11 June Place Yourself in the Right Organization (...belong...)

[Paul Terlemezian]

Several years ago I read that the people who were happiest in their careers at age 35 were oftentimes doing something that related to what made them happy when they were at age seven.

 

I also recall my daughter excitedly commenting shortly after her 7th birthday that "Being seven was really cool."

 

Think about it - you can read and write - go to the zoo, take naps, eat snacks and play. You recognize how much more you can do than "little kids" and you can begin to understand all the neat things that "big kids" do that you will be doing soon as well. It does seem really cool - and someone else pays all the bills! You are too young to worry about a car, job or peer pressure. Wow!

 

And then we do start to worry about those things and by the time we are in the workforce - we have conformed - and life may no longer seem to be "really cool."

 

What does it take to change our lives and our work so that it can be "really cool." Does our work reflect our values? (You may wish to review the 10 June discussion.)

 

Do we allow our trainees to learn the way they want to learn? Do well tell them how they will learn?

 

Where do you belong as a learner? How important is learning to your career? How important is learning to your success on the job? What would you do if your employer did not allow you to learn in a manner that suits your preferred way of learning?