Last Friday, [tag]Oprah[/tag] had [tag]Marcus Buckingham[/tag] on her show as well as four participants in his workshop, on career interventions. (Thanks, TIVO). As a public service, here is the link: Free Workshop.
By the way, there are very well qualified career coaches in almost every US metropolitan area. Any of them can help you find your way and your passion, also. People like [tag]Lisa Gates[/tag] or [tag]Izabella Tabarovshy[/tag].
Thanks to Oprah for bringing an awareness to millions that solutions exist. Or, you could just read more in [tag]JOBDIG[/tag]…because everyone should dig their job.
On another point, no one does TIVO better than Oprah. She puts her logo at the beginning and ending of each segment. This allows us TIVO users to know exactly when to stop fast forwarding. Small details win.
[tags] how to use TIVO, how shows should use TIVO, weekly help wanted newspapers, help wanted ads in Peoria[/tags]
No user commented in " Ever Say I HATE MY JOB? Free Workshop Here (and on Oprah). "
GL, You actually put my name in the same post with Oprah? You are a gem. I wonder if I could borrow her couch…
The workshop work I do with the 360 chicks is incredibly gratifying–and great fun–so thanks for this. PS: I’ll be launching my own site/blog in June…
GL,
Thanks for the link to Buckingham’s workshop. He’s a very engaging speaker with some important points to make. I started poking around on the community / bulletin boards after I watched this and began to listen to people’s stories. Amazing, how wide-spread and shared some of these challenges become (I don’t know what my strengths are, I’m lost right now, I can’t quit because I need the money, etc). I’m sure you and your fellow JobDiggers are quite familiar with this tune!
It made me think of a few resources that I’ve read/watched lately that I have found particularly inspiring around this whole notion of unleashing the best possible version of you. Here are 4 resources that I would offer to any one who finds the Buckingham workshop interesting / inspiring.
Best,
Adam
1. Sir Ken Robinson at TED: Do schools kill creativity?
Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it. With ample anecdotes and witty asides, Robinson points out the many ways our schools fail to recognize — much less cultivate — the talents of many brilliant people. “We are educating people out of their creativity,” Robinson says. The universality of his message is evidenced by its rampant popularity online. A typical review: “If you have not yet seen Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk, please stop whatever you’re doing and watch it now.”
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/66
2. Randy Pausch Last Lecture
Almost all of us have childhood dreams: for example, being an astronaut, or making movies or video games for a living. Sadly, most people don’t achieve theirs, and I think that’s a shame. I had several specific childhood dreams, and I’ve actually achieved most of them. More importantly, I have found ways, in particular the creation (with Don Marinelli), of CMU’s Entertainment Technology Center (etc.cmu.edu), of helping many young people actually *achieve* their childhood dreams. This talk will discuss how I achieved my childhood dreams (being in zero gravity, designing theme park rides for Disney, and a few others), and will contain realistic advice on how *you* can live your life so that you can make your childhood dreams come true, too.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5700431505846055184&pr=goog-sl
3. Tim Ferriss’ 4 hour work week
Whether you’re an overworked employee or an entrepreneur trapped in your own business, The 4-Hour Workweek is the compass for a new and revolutionary world. Forget the old concept of retirement and the rest of the deferred-life plan—there is no need to wait and every reason not to. Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, high-end world travel, monthly five-figure income with zero management, or just living more and working less, this book is the blueprint. You can have it all—really.
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/overview/
4. Gordon MacKenzie’s book – Orbiting the Giant Hairball
Creativity is crucial to business success. But too often, even the most innovative organization quickly becomes a “giant hairball”–a tangled, impenetrable mass of rules, traditions, and systems, all based on what worked in the past–that exercises an inexorable pull into mediocrity. Gordon McKenzie worked at Hallmark Cards for thirty years, many of which he spent inspiring his colleagues to slip the bonds of Corporate Normalcy and rise to orbit–to a mode of dreaming, daring and doing above and beyond the rubber-stamp confines of the administrative mind-set. In his deeply funny book, exuberantly illustrated in full color, he shares the story of his own professional evolution, together with lessons on awakening and fostering creative genius.
Originally self-published and already a business “cult classic”, this personally empowering and entertaining look at the intersection between human creativity and the bottom line is now widely available to bookstores. It will be a must-read for any manager looking for new ways to invigorate employees, and any professional who wants to achieve his or her best, most self-expressive, most creative and fulfilling work.
http://www.amazon.com/Orbiting-Giant-Hairball-Corporate-Surviving/dp/0670879835
GL,
Thank you so much for giving me a shout-out. I saw that show and have been meaning to look into Marcus’s seminar in more detail. I’m with him in that focusing on strengths rather than weaknesses is where it’s at. (It’s funny – I just did a teleclass last week on this very topic with the Women@Work Network. The issue of srengths must be in the air…)
There are many ways for figuring out one’s strengths. I like his because it’s very tangible – you inventory your strengths based on the actual tasks you engage in at work. I myself prefer to combine something like that with more systematic approaches, such as Martin Seligman’s Values-in-Action Signature Strengths Invesntory (http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/Default.aspx) or Myers-Briggs. I like to do that because a client may be in a job that relies on so few of her strengths that she may not be able to document all of the important ones by simply following what she does day in and day out.
(Of course, it could be that Marcus’s assignment is more broad than that and goes beyond just the current job you’re in – I’ll need to watch the whole seminar to get a better sense of that.)
Whatever it is, I’m excited that the idea of working from your strengths is getting broader acceptance, and good for Oprah for shining a spotlight on the issue of career happiness.
Best,
Izabella
Greetings there. I’m new here and it seems fascinating.
[url=http://www.bigsiteofamazingfacts.com]Unusual Facts[/url]