Several times over the past year, whenever I’ve discussed my dissatisfaction in my current job and my desire to do something else but not sure what, I’ve been asked what I’m really passionate about. And I’ve always been honest and straightforward and said “I’m not sure.” Or “I’m trying to figure that out.” I’m still in this stage.
I think the most basic and common career advice I often hear is to follow your passion. But this isn't helpful when I don’t even know what my passion is. I’m not sure if this is a personal problem, a life stage problem, a generational problem, or some mix of all these and others. I recently mentioned to someone here, half-jokingly, that I was going through my quarter-life crisis. That made me think of the book by Alexandra Robbins, Quarterlife Crisis: The Unique Challenges of Life in Your Twenties. I quickly skimmed through a free chapter from Amazon and realized this book wasn’t going to be helpful for me, because it just discusses what it is, not exactly what to do about it. But then, I saw that she wrote a second book a few years later called Conquering Your Quarterlife Crisis. Unfortunately, the tagline is: Advice from Twentysomethings Who Have Been There and Survived. I quickly skimmed through the free chapter and put this book down as well. Why am I going to read a book written by a bunch of 20-somethings trying to justify their own decisions made a couple years ago? I want to read a book written by 60-somethings looking back with ample perspective on the decisions they made when they were in their 20’s and 30’s.
So, how do I find out what I’m passionate about? I remembered the power of the internet, so I literally googled “finding your passion” to see what this would yield. There’s a lot of self-help gurus each with their own advice. Similar to my earlier approach, it’s probably not wise to just follow the advice of one and run with it. But I thought I’d read over several of them to see if there are some common themes and frameworks.
One video I found helpful was by a Stanford professor named Randy Komisar, who’s also had a crazy successful career (CEO of LucasArts, Senior Counsel to Apple Computer, founding director of TiVO, etc.). In this short clip, he talks about not getting paralyzed looking for one singular passion, but instead thinking about a portfolio of passions and constantly moving in the right direction.
http://academicearth.org/lectures/how-do-you-find-your-passion-and-pursue-it
(BTW, Academic Earth is like a YouTube for free online lectures of a certain quality)
While reading a bunch of other stuff on the web, I think some of the common themes were:
1. Brainstorm what I like to do for fun and consider if there’s a way to make money off of it. Cast a wide net of anything and everything. Childhood dreams, hobbies, interests, etc.
2. Solicit feedback from others for ideas or what I seem to be passionate about. Friends / career counseling / mentors, etc.
3. Don’t be afraid to try something out / don’t be afraid of failure / don’t be afraid of going in the wrong direction. Try an internship, try a PT job, etc.
4. Constantly talk to others about what they do to help brainstorm ideas for yourself.
I also found this list a couple of times. Don’t know who to attribute it to, but found these questions helpful as well.
What puts a smile on your face?
What do you find easy?
What sparks your creativity?
What would you do for free?
What do you like to talk about?
What makes you unafraid of failure?
What would you regret not having tried?
So, a few days ago, I started an exercise in jotting down anything and everything I like. This is a work in progress and in no particular order. Some of these are topics, some of these are processes. I think I’ll continue to look through this list to see if there are some themes and ideas that emerge:
Things I am passionate about (no particular order):
1. Soccer – the game itself
2. Learning about obscure sports (cycling, cricket, curling, etc.) – I like learning about why something is so popular with a certain segment of society. I like learning about the intricacies and strategies of something that initially looks so simple.
3. Information proliferation – I like sharing info with others whether it be good advice, a good deal, interesting news, a good idea, etc.
4. Reforming the church – I think it really bothers me when the Church is doing something poorly. (Bashing gays, prosperity gospel, hoarding resources, insulated culture, etc.)
5. Making an idea into reality – I’m not a creative guy, but I’m an implementer. I need to partner with someone who has a good idea and I can make it happen. It bothers me when good ideas go to waste.
6. Process improvement – I like making things more efficient, simpler. It bothers me when time or resources is unnecessarily wasted.
7. Summarizing the point – I like getting to the main point quickly. (I used to summarize news for my job. I like facilitating disagreements and getting to a point of consensus.)
8. Behavioral finance – I like learning about how we make bad, irrational decisions and want to help others make better decisions, combating over-confidence, relying on statistical evidence over emotions.
9. Puzzles – I like completing a defined task. I like finding patterns. I can do puzzles pretty quickly. (This is similar to my previous comment of “any monkey can do it”. It’s true that any monkey can finish a puzzle. But I have the ability to just sit there and continually find patterns and not get bored or tired.)
10. Building things (legos, Ikea furniture) – I like following directions and building what it’s intended to be.
11. Blogging / web site management (I created a personal web site in high school, in college, had an active xanga site post-college, and now have LINcredibles) – In all these instances, it wasn’t a self-focused web site. It was focused on other topics. I think I like sharing information / ideas and being helpful.
12. Some kind of resolution to the problem of North Korea – I generally read up on major news regarding North Korea.
13. Jeremy Lin – I think he’s the first real Asian-American, Christian celebrity and the celebrity that is most similar to me and my values. I think he has a great opportunity to spread the gospel and be an example, particularly in Asia.
14. Lady Gaga – I’m actually not passionate about her. But I like her “apparent” authenticity and anti-bullying message. I think she’s smart and talented. When I start learning about someone, I get obsessed and read Wikipedia and watch youtube videos. I’ve seen Lady Gaga’s GoogleTalk, her 60 Minutes interview w/ Anderson Cooper, and watched her HBO special, etc.
14a. When I get obsessed over a topic, I google it to the ground. I love researching topics on the internet.
15. Kim Yuna – Koreans excelling in the world makes me happy.
16. LPGA – Koreans excelling in the world makes me happy.
17. Korean national soccer team – B/c I’m ethnically Korean and I love soccer.
18. Social justice as an idea, not as a ministry opportunity – I say this honestly. I did inner-city tutoring / mentoring for 3 years and through the experience, I realized that’s not where my gifts are. However, I remain passionate about the goals and mission.
19. Education reform – I’m no expert, but I like reading about these issues because of my passion for: education, social justice, and b/c I’m a problem solver and hate seeing a problem persist.
20. Helping the common man – as a theme.
21. Want to be around people like me: faith, personality, character, etc. – I’m not happy about this, but I think I find it much more difficult than others in reaching out and connecting with people that are different from me in a social setting.
22. Moneyball – I like nerds infiltrating all areas of life and making things better. (similar to behavioral finance)
23. Anti-lotteries – I hate lotteries. It is a tax on the poor and stupid. The very opposite of what a progressive society aims to do. Anti-Robin Hood. It steals from the poor and gives all the money to one suddenly very rich person. (I even wrote a final paper in business school on this topic).
24. Personal philanthropy – wanting to see a just society, but I have unresolved issues with the non-profit sector as a whole because I don’t know what does more harm than good.
25. China – It’s the rising superpower and I think it’s really interesting to see how a centralized government handles a rising middle class and a growing Christian population.
26. Arab Spring – freedom from oppression. I love reading about what’s happened this past year. I think it’s short-term instability for potential long-term benefit.
27. Don’t want to “play defense” in my job – by this, I mean a job that is essentially waiting for something bad to happen (counterterrorism analyst, but also fireman, policeman, etc.) I felt it was depressing and most of the time, you’re sitting there doing nothing. I think I’d be happier actively doing something positive, rather than trying to prevent something negative.
28. Redeemer – I love Tim Keller. I love what Redeemer does.
29. Satisfier, not maximizer – I like making quick decisions and moving on. I like relying on experts who know more than me.
30. Index funds – they outperform mutual funds and cost less. The mutual fund industry as a whole takes money away from average people – that’s wrong.
31. Asian-Americans issues – I read Angry Asian Man blog regularly.
32. Posting cool articles to Facebook – like sharing information
33. Advances in technology – I’m not a techie, but I’m fascinated by how our world is changing so rapidly and I embrace it. I love the fact that I can FaceTime with my parents and in-laws across the world for free.
34. Reading news – I read NYTimes, WashPost, Huffington Post, Gothamist, Atlantic, NewYorker, ESPN, Soccernet, and a few others daily – I like being aware of what’s going on.
Anyway, this is the list I have going so far. I’m going to continue adding to this and trying to develop ideas and themes. Please feel free to:
1. Share with me any good advice you’ve received on identifying your passions.
2. Share with me any themes or ideas you’ve noticed or think I should consider more deeply.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Saturday, March 10, 2012
The Element
Two thoughts before I begin. First, I’ve been finding it very helpful to read books to help me brainstorm and process thoughts. Over the past year, I found it difficult to “soul search” just sitting at home. It’s hard to just sit and think about what I want to do with my life. Reading books provides some material to react to. Second, talking and e-mailing with others has been helpful as well. There’s a chapter in The Element that talks about the importance of mentors. Tim Keller talks about the importance of receiving feedback from others to validate your strengths as you think about what your abilities are (so you are not self-deluded.) Also, hearing about what other people do and how they got to where they are provide some templates for me to consider.
Tonight, the Lai family had dinner with a man who is in the food industry. He only has a high school degree, but worked his way up through Coles (Australian supermarket chain) the first 10 years of working, then started his own business being a food distributor to Coles and other supermarkets in Australia. He eventually sold his business for a nice profit and now runs restaurants among other things. His passion is food and he’s living it out in his work. As I was opening up to him about how I quit banking and am taking time off to find out what I want to do next, his first question to me was “What are you passionate about?” And, while I still don’t have a clear answer to that, I knew I was talking to someone who had a good perspective on life and had thought to ask some right questions in his own life. It’s a good reminder for me to keep on talking to others and hearing their stories and learning from them.
A couple days ago, I skimmed through the Element in about one hour. The book has one central message (the importance of finding your element), then each chapter discusses different aspects of that central theme. The book is littered with dozens of mini-stories of famous people who have found their element and serve as examples to illustrate some of the topics of each chapter. The reason I skimmed the book so quickly was because the book was a bit disjointed and I didn’t find a lot of the examples helpful. Later, I read some comments on Amazon and others had similar feedback about the book. It’s interesting and may be inspiring to some to read about how Meg Ryan, Matt Groening, or Paul McCartney found their element. But for most of us, we’re not super-excellent in a particular thing, and for me in particular, I’m not skilled in acting, drawing, or singing. The book was impressive in how the author got a lot of high profile individuals to interview for the book. But, in the end, that’s most of what it seemed to be: a collection of high profile interviews. Still, while the book was not helpful in teaching me something new, I think it was helpful in validating my current quest – that it is a worthwhile endeavor. And some of the chapters were good reminders and an encouragement to me.
[Aside: Apparently, Ken Robinson had a decently inspiring TED talk (which I listened to briefly) in which he talks about how our education system doesn’t sufficiently allow for more creativity to flourish. I think this idea is what he’s famous for and he talks about this a lot in his book. I think his book, then, is less about how to find your passion, but more about the importance of finding your passion.]
When Robinson talks about “the element”, he’s talking about the point where natural aptitude and personal passion meet. Then he talks about two conditions for getting it: attitude and opportunity. (This is remarkably similar to Tim Keller’s affinity, ability, opportunity framework. There must be some age-old truth to this stuff.) Robinson’s framework then is this: “I get it, I love it, I want it, Where is it?” (Aptitude, Passion, Attitude, Opportunity).
I skimmed quickly through some of his earlier chapters about how there’s different types of intelligence, how creativity and imagination is important, how when we’re in our element we’re “in the zone”. A lot of this stuff was too theoretical. The next chapter was about the importance of finding others who have the same passion – “finding your tribe.” I think this is an important point, but not helpful at my particular juncture.
Chapter 6: What Will They Think? was interesting. It was a good discussion about the legitimate challenges we face in pursuing our passions. These challenges are personal, social, and cultural. I think this is a topic for a separate blog, but quickly, I think this is a major hurdle for me and others to finding and pursuing our passion. There are expectations that we ourselves and others place on us. We need a certain type of job, or certain type of life, certain salary, certain status, etc. When I think about my background, all the decisions up to this point were easy because my interests were aligned with others’ interests and society’s expectations. Going to college – I wanted to go, and parents were happy I got in, prestigious school. Working as an intelligence analyst – only job offer I had at graduation, parents happy I have a job during economic downturn. Moving to consulting – I wanted to switch to something more dynamic, job pays better, more prestigious job, opens doors to future. Going to business school – I wanted to get the degree, but also gives me potential for higher salary and better job in the future. Banking – great job in a difficult economic environment, very prestigious, excellent salary, etc. I think the tough part of this next step is that I’m making a decision that will, at least in the short run and potentially in the long run, be less lucrative and less prestigious and filled with more uncertainty. This is why it’s been so difficult for me, my wife, my parents, and others.
In this part of the book, among other examples, Robinson talks about how Paul Coelho’s parents sent him to a psychiatric institution to get electroshock therapy because he wanted to be a writer, which they believed, would be a waste of his life, and not a lawyer as they wanted him to be. Examples like this are cute and good because we know eventually he becomes a great writer. I think the difficulty though is pursuing your passion in the face of uncertainty and knowing that for most of us, we will not reach his level of success. Pursuing your passion would be a lot easier if we knew “it works out in the end” and I become rich or famous. But it’s difficult when we almost know for sure (perhaps not?) that “it won’t work out in the end” by certain metrics. And how we define success, and perhaps how I personally define success, is a good topic to dig deeper into soon.
[Thinking back now, I realize this is the deep disconnect in Robinson’s book. All his examples are people who found their element and reached some level of worldly success. I think the subliminal message (intended or not) in his book is that if you pursue your passion, things will work out in the end and you, too, will reach some level of worldly success. But the reality is that for most of us, we will not be the next Richard Branson, Monica Seles, Ridley Scott, or Aaron Sorkin. We need to give up some level or type of worldly success (at least temporarily, if not permanently) to pursue our passion.]
[Thinking back now, this is a second disconnect of Robinson’s book. Most of his examples are of people who have some extraordinary talent that average normal people can’t possibly achieve. Most of us are average people with a few above-average talents, but nothing extraordinary. (It’s somewhat demoralizing to have Monica Seles as an example in a book!) For most of us, our goal is to find our passion, combine it with our above-average talent, and do something reasonably productive with our lives. Not win multiple Grand Slams.]
Later chapters discuss the importance of mentors (already mentioned), the fact that it’s never too late to change directions, the tension between love and money, and how we can change our education system to help more people find their element.
I think I have some more good food for thought for the weeks ahead as I continue my journey.
Tonight, the Lai family had dinner with a man who is in the food industry. He only has a high school degree, but worked his way up through Coles (Australian supermarket chain) the first 10 years of working, then started his own business being a food distributor to Coles and other supermarkets in Australia. He eventually sold his business for a nice profit and now runs restaurants among other things. His passion is food and he’s living it out in his work. As I was opening up to him about how I quit banking and am taking time off to find out what I want to do next, his first question to me was “What are you passionate about?” And, while I still don’t have a clear answer to that, I knew I was talking to someone who had a good perspective on life and had thought to ask some right questions in his own life. It’s a good reminder for me to keep on talking to others and hearing their stories and learning from them.
A couple days ago, I skimmed through the Element in about one hour. The book has one central message (the importance of finding your element), then each chapter discusses different aspects of that central theme. The book is littered with dozens of mini-stories of famous people who have found their element and serve as examples to illustrate some of the topics of each chapter. The reason I skimmed the book so quickly was because the book was a bit disjointed and I didn’t find a lot of the examples helpful. Later, I read some comments on Amazon and others had similar feedback about the book. It’s interesting and may be inspiring to some to read about how Meg Ryan, Matt Groening, or Paul McCartney found their element. But for most of us, we’re not super-excellent in a particular thing, and for me in particular, I’m not skilled in acting, drawing, or singing. The book was impressive in how the author got a lot of high profile individuals to interview for the book. But, in the end, that’s most of what it seemed to be: a collection of high profile interviews. Still, while the book was not helpful in teaching me something new, I think it was helpful in validating my current quest – that it is a worthwhile endeavor. And some of the chapters were good reminders and an encouragement to me.
[Aside: Apparently, Ken Robinson had a decently inspiring TED talk (which I listened to briefly) in which he talks about how our education system doesn’t sufficiently allow for more creativity to flourish. I think this idea is what he’s famous for and he talks about this a lot in his book. I think his book, then, is less about how to find your passion, but more about the importance of finding your passion.]
When Robinson talks about “the element”, he’s talking about the point where natural aptitude and personal passion meet. Then he talks about two conditions for getting it: attitude and opportunity. (This is remarkably similar to Tim Keller’s affinity, ability, opportunity framework. There must be some age-old truth to this stuff.) Robinson’s framework then is this: “I get it, I love it, I want it, Where is it?” (Aptitude, Passion, Attitude, Opportunity).
I skimmed quickly through some of his earlier chapters about how there’s different types of intelligence, how creativity and imagination is important, how when we’re in our element we’re “in the zone”. A lot of this stuff was too theoretical. The next chapter was about the importance of finding others who have the same passion – “finding your tribe.” I think this is an important point, but not helpful at my particular juncture.
Chapter 6: What Will They Think? was interesting. It was a good discussion about the legitimate challenges we face in pursuing our passions. These challenges are personal, social, and cultural. I think this is a topic for a separate blog, but quickly, I think this is a major hurdle for me and others to finding and pursuing our passion. There are expectations that we ourselves and others place on us. We need a certain type of job, or certain type of life, certain salary, certain status, etc. When I think about my background, all the decisions up to this point were easy because my interests were aligned with others’ interests and society’s expectations. Going to college – I wanted to go, and parents were happy I got in, prestigious school. Working as an intelligence analyst – only job offer I had at graduation, parents happy I have a job during economic downturn. Moving to consulting – I wanted to switch to something more dynamic, job pays better, more prestigious job, opens doors to future. Going to business school – I wanted to get the degree, but also gives me potential for higher salary and better job in the future. Banking – great job in a difficult economic environment, very prestigious, excellent salary, etc. I think the tough part of this next step is that I’m making a decision that will, at least in the short run and potentially in the long run, be less lucrative and less prestigious and filled with more uncertainty. This is why it’s been so difficult for me, my wife, my parents, and others.
In this part of the book, among other examples, Robinson talks about how Paul Coelho’s parents sent him to a psychiatric institution to get electroshock therapy because he wanted to be a writer, which they believed, would be a waste of his life, and not a lawyer as they wanted him to be. Examples like this are cute and good because we know eventually he becomes a great writer. I think the difficulty though is pursuing your passion in the face of uncertainty and knowing that for most of us, we will not reach his level of success. Pursuing your passion would be a lot easier if we knew “it works out in the end” and I become rich or famous. But it’s difficult when we almost know for sure (perhaps not?) that “it won’t work out in the end” by certain metrics. And how we define success, and perhaps how I personally define success, is a good topic to dig deeper into soon.
[Thinking back now, I realize this is the deep disconnect in Robinson’s book. All his examples are people who found their element and reached some level of worldly success. I think the subliminal message (intended or not) in his book is that if you pursue your passion, things will work out in the end and you, too, will reach some level of worldly success. But the reality is that for most of us, we will not be the next Richard Branson, Monica Seles, Ridley Scott, or Aaron Sorkin. We need to give up some level or type of worldly success (at least temporarily, if not permanently) to pursue our passion.]
[Thinking back now, this is a second disconnect of Robinson’s book. Most of his examples are of people who have some extraordinary talent that average normal people can’t possibly achieve. Most of us are average people with a few above-average talents, but nothing extraordinary. (It’s somewhat demoralizing to have Monica Seles as an example in a book!) For most of us, our goal is to find our passion, combine it with our above-average talent, and do something reasonably productive with our lives. Not win multiple Grand Slams.]
Later chapters discuss the importance of mentors (already mentioned), the fact that it’s never too late to change directions, the tension between love and money, and how we can change our education system to help more people find their element.
I think I have some more good food for thought for the weeks ahead as I continue my journey.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Strengths Finder: Part II
So I finished skimming the Strengths Finder book. The premise of the book is that we spend too much time focusing on our weaknesses and not enough time focusing on our strengths. Of course, at some minimal level, people need to focus on weaknesses. But after that, it’s more important to happiness and success to focus on our strengths. This resonates with me, because after doing banking where I felt like a fish out of water, I want to find something where I feel like I am thriving, where things come a bit more naturally to me because I’m good at it and it’s more fun to me.
Most of the book, then, goes into an explanation of each of the 34 strengths and providing some next steps. The book is careful about not being overly-prescriptive (Since this is your strength, you should pursue this career.) The book seems to focus on steps to address your strengths either in your job or outside your job. However, there are some action items that say stuff like “seek roles that do x, or consider seeking x types of organizations”. Since I’m in job seeking and career changing mode, I’ve focused on those actions for now. Again, don’t think it’s wise to immediately conclude “since this my strength, I should pursue this job”. However, I think there’s benefit to seeing if there are some broad themes to note and consider as I move forward. Also, some of the prescriptions do clash with one another, so maybe I can put less weight on those, or consider it in the context of all the others.
Here’s a recap of my test results:
Belief (95%), Inclusiveness (90%), Focus (85%), Input (80%), Learner (80%), Relator (80%)
Positivity (45%), Maximizer (45%), Competition (30%), Woo (25%)
I want to focus on both my high scores and low scores, so to learn some themes of maybe types of positions and organizations I should seek as well as avoid. Also, there is some element of “hey, wait a minute, all of these strengths could apply to everyone. Give me back my money!” So, it’s good to see those for where they are.
So, here’s a recap of some of the action items of my strengths focused exclusively on types of roles and organizations. My comments are in parentheses and italics:
STRENGTHS: (HIGHEST SCORES)
Belief: Seek roles that fit your values. Think about joining organizations that define their purpose by the contribution they make to society. (I partly decided to go to my business school b/c their mission to “educate leaders for business and society” resonated with me; this fits with an earlier blog post about my desire to do something that has a slightly more tangible impact on others)
Belief: Set aside time to ensure that you are balancing your work demands and your personal life. Your devotion to your career should not come at the expense of your strong commitment to family. (Part of why I disliked banking was because I had no time during the week to spend with family and friends. Ideally, I’d want more work-life balance, unless it was something I was super-passionate about.)
Includer: Look for opportunities to bring together people of diverse cultures and backgrounds. You can be a leader in this area. (Certainly valid, but not sure if this is a career objective. I enjoy caring for people who feel excluded.)
Includer: Choose roles in which you are continuously working and interacting with people. You will enjoy the challenge of making everyone feel important. (This conflicts with focus strength below.)
From bootleg website: Seek to work on things aimed at the common man; things for society's elite upsets you. (I think this resonates with me the most. I would feel dissatisfied working in private banking)
Focus: Seek roles in which you can function independently. With your dominant Focus talents, you will be able to stay on track with little supervision. (Yes, I like working alone, unless working with others means divvying up the tasks and working alone.)
Focus: You function well when you can concentrate on a few well-defined initiatives and demands. (Again, maybe why banking was not good b/c I was getting numerous tasks simultaneously from numerous senior bankers.)
Input: Look for jobs in which you are charged with acquiring new information each day, such as teaching, research, or journalism. (Interesting b/c I have uncles and aunts who are: school teachers, professors, and journalists – maybe this is where the Chung family thrives?)
Input: You might naturally be an exceptional repository of facts, data, and ideas. Don’t be afraid to position yourself as an expert in your field. (I am arguably a current expert on Jermey Lin)
From bootleg website: Seek opportunities to share your findings with others - speaking, blogging, videos, and articles. (I found this interesting b/c I’ve always loved blogging and always loved sharing information with others. I’ve talked several times in the past about how one of the themes of my life is “information proliferation.” This ties in with my includer strength about helping the common man.)
Learner: Seek roles that require some form of technical competence. You will enjoy the process of acquiring and maintaining this expertise.
Learner: Because you are not threatened by unfamiliar information, you might excel in a consulting role (either internal or external) in which you are paid to go into new situations and pick up new competencies or languages quickly. (I was a consultant in my prior role.)
Relator: Find a workplace in which friendships are encouraged. You will not do well in an overly formal organization. In job interviews, ask about work styles and company culture. (I think I’ve only ever worked in formal organizations, but probably enjoyed working on small consulting teams the most.)
And, here’s a recap of some of the action items of my lowest scores focused exclusively on types of roles and organizations (for context):
WEAKNESSES (LOWEST SCORES)
Woo (Winning over others): Choose a job in which you can interact with many people over the course of a day. (Probably not good for me, since I’m an introvert and meeting many people is draining.)
Competition: Select work environments in which you can measure your achievements. You might not be able to discover how good you can be without competing. (Aside: I think I’m the rare, strange person who actually works harder and performs better when there is no skin in the game. Some people enjoy putting a friendly wager and that motivates them to play harder. A friendly wager makes me dislike the competition – I enjoy competing for the sake itself. Also, the betting clashes with my desire to see a more just and equitable world. If I make more money than you, then why would I want to take money from you if I win this meaningless chess match? Or if you make more money than me, then why would I want to give money to you just because you’re faster than me at some meaningless race? This is like the exact opposite of Robin Hood – taking from the poor and giving to the rich!)
Maximizer: Seek roles in which you are helping people succeed. In coaching, managing, mentoring, or teaching, your focus on strengths will prove particularly beneficial to others. Because most people find it difficult to describe what they do best, start my arming them with vivid descriptions. (Needless to say, I’d probably be a bad career coach, since it’d be the blind leading the blind. Aside: For those of you who have read “The Paradox of Choice: Why Less is More”, I’m definitely a satisficer and not a maximizer. I like making a quick decision that satisfies my goals and move on with my life. I don’t like spending extra time trying to maximize my happiness – which could turn into a paralyzing endeavor.)
Positivity: You will probably excel in any role in which you are paid to highlight the positive. A teaching role, a sales role, an entrepreneurial role, or a leadership role will make the most of your ability to make things dramatic. (Yep, I’m a melancholy guy as default.)
This has been an interesting exercise. I think I still need to continue to think through these results over the next few days / weeks. But, my next step is to read through another book that was recommended by a family member: The Element by Ken Robinson. The tagline is “How finding your passion changes everything.” I think this book is more mini-biographies of individuals – less prescriptive, but hopefully enlightening and inspiring. Will read and blog on this book over the next few days.
Most of the book, then, goes into an explanation of each of the 34 strengths and providing some next steps. The book is careful about not being overly-prescriptive (Since this is your strength, you should pursue this career.) The book seems to focus on steps to address your strengths either in your job or outside your job. However, there are some action items that say stuff like “seek roles that do x, or consider seeking x types of organizations”. Since I’m in job seeking and career changing mode, I’ve focused on those actions for now. Again, don’t think it’s wise to immediately conclude “since this my strength, I should pursue this job”. However, I think there’s benefit to seeing if there are some broad themes to note and consider as I move forward. Also, some of the prescriptions do clash with one another, so maybe I can put less weight on those, or consider it in the context of all the others.
Here’s a recap of my test results:
Belief (95%), Inclusiveness (90%), Focus (85%), Input (80%), Learner (80%), Relator (80%)
Positivity (45%), Maximizer (45%), Competition (30%), Woo (25%)
I want to focus on both my high scores and low scores, so to learn some themes of maybe types of positions and organizations I should seek as well as avoid. Also, there is some element of “hey, wait a minute, all of these strengths could apply to everyone. Give me back my money!” So, it’s good to see those for where they are.
So, here’s a recap of some of the action items of my strengths focused exclusively on types of roles and organizations. My comments are in parentheses and italics:
STRENGTHS: (HIGHEST SCORES)
Belief: Seek roles that fit your values. Think about joining organizations that define their purpose by the contribution they make to society. (I partly decided to go to my business school b/c their mission to “educate leaders for business and society” resonated with me; this fits with an earlier blog post about my desire to do something that has a slightly more tangible impact on others)
Belief: Set aside time to ensure that you are balancing your work demands and your personal life. Your devotion to your career should not come at the expense of your strong commitment to family. (Part of why I disliked banking was because I had no time during the week to spend with family and friends. Ideally, I’d want more work-life balance, unless it was something I was super-passionate about.)
Includer: Look for opportunities to bring together people of diverse cultures and backgrounds. You can be a leader in this area. (Certainly valid, but not sure if this is a career objective. I enjoy caring for people who feel excluded.)
Includer: Choose roles in which you are continuously working and interacting with people. You will enjoy the challenge of making everyone feel important. (This conflicts with focus strength below.)
From bootleg website: Seek to work on things aimed at the common man; things for society's elite upsets you. (I think this resonates with me the most. I would feel dissatisfied working in private banking)
Focus: Seek roles in which you can function independently. With your dominant Focus talents, you will be able to stay on track with little supervision. (Yes, I like working alone, unless working with others means divvying up the tasks and working alone.)
Focus: You function well when you can concentrate on a few well-defined initiatives and demands. (Again, maybe why banking was not good b/c I was getting numerous tasks simultaneously from numerous senior bankers.)
Input: Look for jobs in which you are charged with acquiring new information each day, such as teaching, research, or journalism. (Interesting b/c I have uncles and aunts who are: school teachers, professors, and journalists – maybe this is where the Chung family thrives?)
Input: You might naturally be an exceptional repository of facts, data, and ideas. Don’t be afraid to position yourself as an expert in your field. (I am arguably a current expert on Jermey Lin)
From bootleg website: Seek opportunities to share your findings with others - speaking, blogging, videos, and articles. (I found this interesting b/c I’ve always loved blogging and always loved sharing information with others. I’ve talked several times in the past about how one of the themes of my life is “information proliferation.” This ties in with my includer strength about helping the common man.)
Learner: Seek roles that require some form of technical competence. You will enjoy the process of acquiring and maintaining this expertise.
Learner: Because you are not threatened by unfamiliar information, you might excel in a consulting role (either internal or external) in which you are paid to go into new situations and pick up new competencies or languages quickly. (I was a consultant in my prior role.)
Relator: Find a workplace in which friendships are encouraged. You will not do well in an overly formal organization. In job interviews, ask about work styles and company culture. (I think I’ve only ever worked in formal organizations, but probably enjoyed working on small consulting teams the most.)
And, here’s a recap of some of the action items of my lowest scores focused exclusively on types of roles and organizations (for context):
WEAKNESSES (LOWEST SCORES)
Woo (Winning over others): Choose a job in which you can interact with many people over the course of a day. (Probably not good for me, since I’m an introvert and meeting many people is draining.)
Competition: Select work environments in which you can measure your achievements. You might not be able to discover how good you can be without competing. (Aside: I think I’m the rare, strange person who actually works harder and performs better when there is no skin in the game. Some people enjoy putting a friendly wager and that motivates them to play harder. A friendly wager makes me dislike the competition – I enjoy competing for the sake itself. Also, the betting clashes with my desire to see a more just and equitable world. If I make more money than you, then why would I want to take money from you if I win this meaningless chess match? Or if you make more money than me, then why would I want to give money to you just because you’re faster than me at some meaningless race? This is like the exact opposite of Robin Hood – taking from the poor and giving to the rich!)
Maximizer: Seek roles in which you are helping people succeed. In coaching, managing, mentoring, or teaching, your focus on strengths will prove particularly beneficial to others. Because most people find it difficult to describe what they do best, start my arming them with vivid descriptions. (Needless to say, I’d probably be a bad career coach, since it’d be the blind leading the blind. Aside: For those of you who have read “The Paradox of Choice: Why Less is More”, I’m definitely a satisficer and not a maximizer. I like making a quick decision that satisfies my goals and move on with my life. I don’t like spending extra time trying to maximize my happiness – which could turn into a paralyzing endeavor.)
Positivity: You will probably excel in any role in which you are paid to highlight the positive. A teaching role, a sales role, an entrepreneurial role, or a leadership role will make the most of your ability to make things dramatic. (Yep, I’m a melancholy guy as default.)
This has been an interesting exercise. I think I still need to continue to think through these results over the next few days / weeks. But, my next step is to read through another book that was recommended by a family member: The Element by Ken Robinson. The tagline is “How finding your passion changes everything.” I think this book is more mini-biographies of individuals – less prescriptive, but hopefully enlightening and inspiring. Will read and blog on this book over the next few days.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Strengths Finder: Part I
I mentioned in my first post that I was recommended the book Strengths Finder, by Tom Rath, which includes an online self assessment. When you buy the book, you get an online code to take the official test. The downside to the official test is that it only provides you with your top five (out of 36) results. Luckily, I mentioned this test to another family member, and they found a bootleg copy of the test you can take for free, and will also give the full results. While I still plan on taking the official test (maybe a few days later to verify these results), the unofficial test seems pretty accurate. My wife also took it and felt it was accurate for her too.
Feel free to take the unofficial test yourself here:
http://richardstep.com/richardstep-strengths-finder-rssf/
Here’s a quick recap of my results:
Your Top 5 Strengths Are:
1. Belief (95%):
People strong in the Belief theme have certain core values that are unchanging. Out of these values emerges a defined purpose for their life.
Tips to Improve this Strength:
o Make efforts to discover your true passion and tie it to your work, no matter what you do.
o Align, but don't compromise, your values to that of your organization.
o You respect others for learning about your family and community - give them the opportunity.
o You give more value to greater levels of service than more money - let others know this.
o People may not share your beliefs, but you feel they need to understand & respect - let them.
2. Inclusiveness (90%):
People strong in the Inclusiveness theme are accepting of others. They show awareness of those who feel left out, and make an effort to include them.
Tips to Improve this Strength:
o Actively seek to work on orientation programs for new employees.
o Volunteer to lead a task force to recruit minority persons for your company or cause.
o Be in a position to handle organizing group functions - you are good at including everyone.
o You can break the barriers between customer and company - participate in relevant events.
o Seek to work on things aimed at the common man; things for society's elite upsets you.
o Actively try to be the link to community social agencies and causes.
3. Focus (85%):
People strong in the Focus theme can take a direction, follow through, and make the corrections necessary to stay on track. They prioritize, then act.
Tips to Improve this Strength:
o Actively set goals with specific timelines and figure out concrete ways to achieve them.
o You work best when you can control your work events - be aware and keep others informed.
o You thrive on regular check-ins and discussing goals progress - help others to understand this.
o Make efforts to avoid trampling on others' feelings as goals often take priority for you.
o Change is tough for you - ensure you talk and plan for change in terms of 'new goals to champion'.
o Schedule to attend a time management seminar and to incorporate the learnings in your daily routines.
o Stay away from unstructured meetings - they will be painful wastes of your time.
4. Input (80%):
People strong in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.
Tips to Improve this Strength:
o Actively choose to research topics associated with your goals and company.
o You enjoy and should sign up for roles with a heavy research component.
o You are intrigued by facts and stories and would be a good mentor, teacher, or trainer.
o Keep up on the news and info on your areas of interest - constantly be in the know in your niche.
o Develop a robust system for digesting and storing the information you collect.
o Seek opportunities to share your findings with others - speaking, blogging, videos, and articles.
5. Learner (80%):
People strong in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.
Tips to Improve this Strength:
o Actively take on roles that require you to stay current in a fast moving field.
o Always stay hunting for a richer learning environment - the process keeps you energized.
o Track your learning progress and celebrate milestones along the way.
o Challenge yourself to be a resident expert or master of trade on a subject.
o Request to work beside someone who will continuously push you to learn more.
o Learn by teaching others - do discussion groups and presentations at work and in your community.
o Set aside money to support continued education, training, seminars, and e-learning.
Without going through all of my scores, I’ll just highlight that my bottom five “strengths” were (and I thought it made sense that these were my weakest scores. Caveat: If I score so low on competition, it probably means I shouldn't have been a banker.):
Achiever (50%): People strong in the Achiever theme have a great deal of stamina and work hard. They take great satisfaction from being busy and productive.
Positivity (45%): People strong in the Positivity theme have an enthusiasm that is contagious. They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.
Maximizer (45%): People strong in the Maximizer theme focus on strengths as a way to stimulate personal and group excellence. They seek to transform something strong into something superb.
Competition (30%): People strong in the Competition theme measure their progress against the performance of others. They strive to win first place and revel in contests.
Woo (25%): (WOO = Winning Others Over) People strong in the Woo theme love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over. They derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with another person.
I still need time to think through the meaning of these results, but I just wanted to highlight 1-2 descriptions in each strength section that particularly resonated with me.
Belief: Align, but don't compromise, your values to that of your organization.
Inclusiveness: Seek to work on things aimed at the common man; things for society's elite upsets you.
Focus: Stay away from unstructured meetings - they will be painful wastes of your time.
Input: Keep up on the news and info on your areas of interest - constantly be in the know in your niche. Seek opportunities to share your findings with others - speaking, blogging, videos, and articles.
Learner: Challenge yourself to be a resident expert or master of trade on a subject.
[I’m going to think through these results and also start reading the Strength Finders Book to help me determine how to understand the results and will post some of my reflections on another post.]
Of course, I think, with any of these types of tests, there’s reason to be a little skeptical. Yes, it’s probably dependent on mood and my current state of being. Yes, it’s probably a bit general enough that I’d still feel like it worked if it gave me other results. But even with these caveats, I still think there’s value to these tests - particularly if you take several over a period of time to control for external factors, and you still get some consistent level of results.
For example, I’ve taken the Myers-Briggs test at least twice, and probably 4-5 times, and I’ve always come out as either INFJ or ISFJ. I quickly googled and found that some possible career paths for my personality type are:
http://www.personalitypage.com/html/ISFJ_car.html
http://www.personalitypage.com/html/INFJ_car.html
While very few of the Myers-Briggs career options sound particularly appealing, some of them make sense. I enjoy teaching. (Maybe professor? Maybe continuing education within a firm.) When I was a consultant, I had to train about 250 employees about a new program we were launching. I had to give an overview of the program, and then walk step-by-step through the new procedures we were implementing. I had a really good time doing this and felt very much in my element.
If I couple “administrators” with “clergy”, I’ve always thought that one of my dream jobs would be a church administrator. High level of meaning and fits with my strengths. I think to justify the role, it’d have to be at a semi-big church that could pay a full-time salary. I’m guessing most small and medium-sized churches could probably get by with a part-time administrator and it’d be the best use of church money.
Anyway, I think the Strengths Finder results were pretty interesting and maybe a bit more helpful than the typical Myers-Briggs analysis, so will post more on this next time.
Feel free to take the unofficial test yourself here:
http://richardstep.com/richardstep-strengths-finder-rssf/
Here’s a quick recap of my results:
Your Top 5 Strengths Are:
1. Belief (95%):
People strong in the Belief theme have certain core values that are unchanging. Out of these values emerges a defined purpose for their life.
Tips to Improve this Strength:
o Make efforts to discover your true passion and tie it to your work, no matter what you do.
o Align, but don't compromise, your values to that of your organization.
o You respect others for learning about your family and community - give them the opportunity.
o You give more value to greater levels of service than more money - let others know this.
o People may not share your beliefs, but you feel they need to understand & respect - let them.
2. Inclusiveness (90%):
People strong in the Inclusiveness theme are accepting of others. They show awareness of those who feel left out, and make an effort to include them.
Tips to Improve this Strength:
o Actively seek to work on orientation programs for new employees.
o Volunteer to lead a task force to recruit minority persons for your company or cause.
o Be in a position to handle organizing group functions - you are good at including everyone.
o You can break the barriers between customer and company - participate in relevant events.
o Seek to work on things aimed at the common man; things for society's elite upsets you.
o Actively try to be the link to community social agencies and causes.
3. Focus (85%):
People strong in the Focus theme can take a direction, follow through, and make the corrections necessary to stay on track. They prioritize, then act.
Tips to Improve this Strength:
o Actively set goals with specific timelines and figure out concrete ways to achieve them.
o You work best when you can control your work events - be aware and keep others informed.
o You thrive on regular check-ins and discussing goals progress - help others to understand this.
o Make efforts to avoid trampling on others' feelings as goals often take priority for you.
o Change is tough for you - ensure you talk and plan for change in terms of 'new goals to champion'.
o Schedule to attend a time management seminar and to incorporate the learnings in your daily routines.
o Stay away from unstructured meetings - they will be painful wastes of your time.
4. Input (80%):
People strong in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.
Tips to Improve this Strength:
o Actively choose to research topics associated with your goals and company.
o You enjoy and should sign up for roles with a heavy research component.
o You are intrigued by facts and stories and would be a good mentor, teacher, or trainer.
o Keep up on the news and info on your areas of interest - constantly be in the know in your niche.
o Develop a robust system for digesting and storing the information you collect.
o Seek opportunities to share your findings with others - speaking, blogging, videos, and articles.
5. Learner (80%):
People strong in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.
Tips to Improve this Strength:
o Actively take on roles that require you to stay current in a fast moving field.
o Always stay hunting for a richer learning environment - the process keeps you energized.
o Track your learning progress and celebrate milestones along the way.
o Challenge yourself to be a resident expert or master of trade on a subject.
o Request to work beside someone who will continuously push you to learn more.
o Learn by teaching others - do discussion groups and presentations at work and in your community.
o Set aside money to support continued education, training, seminars, and e-learning.
Without going through all of my scores, I’ll just highlight that my bottom five “strengths” were (and I thought it made sense that these were my weakest scores. Caveat: If I score so low on competition, it probably means I shouldn't have been a banker.):
Achiever (50%): People strong in the Achiever theme have a great deal of stamina and work hard. They take great satisfaction from being busy and productive.
Positivity (45%): People strong in the Positivity theme have an enthusiasm that is contagious. They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.
Maximizer (45%): People strong in the Maximizer theme focus on strengths as a way to stimulate personal and group excellence. They seek to transform something strong into something superb.
Competition (30%): People strong in the Competition theme measure their progress against the performance of others. They strive to win first place and revel in contests.
Woo (25%): (WOO = Winning Others Over) People strong in the Woo theme love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over. They derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with another person.
I still need time to think through the meaning of these results, but I just wanted to highlight 1-2 descriptions in each strength section that particularly resonated with me.
Belief: Align, but don't compromise, your values to that of your organization.
Inclusiveness: Seek to work on things aimed at the common man; things for society's elite upsets you.
Focus: Stay away from unstructured meetings - they will be painful wastes of your time.
Input: Keep up on the news and info on your areas of interest - constantly be in the know in your niche. Seek opportunities to share your findings with others - speaking, blogging, videos, and articles.
Learner: Challenge yourself to be a resident expert or master of trade on a subject.
[I’m going to think through these results and also start reading the Strength Finders Book to help me determine how to understand the results and will post some of my reflections on another post.]
Of course, I think, with any of these types of tests, there’s reason to be a little skeptical. Yes, it’s probably dependent on mood and my current state of being. Yes, it’s probably a bit general enough that I’d still feel like it worked if it gave me other results. But even with these caveats, I still think there’s value to these tests - particularly if you take several over a period of time to control for external factors, and you still get some consistent level of results.
For example, I’ve taken the Myers-Briggs test at least twice, and probably 4-5 times, and I’ve always come out as either INFJ or ISFJ. I quickly googled and found that some possible career paths for my personality type are:
http://www.personalitypage.com/html/ISFJ_car.html
http://www.personalitypage.com/html/INFJ_car.html
While very few of the Myers-Briggs career options sound particularly appealing, some of them make sense. I enjoy teaching. (Maybe professor? Maybe continuing education within a firm.) When I was a consultant, I had to train about 250 employees about a new program we were launching. I had to give an overview of the program, and then walk step-by-step through the new procedures we were implementing. I had a really good time doing this and felt very much in my element.
If I couple “administrators” with “clergy”, I’ve always thought that one of my dream jobs would be a church administrator. High level of meaning and fits with my strengths. I think to justify the role, it’d have to be at a semi-big church that could pay a full-time salary. I’m guessing most small and medium-sized churches could probably get by with a part-time administrator and it’d be the best use of church money.
Anyway, I think the Strengths Finder results were pretty interesting and maybe a bit more helpful than the typical Myers-Briggs analysis, so will post more on this next time.
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