What Makes A Great Job?

The people?

The working environment?

The work itself?

The salary?

Rarely do I hear the last one touted as making a job great. For some of us, having a decent salary is enough to keep us in a mediocre or even a really crap job.

For most of us, however, we are looking for different reasons.

So many of my clients come to me wanting to work somewhere where they are valued, where the work has meaning and purpose and where the reward is more than a monthly pay packet devoured by tax and HMRC.

It is something with which I strongly empathise as after working in events for 10 years I wanted to do something rather than deal with parties - as fun as they were.

However, I stayed longer in that industry than I perhaps should have - because I worked with a fantastic bunch of people. I didn't want to leave that fun working environment and thought if I did I would be letting them down as well as losing out.

I was - of course - wrong. Yes, I sometimes miss those heady days and the team, however, the purpose in my work now far exceeds that as I am learning every day, meeting and working with insightful and inspirational people as I grow my business.

For all of my clients, having a great job starts with taking back control. Whether that is starting our own businesses, finding the right role for them or the close-to perfect organisation - as soon as you start creating your career plan you are back in your own driving seat.

Where do I start?

This is one of the top questions clients come to me with:

Where can I start with all of this regaining career control?

I always begin by taking clients through an initial exploration of what they want in their lives now and in the future. I am a strong believer that your career is a part of your life - it should not be your entire life and in fact your career should facilitate your life.

I used to live to work as work was my life and that was a huge mistake - I needed other outlets, other interests, other social circles.

If you feel that work has taken over your life then we should probably have a chat about life-work balance.

If, however, you are ready to take back control then start with the following, simple exercise which I ask all of my prospective clients to complete before we start our coaching.

You may have come across this before if you have been practicing self development - it is a

Be Do Have.

Essentially, this is 3 lists of everything you want to Be in your life, everything you want to Do in your life and everything you want to Have in your life.

Write down everything - get it all out on paper and no matter how small or even how far-fetched it may seem - write it ALL down.

Here is an excerpt from mine from about 8 years ago:

All I want to BE

A caring friend

A conscientious daughter

On time!

An insightful and inspirational coach

A calm and competent driver

All I want to HAVE

A supportive group of friends

A thriving coaching business

My family closer

A dog

A pony

All I want to DO

Travel South America

Travel around Europe more

Learn to sing

There are some things on there which I already had or was doing but needed to improve upon in some ways, some things have happened by now and others have not (that damn pony never appears in my Christmas stocking!)

Some are a constant work in progress and others may never happen, however, I come back to my Be Do Have fairly regularly to update it and to see what I have achieved.

Over time these lists naturally begin to change as you do and as your life progresses, however, it provides a fantastic focus and often sets some clear goals to aim for.

This exercise continues on into the coaching stage, as when my client has whittled down their lists, I ask several questions about how being, doing and having these things will impact their lives, the people around them, their happiness, their development etc.

Once we have come to the stage where the client has a clear idea of what they really want (and often need) across their life and from their career, we then move onto looking at how their current career and job role aligns to their wants and needs.

Most of the time there are few things which are working and many which are not working well or not well enough. Unsurprisingly, we then go on to look at the alternative options available to the client to asses what they are, how well they will work, and crucially how realistic they are for the client to actually do.

Crucially, I work on building up my clients' confidence so that they are comfortable to go out and do what they want to do - read more here about all of that jazz/

I'm a big believer in doing what you love and in having purpose in your work, however, this has to match with your lifestyle - if you will not be able to afford the rent or your mortgage then you will not be a happy bunny for too long even if you are doing what you love. So we work out what they can and cannot do in work and in their life so that they feel fulfilled, happy and back in control.

If it is time for you to take back control of your career, even of your life, then don't hesitate to get in touch today.

Kx