value is looking back at the end of each week and asking yourself what you delivered for $1,000. You can get a lot of stuff for a thousand bucks. And it's safe to say that if you showed up to work, attended meetings without making any real decisions, and filled in idle time by surfing the net-- you probably didn't quite deliver $1,000 worth of work. Another way to ask this question is, 'could this [result] have happened without my effort?' You'll immediately know where you stand if you answer this question honestly.
Being Valued - I did not realize how important this was until I left my old firm. People inherently want to be appreciated, thought of, and respected. As a Sr. Manager in my old firm, I felt like I was truly valued -- well until I left and I realized that it really didn't matter if I left or not -- but that's not the point. The point is 1.) that I felt valued when I was there; and 2.) that I had worked my way up to a certain point where there was a level of respect and appreciation among junior consultants and up through the organization.
Fast forward to where I am now. I rarely get responses to email in a timely manner. Nobody really checks in to see whether my project is a train wreck or not. I'm a manager of people, but the people that I'm 'managing' don't really respect the position. The list goes on.
My opinion is that if you don't feel those two things, it'll be easy to see the glass as 1/2 empty very quickly. And that is a terrible rut to try and get out of. (Much more than being a Sr. Manager for perpetuity).
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