Today we have another guest posting. This time from Alexis Bonari who describes hereself as ” a freelance writer and blog junkie”. She is currently a resident education blogger and performs research surrounding http://www.collegescholarships.org. In her spare time, she enjoys “square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop”.  Alexis was stimulated by what we had to say about motivated skills and contacted us with her views on the importance of having a diverse skills set. This is what she has to say:

“As today’s employment choices continue to decrease due to the condition of the economy and lack of jobs, it’s more important than ever to have a diverse skill set as opposed to just one or two specific areas of expertise. Having a diverse skill set helps a person adapt to the constantly changing market and as many companies continue to scale down, full time employees are being replaced by part time and flexible staff, making the “portfolio worker” more desirable than ever.

Leadership

Although companies don’t want too many cooks in the kitchen, it’s paramount to have leadership skills when job hunting. This gives the employer someone to fall back and a sense of security in case they are needed elsewhere or just want a break. Hiring a dependable second or third in command takes precedence over the average Joe when hiring any day.

The Self Directed Employee

There is nothing more frustrating than someone who needs constant direction which wastes not only their superiors time, but the companies time as well. Today’s cream of the crop employees are self directed, easily taught, flexible and don’t need a lot of hand holding. These are key qualities that your resume should reflect. But be cautious when working up your resume, just because you’ve had a dozen jobs, doesn’t make you more desirable than someone who’s has only had one or two. There’s a fine line between a job jumper and a baby boomer who has held the same position for thirty years.

Being Well-Rounded

Qualifications can be met through other areas as well. The military, teaching classes as a group leader in your church or community or being involved in charity work. Extracurricular activities are important and show that you can balance work and home life, which is a great asset to an employer.”

In addition to her sound advice on having diverse skills aren’t you just dying to know what ’square foot gardening’ is?

Ahh how to find the Holy Grail…..Mike Pegg as ever offers some great thoughts and practical solutions.

We posted a video last work from Philip Zimbardo on the secret powers of time and commented on the highly original presentation put together by RSAnimate. Today we are posting another one of their superb presentations – this time to accompany Daniel Pink who is again discussing his new book Drive. We are indebted to our good friend Bruce Lynn who brought this to our attention. Those of you who have not read the book really should see what Dan has to say about motivation.

In our book we emphasise the importance of knowing your values and your motivated skills. These are both of course related to meaning and I was fascinated to come across this 1972 clip of Victor Frankl with a barnstorming display on why the search for meaning is central to each of us.

Dan Pink has just had his latest book, Drive, published in the US. You may be familiar with his previous 2 ground breaking books, A Whole New Mind and Free Agent Nation. His work is always highly stimulating and readable. This is an interview with him discussing his new book.

I came across this posting from Janet Cranford in the US and liked it so much I asked her if we could use it as a guest posting to which she has agreed. Her site is well worth looking at as she is an experienced Career and Life Transition Coach focusing on the over 50’s which as you know is my other abiding passion.

“I recently saw the movie, Julie and Julia. In the movie, Julia Child has no idea what she wants to do, after being relocated to Paris with her husband. She finally realizes the one thing she likes is food and decides to explore her interest through cooking lessons.  As she makes a commitment to her new path, opportunities start to arise. Things don’t always happen quickly or smoothly, but it’s clear she’s found her calling. Even when an instructor tells her she’ll never be a good chef, she remains determined to make it work. She might not have discovered her passion if she hadn’t allowed herself to follow her love for French food where it led.

The key to any successful career change is to know what you want.

By the time you reach 40 or 50, you may have lost touch with yourself. You may not even know what you like or dislike. This can happen over a lifetime of: (1) trying to please others, (2) submerging yourself in jobs that aren’t a good fit, and… (3) forgetting how to listen to your own heart. I’m familiar with all three.

What I finally discovered (much to my relief) is that finding your passion is a process. Most people do not have this wonderful epiphany that reveals to them their one true passion or purpose in life. It’s more a matter of growing or evolving into it, kind of like The Velveteen Rabbit. The secret is to follow those little inklings, those interests, however insignificant they seem.

Curiosity can be a great roadmap to finding your passion.

Here are ten things you can do to get back in touch with what you want:

1. Try The Artist’s Way. You don’t have to be an artist to benefit from this 12-week program, which includes setting weekly “dates” with yourself to help you find inspiration and experience life more directly again.

2. Spend a few hours in a bookstore. Which sections do you gravitate toward? Which books attract you? I find when I enter a bookstore with the intention of finding answers to something I’m struggling with, I’m often “magically” drawn to exactly what I need.

3. Unplug. Turn off the TV, the iPod, the internet. Learn to listen to your inner voice again. Getting away from all those other voices helps me reconnect with my own.

4. Follow your heart. Carol McClelland, founder of Green Career Central and author of Your Dream Career For Dummies, and the new Green Careers For Dummies, suggests we may need to reconnect with what we like and don’t like. Learn what your heart is telling you by paying attention to the physical sensations you feel when you’re either attracted to or repelled by something.

5. Start something, anything. As you get on the path toward discovering what you want, opportunities have a way of developing. People start to show up. Commit to something and start it. When you choose something, you avoid the trap of having too many options paralyze you and keep you from moving forward.

6. Brainstorm. What do you spend time enjoying and doing? Suspend all judgment here. Just let yourself list ideas. What do you collect, what books are on your shelves?

7. Experiment with your small inklings. It’s tempting to dismiss an idea as unrealistic, but before you do, give it a chance and try it out. Sometimes you may not be aware of an interest until you actually do it. Your greatest talent or strength could be something you take for granted or don’t think of as a potential career worth pursuing.

8. Trust! That your heart and intuition already know the answers and already know what you want. Allow yourself some time! And remember – Julia Child and you aren’t the only late bloomers.

9. Keep looking, keep moving. Get out there and meet people. Take a class in whatever interests you. Treat this as a journey, following the tracks where they lead.

10. Be open. To possibilities, new roads, new opportunities. Be patient with yourself. Instead of trying to analyze or think it through like a puzzle, try taking one action today. Once again, the answers are not going to be found in your head. Look to your heart and your intuition.

As you start to follow your inklings, keep in mind when finding your passion that no one can tell you what to do. For your career to be authentic, it has to come from you.

What inkling will you follow today?”

We make a huge play in our book about the importance of feeling passionate about the work that one does. We also talk about the fact that more and more people say to us that it is increasingly difficult to find one job that enables them to use all of their motivated skills and which taps into their passions. So it was with interest that we came across an international survey which attempted to find out just how many employees do feel passionate about their jobs. The Kenexa Institute conducts an annual survey into this topic. Unfortunately I have found it impossible to find out the detail of how the data was collected as I am somewhat surprised at the figures but their conclusions are still quite interesting.

They define having passion for one’s job  by the extent to which employees are excited about their work, feel a sense of personal accomplishment, are extremely satisfied with their organisation, believe they have a future at their organisation, and rarely think about finding a new job.

The latest results indicate that 53% of employees in the United Kingdom feel passionate about their jobs, compared to the global rating of 56%. Employees in India (72%), Brazil (63%), Canada (60%), and the United States and Germany (59%) report the most passion followed by those in Saudi Arabia and Russia (58%). Workers in Japan (41%) are the least likely to feel passionate.

Employees in the United Kingdom report that they are passionate about their jobs when their skills and abilities are put to good use; they have an opportunity for development; they can meet career objectives and still devote time to personal obligations; they have confidence in the company’s future; and they are recognised for their work.

The intensity to which employees are passionate about their jobs varies among different jobs types. In the United Kingdom, senior/middle managers (60%) report the most passion for their jobs followed by professional/technical workers (58%), supervisors (53%), clerical workers (50%) and salespeople (47%). Service and production workers (43%) report the least amount of passion.

In the United Kingdom, having passion for one’s job also varies notably across industries. Workers in the hi-tech industry (56%) are the most passionate, followed by those in the healthcare services (55%), financial (51%), government (50%) and retail (46%) industries. Those in manufacturing (45%) report the lowest levels of passion.

So how do you compare?

I was recently contacted by Bill Vicks who is a portfolio worker and amongst other things has a site called BoomersNext Step.com.  Bill interviewed me about the work that Mike and I have been doing relating to the over 50’s and it kind of moved over into the work that I have and currently am doing with Katie Ledger on portfolio careers. I do apologise for the length but as Bill put it I am a recovering academic! So be glad I did not talk for 50 minutes without stopping. This is only 19 minutes so would just have qualified as a TED talk……

This gets syndicated to a multitude of sites in the US.

Anyway if you are really bored do have a look.

We were delighted to get Hugh’s permission to use a dozen or so of his drawings in our book and we still enjoy seeing his new ones which is why we have a widget on this site which changes weekly with his latest contribution. I had not seen this one before so reproduce it as clearly it is central to why we wrote our book and to everything that we believe in. If you have not looked at his website do so.

This is an extraodinary video that I came across about a dog that was allowed to play to his strengths.

This video is a gift you can give yourself and everyone you know who needs to believe in unlimited possibilities in the face of daunting challenges. It shows the story of a golden retriever service dog named Richochet and his master, a quadriplegic surfer named Patrick. Keep the tissues close at hand.  I came across it on Nancy Juetten’s site.