Posted on March 25, 2013 by Cynthia Pladziewicz

Career Advice from Maya Angelou

 

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Maya Angelou inspires me to be a kinder and better person. Turns out she would also make a great career advisor. I recently came across this quote:

You can only become accomplished at something you love. Don't make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can't take their eyes off of you.

Finding the things you love doing is not always easy. Sometimes career unrest arises from doing work you do not love and there is no cure short of moving on. For many of my clients though, the cure for career malaise can be as simple as learning (or just remembering) who you really are so that you can figure out how to love the job you're with. By knowing your natural strengths and talents, noticing when you are most happy, and taking steps to spend more time in areas that leverage you at your best, you may be able to turn the job you loathe into the job you love.  

Not sure where to start? Take the Clifton Strengthsfinder ($9.95) and the Values in Action Inventory (free) to learn more about your strengths (the things you do well and love doing). And then look for ways to exercise those gifts in your work each day. 

 

 

 

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Cynthia Pladziewicz

Lawyers, the Good Life and Work: What Really Matters in 2013

Positivity SS 17943949.jpgLast week a young attorney I coach asked why I left the practice of law to pursue a career in psychology and professional development. The answers to such questions are never simple.  A lawyer friend died suddenly. I realized that life is short and offers no guarantees. I started thinking about what made me happy. When I put it all together, I was not a happy lawyer and it seemed unlikely this would change.  

I had what many would consider a great practice as a partner with an AmLaw 200 firm. I worked with good smart people. I had plenty of clients with good work. But ultimately, to be a happy lawyer and a strong lawyer, I believe you must love practicing law. Although many of my partners did, I did not.  

Where does happiness and well being come from?  A few years ago, I had the good fortune to participate in Dr. Martin Seligman's Authentic Happiness coach training program. In his latest book, Flourishing, Seligman, a Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and former President of the American Psychological Association, proposes that the good life, one in which individuals and the planet flourish, is one in which "well being" is maximized.  Well being is comprised of five elements (known by the acronym PERMA):

  1. Positive Emotions:  Simply put, good feelings.  For example,feeling joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, awe or love. In the moment as you work, how often do you feel these feelings? As a lawyer, I did not feel these enough. My former law partner Emily Parker often talks about the fun she has practicing law and how important it is to keep that in a firm's culture. 
  2. Engagement:  Becoming so immersed in an activity that you lose time and are in "flow." When I started reading books on psychology and human behavior, I lost time.  I found myself reading dense texts for fun in a way that I  had never experienced with law books.  To this day when I coach my clients or lead a retreat, the time seems to fly by. By contrast, one of my lawyer friends became totally immersed arguing about the law when on vacation with her lawyer boyfriend. That told me I was in the wrong space. What parts of your practice put you in flow?  How can you get more of that in 2013? 
  3. Meaning:  Contributing your gifts and strengths to something bigger than you.  As a young lawyer I took a pro bono case.  I found that I was much more interested in helping my client at an emotional and motivational level than I was in her legal issues. Being her lawyer, did not bring me satisfaction even though I thought it should. I contrast that with the great pleasure some of my lawyer colleagues find in righting a wrong for pro bono clients. For example Jones Day partner Sally Crawford takes joy and pride in being known as the "queen of pro bono." Over her career, Sally has devoted countless hours to serving pro bono clients and derived great satisfaction from this work. 
  4. Relationships: Satisfying relationships with others. Positive relationships with colleagues and clients kept me in law for ten years. To this day, my best friends are the lawyers and clients I met in those early years. If you are working with great people, you know the importance of what I'm talking about. If not, how can you change that? How do you make time for positive relationships with colleagues, clients, friends and family?
  5. Accomplishment: Humans have a drive to accomplish.  Of course accomplishment comes in many forms. For me, accomplishment is about helping others succeed and mastering new skills.  It just makes me feel great. Lawyers who love their work take joy in accomplishment on behalf of their firms and clients and love meeting new challenges.

A final word about well being and happiness. A strong body of research demonstrates that people who maximize PERMA in their lives, are healthier, happier and more successful. As you set your work goals for 2013, how will you create a life of happiness and well being?  

Posted on September 01, 2012 by Cynthia Pladziewicz

Clifton Strengthsfinder: Now Online and All 34 Strengths Available

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I'm a fan of the Clifton Strengthsfinder assessment from Gallup. If you have not taken the Clifton Strengthfinder to learn your top 5 strengths, I highly recommend that you do so.  

Until recently, it cost upwards of $400 to purchase your full profile of all 34 strengths in order.  To take the assessment and know only your top 5 strengths, you had to purchase a book and obtain a one-time-use assessment code.  Gallup recently changed its policy to make 2 important changes:

  1. You can now take the assessment online for $9.99 (the Strengths Discovery Package) without purchasing a book.
  2. You can choose to get all 34 of your strengths listed in order (not just the top 5) for $89 (the Strengths Development Package). You no longer need to purchase the coaching package that makes the cost prohibitive for many.  

Should you use these options? 

  1. Online versus book purchase.  I like having the books and think it's worth the cost. But for ease of use the online option is great.  My clients are busy and sometimes impatient for action. I think they will like this option. Used editions of the Gallup books with codes "harvested" by a purchaser who just wanted to take the assessment are generally available inexpensively through Amazon and other vendors.  Understand that these used books typcially don't have an assessment code. That's why they are so inexpensive.
  2. Top 5 for $9.99 versus all 34 for $89.  Unless you are a strengths wonk like me, I recommend sticking with your top 5 for $9.99.  From my perspective, that's 90% of the value of the assessment for 11% of the cost of the full 34.  You can and should spend a lot of time developing the top 5 before you even start to worry about the remainder.  The whole point is to focus on strengths.  Those at the bottom of your list are "non-strengths," exactly where you should not be focusing. If you do buy access to all 34, remember the key is to invest your efforts in developing your top strengths. 

Whichever option you choose, take this assessment and use the ideas for action contained in the report. It's a great way to leverage your strengths in your work and in your life.