The Keys to Success: Performance, Image, Exposure

 Take a moment and ask yourself what matters most to your career advancement. What percentage value would you place on each part of the P.I.E. – performance, image, and exposure. When I did this activity at a recent conference, I said that for me personally, 60% was performance, 30% image, and 10% exposure. This is what has been true of my career advancement thus far. I have worked really hard and a few people have taken notice. I have been aware of my image, always dressing for the job I want, not the one I have. Admittedly, I’ve been a bit oblivious to the exposure factor.

The speaker at the conference challenged the audience to think of what matters most in pretty much the exact opposite manner. She said that 60% should be exposure, 30% image, and 10% performance. Essentially, the performance part is assumed. The rest is what matters most. I can 100% see that this is how the work world operates. In fact, I went out the next weekend and bought some more suits and scheduled a lunch with a mover and shaker.

But doesn’t the Bible say to work as unto the Lord – to work with the strength that God supplies (clearly valuing the performance part). Don’t we learn that whoever exalts himself will be abased. Aren’t we to humble ourselves in sight of the Lord and He will lift us up?

I know that we are not meant to be doormats in the workplace. I get that. But the idea of self promotion seems suspicious. Won’t the Lord ‘cut off the tongue that speaks proud things.’ Or is it not self-promotion if someone else is doing the promoting for us?

I get that the P.I.E. thing is reality. We need a good image; we need to be in front of the right people. We need people who will advocate for us. And I don’t see that this is unbiblical. I guess I’m struggling with how we get there in a biblical way. What are some of the integrity-leaching pitfalls to be avoided? Is career advancement the wrong goal? I doubt it. We are designed to have a vision and passions that mean that we will grow in our careers. Am I over thinking this and it just is what it is?

Any thoughts out there in the blogosphere?

Why Do You Work?

“We work in our day job in order to make money to support our vocation.”

These are the words I heard recently in a sermon about work.

“I’m thinking about quitting my job so I can go into ministry and do the Lord’s work.”

These are the words I heard recently from a participant in one of my small groups.

“It seems like your real passion, Michele, is the issue of faith and work and what you are doing here working in marketing is just a job.”

These are the words I heard recently from one of my coworkers.

These three statements have a common flaw. They assume that our daily work, be it hammering nails into a wall, conducting a science experiment, writing ad copy, is not an essential element of our call to be like Christ. Our daily work is a reflection of the very nature of the Almighty God. In Genesis 1, God created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning of Genesis, we also learn that God created us in His image.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

 So God created man in his own image, 
in the image of God he created him; 
male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”  Gen. 1: 26-28

The works of our hands, the very nature of work itself, reflects the call on humanity to care for and rule over the earth. Work does not pull you away from sacred activities like mission trips, Bible studies, and evangelism. Work itself is sacred. Work itself is noble. You are not a cog in a wheel. You are an essential element of the story God is telling. A story that brings dignity to your life. A story that gives your life meaning.  

You may be thinking, “But my work does not feel very noble. I’m unmotivated, bored, and just plain tired.” Have you checked your heart lately? Are you working as unto the Lord? Or are you just viewing your job as a way to pay the bills? Be honest. Passion and desire will be ignited as you begin to connect your faith and your work. It’s no longer about you. It’s not even about the specific tasks you are doing. It’s about that bigger story. It’s about a broader calling on your life. 

If you hate what you are doing for work right now, maybe, just maybe, God has you where you are for a reason. Maybe you are learning a lesson or learning what you don’t love to do so you can better recognize your heart’s desire when you see it. Or maybe you really are not where you are supposed to be because you took your job for the wrong reason (like to impress others).  It’s not too late to begin considering your place in the larger story.

The bottom line is that the work you are doing right now matters to God. Stop thinking about what counts as “Godly activities” and realize that we don’t need to compartmentalize Godly and secular activities. Every activity is an opportunity to be Christ in the world.

Response to BusinessWeek Blog on Rediscovering Work

Pat Lencioni, author of such bestselling books as The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and Death by Meeting, recently wrote a guest blog for BusinessWeek entitled Rediscovering Work. In his post, he suggests that we might be moving back down Maslow’s pyramid, away from “the importance of finding deep meaning and fulfillment in a job.” He points out, and I agree, that one positive thing coming out of this current crisis might be people finding “a new appreciation for the simple gift that is work.” I was reading recently that after the Great Depression, people were so relieved to have a job that they placed a high value on work itself. No longer was work seen as a curse; it was a blessing. If this is an outcome of this crisis, I will be thrilled.

His blog post pointed out that people who never landed their dream job will feel better about themselves now by just having a job at all. Even people who did land that dream job and found it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be “can find a little relief and reset their expectations.”

While Lencioni’s post had some interesting insight, I was left wanting. Wanting to know: what are the eternal truths about work that weather any storm? Climbing Maslow’s hierarchy seems a little too simple of an explanation for what’s going on here. Were self fulfillment and fulfilling potential really what was driving people these past 20 years as Lencioni suggests? Or was it something deeper.

As a Christian, I am certain that it has to be something more.

When I read in Jeremiah 29:11 that God has a plan for me and in Psalm 139 that He created my inner most being, my inspiration does not come from a sense of wanting more personal fulfillment. I begin to see work as worship. It’s not about my potential, it’s about what I was created to do and be. It’s eternal.

Maybe the problem is that people are seeking to find identity in their work instead of understanding their vocation. So often, we create a mission statement or envision something special we will be doing with our lives 10 years down the road, and we think that success is tied to a certain job title.

Take me, for example, several years ago, I applied for a job at the Center for Life Calling and Leadership at Indiana Wesleyan University. It was shortly after I had been inspired by my mission to “unleash the dreams of others.” Job title: Lead Life Coach. In a million years, I would not have imagined a more perfect job title. It seemed so meant to be that I was willing to move from San Diego to a tiny town in Indiana. I had the phone interview and they declared that of the hundreds of applicants, they wanted me. They would fly me out for an interview, but it was “just a formality.” (I should write another job post about not counting your chickens until they are hatched!) Long story short, they met me, and I was not the relational personality they had been expecting. The introvert in me shone bright that day.

So what did I do? Well, I started looking for opportunities to fulfill my mission in unconventional ways. I became a better manager. I started volunteer keynote speaking. I counseled people one on one. Heck, I even bought the stepson who wanted to be a vet a beagle and the stepson who wanted to be a pilot flying lessons! My dream did not die. My passion was not tied to my job title. It was tied to my inner most being.

So I do hope Pat’s right and that people do rediscover work amidst this crisis. Actually, maybe what I’m hoping for is a transformation on how we view work. On how we view purpose. And on how we view God.

Right in Front of You

For my friends who are fortunate to have a job right now, I’m going to suggest that there are opportunities right in front of you to do more of what you love and less of what you hate – now more than ever.

In this economy, companies in every industry are thinking about how they can do things differently. Many of them are limiting their new hires for the time being. And as people leave, there are holes.

What is left is an opportunity to redefine your entire job.

First, you need to determine what types of activities you love and which you could live without ever doing again. Spend a week just tracking your activities.

Are there things you are doing that don’t really need to be done to keep the organization moving forward? Are there people around you who would be better equipped to do the tasks you can’t stand (for me, it would be anything that requires math!) Next, stay on the lookout for opportunities to take on tasks that you might really enjoy. Have a candid conversation with your boss about “how you could best benefit the organization” and volunteer to take on a new responsibility when an unassigned project comes up.

I know from personal experience that in a matter of time, you can have a completely new job description – one that really fits your strengths and interests. By slowly inching my job away from research and reports at my first job at San Diego State University, an entirely new role was created for me as a communication manager. In the end, I was not doing anything I had started out doing. I had literally created a job from scratch within an environment where that ‘never’ happens.

I would venture to say that a key way to get organizations growing again is to get current employees into positions where they are most productive and satisfied. It’s a win win all around.

Made my day

Today was a great day. I had an unexpected opportunity to do what I love to do – help someone dream.

Long story short…

I am the marketing director for Point Loma Nazarene University. This afternoon, I was in a meeting on a student-led fundraising campaign. My role was to just give feedback to make sure that the university image was not being compromised with the collateral design approach.

In the meeting was a student who was in charge of the marketing materials and someone from the fundraising staff. I gave some feedback on photo selection, font color, logo size, etc. I asked some questions on printing and execution. Basic stuff.

Toward the end of the meeting, I asked the student a little about his major and what he wanted to do when he graduated. He said he was a business major and he wasn’t sure.

As people were exiting the room, he said to me that watching me work was so exciting to him. He could totally picture himself doing what I did in that meeting. He literally said that his heart leapt a bit when picturing himself in my job.

I remember the first time I had that same feeling. I was doing an internship for Freibergs.com, helping them with research on their book on Southwest Airline’s leadership style. They also had a contract training Marine Corps recruiters in communication skills. I went down one day to observe the training. I had already graduated from college and was on the hunt for my first job, but I was at a loss as to what I wanted to do. Watching the training was exhilarating. It clicked. My heart leapt.

I asked the Friebergs what I needed to do to be a trainer. They said I really needed to get my master’s degree. I was applying to grad programs the next week. I had finally found something that lit me up.

Whenever someone comes to me for career counseling at a loss for what they want to do, I immediately encourage them to do informational interviews and job shadowing. Not only is this an effective way to network, but it’s the best way I know to discover what might spark.

Go to http://www.quintcareers.com/informational_interviewing.html for some great informational interview tips. You might just be surprised by what you learn about yourself.

You Can Do Anything!

I am struck by a recent Facebook post by a friend of mine. She asked, “Do you think I would be good at selling Aflac?” Her friends proceeded to make comments back like “You can do anything you can put your heart and mind to” and “You’ve done well at much more difficult tasks.”

No offense to my friend who might be wonderful at selling insurance, but this framework so insidious in our culture frustrates me to no end.  Does this mean that even though I don’t have an athletic bone in my body, if I put my heart to it, I could compete successfully on a master’s swim team. Even though I’m horrible with numbers, would I move up quickly on the accountant ladder… if  I tried real hard?

We are told from a very early age that we can achieve anything with hard work and determination. What we should be asking ourselves is:

1. What am I passionate about?
2. What people group do I feel drawn to serve?
3. What issues keep me up late at night talking?
4. What tasks come so easily to me that I lose track of time when doing them?
5. What are my natural talents, knowledge and skills?
6. Is there a need in the world that only I can meet?

Psalm 139 is one of my favorite Bible verses.

¹ O LORD, you have searched me
       and you know me.
 ² You know when I sit and when I rise;
       you perceive my thoughts from afar.
 ³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
       you are familiar with all my ways.
 ⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
       you know it completely, O LORD.
 ⁵ You hem me in—behind and before;
       you have laid your hand upon me.
 ⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
       too lofty for me to attain.
 ¹³ For you created my inmost being;
       you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
 ¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
       your works are wonderful,
       I know that full well.
 ¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
       when I was made in the secret place.
       When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
 ¹⁶ your eyes saw my unformed body.
       All the days ordained for me
       were written in your book
       before one of them came to be.
 ¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
       How vast is the sum of them!
 ¹⁸ Were I to count them,
       they would outnumber the grains of sand.
       When I awake,
       I am still with you.

It’s so amazing to me that God formed me in the womb; he knit me together with a unique personality, a propensity for certain skills and abilities, and special gifts and talents.  I was skillfully wrought. His works are truly marvelous.

So when my friend asks if she would be a good insurance salesperson, I have so many more questions for her.