I HATE MY JOB

• Did you know that the phrase, “I Hate My Job,” turns up over 240 million Google results?
• Did you know that about 70% of employees in the U.S. are not engaged at work?
• Did you know that the younger you are, the more disengaged you’re likely to be?

Yeah, I didn’t believe it either.

But according to a recent 2014 Gallup poll that surveyed over 80,000 U.S. employees, only 31.5% of employees are engaged at work. That leaves the whopping majority, either not engaged or actively disengaged.

Talk about a bad case of the Mondays.

If someone you know dreads the daily grind and is ready to make a change, here is one way they can turn their drudgery into delight.

GET A FRESH PERSPECTIVE

Several years ago, I began to feel like a piece of charred toast. I was bitter. I was crusty. I was smokin’ hot - and not in the way that we all wish our dates were in junior high. Oh no! This was pure, unadulterated anger, temper, and rage. I felt overworked, undervalued, and jammed between hot coils. The smoke detector was about to go off. Yep. That was me!

I knew I wasn’t myself, but I wasn’t sure how to change. So, after months of heating up my internal furnace, I reluctantly hired a coach to help me douse my flames of fury.

At first my coaching calls were a complete waste of time.

Here I was, at the brink of insanity, because everyone at work was incompetent, inefficient, and ineffective. And my coach wanted me to do all of these self-reflective exercises, discuss my personal values, and dive deep into all this intangible stuff - vision, mission, and passion. Boring!

Where was the assessment that told me how great I was and how everyone else was a flaming idiot? That’s the assessment I wanted to take. After all, I was getting charred, crusty, and burned-out - because of them!

Months passed. I can only imagine how tempted it was for my coach to give up on me, but he remained calm, cool, and collected. My lack of understanding continued until during one coach call, after droning on and on about all of the problems at work, he finally interrupted my moaning monologue and asked a simple question:

“James, at what point are you gonna stop complaining?”

The question stopped me dead in my tracks. I was relaying the facts of the situation to him. I wasn’t complaining. Or was I?

It took weeks for me to wrestle with his question, but gradually it began to dawn on me that part of the reason I was miserable at work was because of what was going on in my head. I had started to believe the story I told myself. I was the victim. My coworkers were the perpetrators. And all I wanted my coach to do was rescue poor, little ole me.

Reality was much different.

While my story isn’t everyone’s story, through this I learned that, if someone is miserable at work, encourage them to ask a trusted friend, mentor, or coach for their perspective on the situation. It could infuse energy and joy into that person’s life and career!

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

HOW HAVE YOU OR OTHERS GONE FROM DRUDGERY TO DELIGHT ON THE JOB?

5 CAREER TIPS YOU CAN GLEAN FROM LETTERMAN (part 2)

In part 1 of this post we explored the 2 critical components of your career - focus on fit and get a guide. Today we review 3 more critical components to give you control over your career success! 3. BOUNCE-BACK FROM BLUNDERS

Let’s face it - we all make career mistakes at some point. A project goes poorly. A client gets angry. Your boss gets furious. Mistakes happen. Even the great, incomparable David Letterman, got a few rotten tomatoes chucked at him. In fact, in 1995, David Letterman was invited to host the 67th Academy Awards  and instead of making any adjustments to his casual, irreverent sense of humor, he kept his brand and delivered a signature performance. Critics blasted Letterman because they thought that his approach reduced the prestigiousness of the ceremony and many believed that this performance reduced the ratings of his show.

What can you learn from Letterman’s blunder? Bounce back! David Letterman didn’t let this significant setback affect him too much. Instead of getting down on himself, he chose to make fun of himself and used his poor performance at the Academy Awards as an ongoing gag in his show. The learning here is clear. When life throws you over-ripe tomatoes, make spaghetti sauce. Learn from your blunders and like Letterman, use them to rocket yourself to stardom.

4. PROMOTE OTHER PEOPLE’S PLATFORMS

Dave boosted famous people’s platforms by introducing their book, movie, or latest nonprofit in his irreverent and humorous way. People like movie stars, celebrities, and political figures filled the air time of his show.

David Letterman’s platform was huge and what he offered to his viewers was a humorous escape from their everyday lives into the lives of the rich and famous.  Sure his show was successful, because of his unique and magnetizing personality. Everyone wanted to tune in to see what Dave thought about a particular event. But the majority of his show was about other people.

The career tip you can glean from Dave’s example follows the advice of motivational speaker Zig Ziglar who says,”You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” This was true for Letterman and can be true for you.

Ask yourself. Who are the people you can help right now? What are some ways that you can promote them and what they offer? How might doing this enable your own career to propel forward?

5. CLEAN-UP CRAZINESS WITH CLASS

Beginning in 1998, a woman suffering from schizophrenia began stalking him. The woman wrought havoc on Letterman’s personal life by breaking into his house, pitching a tent in his tennis court, and stealing his car. Letterman often joked about each of the incidents on his show, but never mentioned the woman by name. Later that year, after the women committed suicide, Letterman, in an interview with the New York Times, expressed compassion for her and her family.

Letterman could have blasted the poor lady and made a spectacle out of her, but instead he treated her with compassion and kindness. The lesson for your career is clear - even if other people do crazy things to you and try to sabotage your professional success, you can treat them with class. As the saying goes, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.” What about you? What are some of the blunders you’ve bounced back from? How have you gained success by helping other people become more successful? What are some ways that you can demonstrate kindness and class to troublesome people?