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The Straight Truth

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Do you know you are a success

At the end of the day you know yourself and you know your work culture. Just like a pair of shoes you love, the “fit” of who you are in your own skin has probably gotten better over time. Then, just like your favorite pair of shoes, if something wears thin, you may need to polish, or re-sole or completely replace that favorite, comfortable pair of shoes altogether.

Your work culture has an aspect of “fit” to it just like your favorite pair of shoes. Let’s see how the “fit” is these days. Jot down your responses to these three questions.

  1. What about a work environment provides you with the most job satisfaction?
  2. What kind of reward or recognition contributes most to you feeling professionally successful?
  3. What conditions create an atmosphere that lets you thrive? (i.e. a lot going on, quiet, changing location a lot, staying in one place, etc.)

Once you have written your responses rate each on a scale of 1 to 5.

1 = I hardly every experience this to 5 = I always experience this

A lot of work environments are struggling with engagement and retention. Does your boss know your response to these three questions and how you rate them? If it would be unthinkable to share this with your boss it’s time to find a mentor or a coach. Realizing your professional success is in your hands and you have a unique contribution to make it may be time to get the support you deserve to realize a connection with your best self and what you have to offer.

Avoid Being A Culture Misfit

If the most skilled person available for a position your organization needs to fill is not a culture fit — everyone knows that it does not matter how skilled he or she is. Who wants the expensive headache of hiring a culture misfit?

When you have located the skill set you need to fill a role, find out the answers to the questions you yourself answer when you think about being successful. These are great interview questions. These are great questions to be prepared to answer if you are the one being interviewed!

  1. What about a work environment provides you with the most job satisfaction?
  2. What kind of reward or recognition contributes most to you feeling professionally successful?
  3. What conditions create an atmosphere that lets you thrive? (i.e. a lot going on, quiet, changing location a lot, staying in one place, etc.)

Your integrity and professionalism are often obvious on first impression. Revealing what is not so obvious helps you, your boss, a prospective employer engage and retain you for real. You meet their needs and they meet yours…a culture fit…success!

Look in the Mirror Before You Leap

On-going make sure you are telling the truth about what the culture you are in is like and what you really want. After you have had a meal that included broccoli you don’t want to walk into a group with broccoli in your teeth right? You check the mirror first, fix anything that needs fixing or count on someone pointing it out even if it’s uncomfortable. That mirror check needs to be every day. Look at yourself…everything good to go in there? If not, what’s off? Maybe your “culture of teamwork” isn’t real. You see a team player in the mirror when you look at yourself but the culture demands that when you don’t have what you need from others, even though you have been clear, that YOU fix it. The culture says holding people accountable is not allowed.

A culture that does allow real team play says “Give the work back to the person to fix even if it means missing a deadline.” Or, “Meet the deadline but be certain the team has addressed the lack of performance to support ensuring it doesn’t happen again.” Everyone owns the results. If one of us fails we all fail.

CULTURE, CULTURE, CULTURE

At the end of the day know yourself, what success means to you, and know your culture. On-going, keep naming what truthfully makes the best work environment for you. The best match for you and a work culture is up to you.

What about a work environment provides you with the most job satisfaction?

What kind of reward or recognition contributes most to you feeling professionally successful?

What conditions create an atmosphere that lets you thrive? (i.e. a lot going on, quiet, changing location a lot, staying in one place, etc.)

In a world where organizations state that they will hire for attitude over skill it is vital to fully own the success you are today and where it best fits.