MAP Strategic Wealth Advisors

Five takeaways:

The desire to make a change can be a general one. Assessing the specifics of what you want to change in a profressional situation will help you take the most useful, beneficial action. The five questions below are designed by career development experts to help with this assessment:

• “What do I want more or less of this year?” – creating a list of the things you no longer want to do in a new role, as well as the things you want to do more of, will help you refine your search for a new role. It will also provide a framework for conversations with your superiors about a role restructure, should you decide to try to evolve in your current position.
• “How can I increase my visibility at work?”– people hire people, people promote people, people amplify people. Visibility to the right people creates a “career insurance plan” – a strong network that provides a safety net should a career change become necessary or disruption arise.
• “What’s my one big win this year that will it a year to smile about?” – Look one year ahead, and imagine you’re still in your current role. This helps people clarify which commitments they need to make to themselves; the people they need to be and the mindset they need to have. The resulting action will certainly lead to positive career development.
• “What’s my reputation at work?” – Those who get promoted or hired into good positions are known to be collaborative, strategic and analytical. You must think about how adequately aligned your reputation is with those adjectives in your current surroundings to know to best move forward.
• “What fills my cup?” – make a conscious effort to have your work align with what nourishes, thrills, and restores you. Does being successful mean making a lot of money, or does it mean making impactful change? Is it somewhere in the middle? Knowing what fills your cup allows you to set yourself up for a year of wins– or refine your search for your next job.

By accounting for these questions honestly, you will put yourself in the best possible position to either grow in your current role, or take productive action towards your next one.

From Monica Torres for The Huffington Post
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Three takeaways:

Even if someone asks you for it, giving advice can often be a counterproductive act. But it doesn’t have to be that way– and being great at giving advice can help you maximize the happiness and effectiveness of those around you.

Author and advice expert Michael Stanyay society falsely teaches us that giving advice is a sign of success, and that leaders in particular must prove their value by liberally dispersing it. While we might have good intentions, we often rush to give advice that serves our ego more than it does the person receiving it. A 2018 study found that giving advice helped participants overcome a lack of motivation or confidence more than receiving advice did.

When giving advice in the modern workplace, there are some important things to remember to make your advice the most effective while ensuring that it does not offend the person receiving it:

1. Remember that no one has all the answers anymore: As technology transforms the workplace and required skills become more diverse, it is unrealistic for leaders to have all the answers. Know when a question goes outside of your expertise, and find those with specialized skills in the workplace who can be counted on to help with area-specific questions.
2. Know the difference between advice vs. coaching: instead of offering advice, become a coach: help others devise their own solutions by asking them leading questions. This may be slightly more time consuming, but it can boost motivation and help people develop their problem-solving skills.
3. Be conscious of your framing: To avoid offending the person receiving your advice, frame it in a way that allows them to ignore it without losing face. Adding a qualifier like, “These ideas worked for me, but they may not work for you. I’ll just throw them on the table and if there’s something useful – great. If not, that’s fine as well” can help assuage any potential ego hit to the recipient, and therefore make it easier for them to implement your advice.

Giving better advice will help you build trust and credibility in the workplace, positioning you as a valuable resource for colleagues– while offering the added benefit of better overall decision making and productivity among your colleagues.

By Jessica Mudditt, for The BBC
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Takeaways:

A 2018 survey found that over half of U.S. adults felt that “no one knows them well.” If this feels familiar, you might be experiencing what we can call Poe syndrome, in which your inattention to others is causing the feeling of isolation.

Feeling known and understood by others has been shown to double one’s joy in life and relationships, triggering pleasure centers in the brain. Feeling misunderstood and alone has been shown to trigger pain centers in the brain.

Research has also revealed an asymmetry in our perception of relationships: we like being known far more than we like knowing others. This is a pivotal disconnect, because relationships require reciprocity.

This can make Poe Syndrome a vicious cycle. It has been proven that loneliness can lead to self-centeredness. In other words, if no one knows you well and you are thus lonely, you may become more self-focused and less interested in others, making it much less likely for others to want to get to know you well.

So, we must make a concerted effort to be an “Illuminators” – someone who is actively curious about and intently engaged with others– rather than a “Diminisher,” whose interests rest solely on themselves.

In getting to know others, deep listening is imperative. This requires being present and mindful when engaging with others. Ask follow up questions and respond to them with sensitivity & thoughtfulness.

Knowing how much we value the feeling of being known and understood should show us the incredible value of instilling that feeling in others.

To be truly perfect would cost you a chance to improve- and that would make for a boring, purposeless life!

From Arthur C. Brooks at The Atlantic:
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