Career Advice for the Young and Restless - and Their Bosses

Managers aren't meeting the expectations of those newly hired out of college.  New hires aren't meeting the expectations of managers.  Why is there a disconnect?

There are a number of books out there that try to address embarking on a career, and the one that is on the top of my list right now is Dan Pink's

It's the story of Johnny who let others pick his field of study and is at last working at a first job he's not particularly great at, with a boss who isn't particularly kind or helpful,  while he pines for what he truly has a passion for.  Through a career counselor in the form of an anime muse, he learns some life lessons that set him up for success:

These are all valuable lessons and the earlier they're learned the better.  No matter how much we plan, the best things in life happen from opportunities and serendipity-- keep you're eyes wide open.  We need to think of our careers not as a promotion-driven ladder, but as an experience-based lattice.  Scaffolding helps us follow jobs that suit our strengths and interests and open doors to other worlds of work.

If you're willing to help others and to be persistent, you will have your time to shine and have your share of opportunities. Take risks and learn and grow from mistakes.  In the end, you want to look back and see that you made a difference in a way that means something to you.  Don't put this part off, start today!

For more, please see Dan Pink's website at

www.johnnybunko.com

Other advice:

Meg Jay's Why 30 is not the new 20

Dream Teams Can Be Nightmares - Here's Why

Think about the various teams you've been a part of over the years and particularly those that were able to achieve great results.  According to Google's "Project Aristotle," which analyzed years of data related to team work,  surprisingly it's not who is on the team that makes the difference--  in other words, a team of superstars will not make the team rock.  It's likely that the high-performing teams you were a part of gave you a feeling of more belonging, understanding, and shared voice.  

Teams where conversation is shared and everyone has a chance to talk in the same proportion increase the collective intelligence of the whole group.  If one member dominates, this can spell disaster for a team.  How can the team prevent this?  It can establish group norms, which may be informal and unwritten or openly acknowledged -- some go so far as to have a team charter.  For example, the norms can lay out the expectation of equal dialogue and create signals to alert members to behavior that breaks norms.  In the case of talking too much, the acronym WAIT or "Why Am I Talking?" might be a good sign to raise when conversation is too one-sided.  Personal awareness of talking too much is a first step -- See "Know When You Talk Too Much."

Group norms can also promote psychological safety, which is described as feeling free to be yourself in a group without concern about being judged or punished, especially publicly.  Google's researchers concluded that understanding and influencing group norms were key to improving Google's teams.

Overall, your experience with high performing teams will be more positive if it is on a team that appears less focused and more interactive as opposed to one that is extremely efficient.  Relationships and compassion matter most.

Read more at "What Google Learned from its Quest to Build the Perfect Team."

Also check your social sensitivity by reading faces at
http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/ei_quiz/


Learn more about microexpressions at
http://www.scienceofpeople.com/2013/09/guide-reading-microexpressions/


and read Malcolm Gladwell's New Yorker article  "The Bakeoff," about the quest for the perfect, healthy processed cookie, for more insights into teams.

When I talk to leaders I get the feeling that I am important

I posted this saying on Pinterest months ago in my "Leadership" board and practically every day it's one of my pins that gets repinned.  For me, this repinning feels like someone is yelling at a manager out there who hasn't figured out that leadership is the key to humanizing the workplace and to optimizing performance through people, ultimately increasing the bottom line for the organization.

When I ask people the traits of their best bosses, the following come up routinely:

Integrity (linked to accountability), honesty, has my back, teaches, shares, recognizes my accomplishments, challenges me to develop, cares about me as a person, ...

Remember that no matter how effective you are at managing the organization, it's the people that are essential to your success!  Employees where both leaders and managers are effective are much more likely to be highly engaged (72%).  Effective leadership beats effective management for employee engagement (35% are highly engaged with effective leadership compared with 23% for effective management)  Source: Towers Watson 2014 Global Study.

"Management consists of controlling a group or a set of entities to accomplish a goal. Leadership refers to an individual’s ability to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward organizational success. Influence and inspiration separate leaders from managers, not power and control." See "Three differences between managers and leaders" by Vineet Nayar at HBR.org https://hbr.org/2013/08/tests-of-a-leadership-transiti