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Aggressively Written Resumes
When writing resumes, it is important to remember whom it is
you're trying to please - (is it you, or the hiring authority?)
In this article I will present my ideas of what makes up really
aggressive documents, based on my many years in the...
Airline Dispatcher Job Sites
In several related articles I made mention of finding work as a
flight coordinator, as a flight attendant, or as a pilot. Each
specialty, as you can imagine, has its own requirements, hence
the job sites that feature these types of opportunities...
From Hi-Touch to Hi Tec: The use of technology in Career Development
Recent years have seen significant changes in the way career development support is delivered. Many of these adjustments have to do with advances in technology but closely linked is a major change in the human aspect of career coaching.
So what's...
How to Give Yourself a Raise with an Online College Degree
If you look around you, it doesn't take long before you can begin to notice others around you engaging in some kind of self improvement activity. If we want to look younger, we diet. If we want to feel younger, we exercise. To add culture to our...
Zudora.com Launches IT Job Search Engine Indexing Over 20,000 New IT Jobs Per Day
Zudora allows job seekers to search IT jobs across the web, with unprecedented levels of ease, accuracy and relevancy (PRWEB) March 9, 2005 -- New IT job search allows job seekers to search all major IT related job web sites in the USA with one...
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Get Beyond Your Tasks
Ever hear the story of the two masons working side by side at a building site? They're doing the same work under pretty much the same conditions. Then, one day a stranger comes along, approaches one of the men and asks him, "What are you doing?" "I don't know and I don't care," replies the man, his voice brimming with irritation. All I do is slap this crummy mortar on these crummy bricks and pile them up in a crummy line. That's what I'm doing."
The stranger returns to the building site the next day. This time he approaches the second man, asking him the same question. "Tell me," he said, "what are you doing?" Smiling at the stranger, the man proudly replies, "Why, I'm helping to build the new cathedral."
I don't know about you, but in my twenty years in management I met plenty of people like the first mason. People doing what they were told to do, without a greater context or purpose. People focused on what they were doing, not why they were doing it. People who clearly didn't like their job, and clearly weren't winning at working.
When you define the purpose for your work, you create a vision behind the tasks, and that vision changes results. Think about it. What are you helping to build in your workplace? Why does your work matter? Before you say it doesn't, think again. You have an important role or you wouldn't be paid to do it. Of course, it's unlikely you'll find the purpose outlined in your job description. You see, defining your purpose is not about the tasks you do. It's about the reason for the tasks.
So if you're an employment specialist in Human Resources,
your purpose is not to hire people. That's a task. The reason behind the task might be to increase your company's competitive edge with exceptional people. If you're a web designer, your job is not to build websites. That's a task. Your purpose is in the why of it. Maybe it's to build the corporate brand or make life easier for your customers. Look beyond your title.
In one of my jobs, my purpose was to help the company develop a winning culture; in another it was to help build trust in the corporate brand so new customers would give us a try. My job title would never have told you about either.
But here's a secret. People who are winning at working don't wait for someone else, like their boss, to define their work's purpose. They figure it out. They define it. They create a vision for themselves.
People who are winning at working can articulate how the work they do supports their organization's vision, values, goals and objectives. They're not satisfied doing tasks like the first mason. They're like the second. They want to understand and contribute to the whole. They want to know that what they do at work matters. Want to be winning at working? Define your work's purpose. And get beyond your tasks.
(c) 2005 Nan S. Russell. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Sign up to receive Nan's free eColumn, Winning at Working, at http://www.winningatworking.com. Nan Russell has spent over twenty years in management, most recently with QVC as a Vice President. Currently working on her first book, Nan is a writer, columnist, small business owner, and instructor.
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