In the course of our recent career coaching sessions a couple of arcs have come up.
Your value as a person is not defined by your skill set. You are not more valuable because you are better at making widgets.
There’s a tendency especially in the interview process to search for someone who is the “best” at something which leaves those who do make the cut, feeling less than “best”.
In interviews often we use tests and projects to figure out your skills. But how often we do measure respect, honesty and the ability to empathize? Those are the killer skills of the future.
I think maybe the interview process needs to change. If our goal is diversity and growth, we cannot rely on the same processes that promotes the same kinds of candidates. You often see reports that there are 500k jobs unfilled but is it that they are unfilled or that the people applying don’t fit the stereotype of who we consider a good candidate?
I think it’s very important to be good at what you do. Good being defined as you can solve problems and explain your solution to others. That you can continuously learn and learn from your mistakes. I think how hard you work makes a major impact in your career success. Working hard being defined as not giving up in the face of problems. Not 80 hour work weeks.
But I also think how you treat yourself and the forgiveness you have for yourself is very important. I think if we treated ourselves this way that maybe the culture of being the best at all costs would change. Maybe we would start to see that we don’t need to punish ourselves for not being exactly where we want to be, which also means we don’t need to punish others for not living up to expectations.
There’s a holiday weekend coming up. Many of you are nervous and worried about the future. First of all, when it comes to putting food on the table, do what you need to do to survive. But if you can, find some time for some self care. Find sometime to slow down and spend time with friends and loved ones. I say this as much as reminder for myself as for others. Do you live to work or do you work to live?
Photo by Kalen Emsley on Unsplash