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Hot Buttons |
| YOUR CAREER HOT BUTTONS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1: Financial Rewards
Very important: you may be someone who thrives on financial targets, for whom financial goals are an internal game of beat the clock. The danger is that this game often doesn't keep you engaged in the long term. Moderately important: you generally have strong hot buttons apart from money. The key question is: would you do your job if all jobs paid the same? Unimportant: money doesn't do it for you any more, if it ever did. Money is a weak motivator: for most people a bonus or pay rise does little to boost job performance for more than a few weeks. Feeling underpaid, however, is something that can demotivate you every day, and needs addressing. FIND OUT IF YOU'RE PUSHY OR PASSIVE
Very important: This person loves to push for change, shape how things are done, and often wants to make things happen through other people. With good communication skills and a thick skin, will probably rise to a leadership position. Moderately important: Here pushing from the front doesn't matter, but playing a key part does – and being recognised for it. Even if you don't want to be the big cheese it will further your career to stick your head over the parapet and take some responsibility. Unimportant: Someone happy to play ‘follow my leader', and generally compliant about playing by someone else's rules. Be careful – not wanting to have a say can make you seem like a doormat, or (worse) uncommitted – often a career block. John Lees writes: “For some influence is a key motivator. You may want to exert influence directly by being an ideas person or organiser, or through other people: by selling, persuading, or leading. If you're in the latter category you enjoy working through others to achieve results.” FIND OUT IF YOU WANT TO SHINE AS AN EXPERT
Very important: This person has highly focused expertise. Not always seen as part of the main event: can sometimes feel isolated. Experts often turn to an advisory role, possibly working alone. Moderately important: This may be someone who needs a few grey hairs to become a credible guru, or someone exploring the balance between specialist and a more general role. If you want a corporate career, keep involved with more general projects as well. Unimportant: Someone happy to muck in with a wide range of tasks because the working method (e.g. good team working or communication) is as important as the goal. Generalists often thrive in the marketplace, and tend to be more successful aiming for management positions. FIND OUT HOW MUCH YOU VALUE NDEPENDENCE
Very important: You like to be in control of events. You prefer a mentor to a supervisor, and seek a high degree of control about choice of tasks and how things are done. You generally resist organisational conformity, so may be seen as a maverick, difficult to manage or retain. Moderately important: You like manage your own time, and have a say in the way projects are completed. In larger organisations this type is likely to seek out a project or department to run with minimal interference from bureaucracy. If this opportunity fails to come along, you may be inclined towards self-employment. Unimportant: You're generally happy to accept direction and supervision, and prefer to have clear directions. You often put team goals before personal ones. Happy to go with the flow, you may be a little too passive – you become so firmly embossed with the corporate stamp that a job change may be tough.
Very important: You generally make close friendships in and around work, and you rate a job because of the people around you. You prefer agreement to debate, and it's vital for you to feel trusted by colleagues. Sometimes you need to be valued by colleagues just a little too much, and feeling isolated can drag you down. Moderately important: The working atmosphere matters to you, but you're prepared to work alone where necessary. You seek a balance between team consensus and objectives. You like to achieve goals by getting the best out of others, and have pretty good ‘radar' for misunderstandings or potential conflict. Unimportant: You're happier working alone, often in a reflective way. You don't see work as part of your soci9al arena, and you rarely disclose personal information between 9 and 5. Social chat may seem irrelevant or trivial to you. This type make excellent behind-the-scenes researchers, thinkers and creators, but often don't have the knack of winning people over quickly. FIND OUT HOW MUCH SECURITY MATTERS TO YOU
Very important: You like your work and income to be predictable, and in danger of living for future certainty rather than enjoying the present. You demand clear job descriptions, and dislike threats to the status quo. Often risk averse, you've been attracted by jobs offering conventional career structures and good pensions. Moderately important: You generally like to have a clear picture of the future. You generally seek long-term security of income rather than immediate financial gain. Once you have a nest egg or some other cushion against ill fortune, you may start exploring more stimulating career options. Unimportant: You treat money as a moveable feast and a means to an end. You spend in response to fancy rather than budget, living to the edge of your overdraft but largely unmotivated by financial incentives, either present or future. You find it hard to take financial targets at work seriously. You'll take a pay cut to move into the right job. FIND OUT HOW MUCH STATUS MATTERS TO YOU
Very important: Your name are printed everywhere around you: your desk, door, website, corporate letterhead. You've probably got a monogrammed conference folder and executive toys on your desk. You love to mention your job role at parties. You're switched on by the toys and trappings of being a big cheese. You may well over-promise and under-deliver in your race to the top. Moderately important: You don't need top billing, but you like to have your name up in lights occasionally. You want to maintain some dignity while climbing the slippery pole, and you know which lines you won't cross in terms of self-promotion and backstabbing. Unimportant: You're not interested in the job title as long as it makes sense, and you don't have to see your name on every circulation list. It matters more to you that your work is valued by colleagues and clients who know the difference between surface polish and real performance. FIND OUT HOW MUCH MEANING & PURPOSE MATTERS TO YOU
Very important: The daily 9-5 may feel empty if your role isn't focused on meaningful outcomes that match your personal values: saving the planet, protecting rare species, improving people's lives... You probably need to be clear whether you want to see tangible and immediate results, or whether you're happy to work in a back seat role or towards longer-term results. Moderately important: You don't want a role which actively damages the environment or exploits people, but you have a fairly broad view of what is ‘meaningful'. For you, providing an excellent product or service feels as important as saving the planet. Unimportant: Your organisation's output and reason for existence matter far less to you than the tasks in hand. Others can save the panda, you've got an important delivery to organise. For you, work is about other factors such as companionship, excitement, challenge or any of the other Hot Buttons discussed in this series. FIND OUT HOW MUCH IMAGINATION MATTERS TO YOU
Very important: Work for you needs to be a creative playground. You may enjoy playing with words or images, or you may just have a flair for taking ideas apart. You're probably keen to ask why things are done this way, and why they are done at all. Remember to finish at least some of the projects you generate, or you'll be seen as head in the clouds. Moderately important: You value idea generation, but experience tells you that sometimes the tried and trusted method will work best. You're probably good at building on the ideas of others, but sometimes stumped for novel ideas yourself. Unimportant: For you, being creative is a luxury you generally can't afford. You seek pragmatic, good value solutions. You find a great deal of business thinking an empty search for novelty. You act first, ask questions later, get things done by known methods, and if it ain't broke… YOUR TOTAL SCORES
Write down your total scores, and then work out a rank order for your career hot buttons. If you find you have one or more categories where the scores are equal, balance one against the other. For example if your scores for 2 Influence and 7 Status are the same, ask yourself “Would I prefer a job where I my ability to influence or control others was marginally more important than my status?” If you have 3 or 4 equal, play 1 off against 2, then 3, then 4. It works, but if you insist on having equal scores for some headings, no matter. |
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