Pursuing your Passion 101

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Joseph Dworak

I cannot remember the day, but I can remember the moment. I was a senior in college, it was sometime in the Spring of 1997 and I was trying to figure out what in the world I was going to do with a History degree and find a job that paid me to use my education. There was a tension in my head, did I try and find a legitimate job, did I travel the world? Did I go do something totally different? Did I choose to pursue my passion?

In the world of very slow dial up internet connections through AOL I procured an application to be a snow reporter and marketing intern at Big Sky Ski Resort in Montana. This job was 30 hours per week and you had to be up at the crack of dawn to post the ski report on the voicemail and maybe the internet for the resort. I figured this would be the perfect post college job to be able to live somewhere new, and get to ski for free at a world class resort. I was all set to apply, and then, some weird guilt set in. This weird guilt told me that I should be more responsible and find a job that would make my parents feel good about supporting my college education. This was not my parents talking, this was my own inner dialogue that was moving me in a direction.

I never did follow through on applying for that snow reporter job. Every time I read the snow report at a ski resort there is a wistful feeling that comes over me and I think, what did I miss? I think I might have missed a pretty fun adventure post-college. What did I end up doing? I landscaped the summer away and then got a temporary job at Prudential insurance processing claims. Wow if that sounded exciting it wasn’t! In a group of 500+ in tiny cubicles? Not a lot of fun.

Fast forward 7 months later – I decided to take a risk and move out to Washington, DC as an intern for a US Senator. I jumped this time and and did not hesitate to pursue my dream of working in Washington, DC for the government. What a great excuse to live in the best city in the world for a few years. I get to go back to DC now for work and love to walk around the monuments at night. I well up with pride when I walk past my former office in the Dirksen Senate Office building and think, I had the privilege of working there.

What was the difference between pursuing my passion and just settling? A huge difference. DC was not my end point, but along the journey it was something I could cross off my list. I had a wonderful few years there living and working at the heart of our government. It was light years ahead of being trapped in a cubicle doing something I was not passionate about or wired to do.

Get out there and pursue your dream. Do it today. Do it in your spare time, find your calling, live your passion – trust me it is so worth it.

Carpe Diem

A tribute to a strengths legend: Chip Anderson

Posted on March 24, 2013 by Joseph Dworak

When I started working with the StrengthsFinder assessment tool in 2001, I had the extreme privilege of studying and learning about the tool from one of the people who was there with Donald Clifton at the beginning, Dr. Chip Anderson.

Chip Anderson was a professor at UCLA and Azusa Pacific and one of the leading researchers and practitioners of the StrengthsFinder tool. I heard him present about 4 or 5 times and each time I watched closely and tried to pick up everything I could from someone who would often get Donald Clifton on the phone while he was presenting. Chip was a lot of things, but ultimately he was a strengths evangelist. He was someone who was extremely passionate about not having anyone end up in a bad job fit because they did not know their own strengths. So, any group that would have him he would take through strengths and did it in a way that I have not seen exactly replicated.

Chip always talked about where the whole theory of strengths came from, positive psychology and the like. But where Chip was an absolute master was the fact that when he went through all 34 strengths with a group. During this activity which is common to anyone who leads groups through their strengths, Chip would make everyone pair up and ask leading questions about how they used each of their strengths. One person would talk, the other would listen.

This activity served a few purposes:

It helped people know more about their own strengths, and it helped those who were in their group understand how the people they were attending the seminar with were wired.
It forced people to interact with their strengths in a way that made the learning become experiential and in a way that was in a partner setting, not a large group setting.

This activity, something I use all the time, is a directed listening encounter. It is so simple but so effective. Guiding people through their strengths need not be complicated, it should be about how are you getting people to talk about how they are wired and owning who they are wired to be.

During Chip’s career he co-authored one of the seminal texts in the strengths movement, “StrengthsQuest.”

StrengthsQuest is a book that any serious strengths coach should be very conversant in. The theory in that book and application really puts it at the top of every book that has been written in the strengths movement.

Chip was such a humble servant. Many times I asked him questions that were so basic and he would give me detailed answers and suggestions. Even though I did not spend a ton of time with him, he continues to influence me years after he passed away.

I can’t even remember the year, but it was around 2004 or 2005. I was out at a conference in Los Angeles and Chip was scheduled to lead a group of college students through their strengths. Chip had been struggling with cancer and was clearly not feeling all that well when he presented to the group. Something in my head told me to pay close attention and learn everything that Chip was trying to impart.

It turns out that soon after that time, wracked with pain from cancer, Chip went to the hospital and soon after that passed away.

Chip Anderson was doing what he was wired to do all the way up until he died. What an inspiration.

I am so thankful to Chip and hope to carry a small part of his legacy going forward to every group that I have the privilege to work with.

Why is finding a great job fit so difficult?

Posted on March 23, 2013 by Joseph Dworak

Why do so many people end up in poor job fits?

Over the past decade I have had the honor of working with dozens of organizations and individuals around the topics of maximizing productivity, increased self-awareness and more. One thing that consistently happens whenever I visit any type of organization is that there are always employees are more engaged than others, and some that are actively disengaged. What do I mean by actively disengaged? These are folks that are in such bad job fits that they can’t stand their job and bring down the morale of the entire team. One consultant I worked with years ago referred to these team members as organizational terrorists. Yikes! After working with so many groups over time a few things stand out to me about these folks.

They are likely in very bad fits for their unique talents.
They may have a lot going on in their personal lives.
They are stuck.
They will not leave without help.

Managers who bring me to work with their teams can almost always identify these folks on their groups and want some outside confirmation that what they are seeing is accurate. You know what? Most times it is.

If you go to work everyday and for the majority of your day you do not get a chance to do what you do best? You are going to become disengaged, and perhaps, actively disengaged. I read somewhere over time people who are put on performance plans (Human Resource speak for a last change) have only a 10% chance of rebounding – 90% end up getting fired or quitting. Why? Because we have waited until the bitter end and patterns have developed that are hard to change.

If the essential functions of your role do not line up with who you are wired to be, you have little chance of making that job a place where you will be highly engaged. So what can we do about this?

Hire the right people in the first place
Change the role to fit that persons unique talents

The second option is very challenging because many companies do not have the margin to make it work for that employee. Which brings us back to #1 – hire the right person in the first place!

When I look at hiring processes most rely almost exclusively on skills and experience and talk little about natural talent. If you do not tap into people’s natural abilities it might be an accident if you select the right person.

Some of the pressure here is on organizations to change how they do Human Resources, but some of this is on us as prospective employees to know what we might bring to a role. I think there a few more blog posts forming in my head but for now I leave you with this:

Know yourself inside and out or you will end up in a job that is not a great fit.

Organizations must do a better job of hiring for talent or they will not have the most engaged workforce.

Have you seen examples of hiring being done well? If so, please share.

Have you seen examples of hiring being done poorly? If so, what is making that process not effective?

Little Things – bring the results

Posted on January 26, 2013 by Joseph Dworak

Sometime in the past week I was in a meeting and someone talked about achieving results. The person mentioned that big change does not happen all at once, rather change and results happen over time in small increments. The older I get, the more I know that this is completely true. If you want to achieve something, it is going to take time, hard decisions, discipline and work – and, it probably wil not happen overnight.

When I was a younger person, I would have listened to that person in the meeting and maybe nodded my head, but inside I would have disagreed. Change can come fast and you just need to push hard right? Wrong. You can get fast change but so often that change does not last. Let me tell you two quick stories.

1) Once upon a time there was a man who in his thirties who one day looked into the mirror and realized that he was 30 lbs overweight. Did that weigh gain happen in one day? No, it happened over a few years day by day. The slow creep of weight gain snuck up on him and it did not hit him until one day it did. So one day he decided to make a change and start tracking all his calories and seeing what he was eating on a daily basis. Over time he set a goal and started to work towards that goal, day by day, month by month. Over time the weight came off. But it took six months. There were ups and downs but in the end that man was able to stay within his target weight for over two years. Change that lasts, and results that last, happen slowly over time.

2) Once upon a time there was a young eager leader who was working with a group of students in an organization and wanted to bring about fast change. The group of students he worked with were part of an organization that was slowly declining in influence over time and were averse to change. We always have done things a certain way, was their rallying cry. They were stuck. This young eager leader implemented some change and radically changed some of what these students were used to doing on a day to day and weekly basis. Change happened amidst grumbling but some results were achieved. The young eager leader thought he was successful in bringing change and results. Fast forward to that leader leaving that organization and then hearing the minute he left things started to change back to the way they were. The change reversed! The group went back to doing the same things they had always done. Results achieved? Change happens? Maybe in the short term, but for lasting change and results there is no such thing as quick and easy.

You may have guessed by now both of those stories are from my own personal journey. As I look to be someone who makes things better wherever I am as a leader, I know that I need to work hard each day in the details to bring about lasting change and achieve results, you need to do it day to day. Then one day you will look and the change and results you want to have happen will be there – and they will last.

Self-Awareness equals effectiveness in life?

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Joseph Dworak

Do you know how you impact others on a daily basis? Are you aware how when you say, do, etc – how people react? I think the more self-aware you are as a person the more effective you will be in life. Your self-awareness must come first before you can have a good idea about how other people are reacting to you.

During the past year I read a book on body language that opened my eyes to a variety of things people do to indicate how they are feeling and thinking without saying a word.

What about when people are saying one thing, but their body is indicating they may not really believe what they are saying?

Yes – people will say one thing but be thinking something totally different.

Reading this book, “What every body is saying,” by Joe Navarro opened my eyes to a whole new world. I felt like I have missed so much of people were saying with their body language all my life, and now I pick up on a lot more. Joe Navarro was an FBI agent who would interrogate people and try and figure out if they were telling the truth in the hopes of solving some case. Now he is one of the leading body language experts in the world.

Why is understanding people’s body language important to understanding how they are reacting to you? It has everything to do with this. If you ask someone a tough question and they start touching their neck or looking away from you might indicate you are making them nervous or they want to avoid the question. Maybe you should back off a bit and ease your approach.

In the past year I have worked hard on picking up on signals from people so my approach with them is the best it can be.

Years ago I would never have known if I was running someone over by going to fast or being more intense than was necessary. Now, I take note, slow down and try to maintain a non-anxious presence to help keep any situation calm and the waters smooth.

As some of you know, I travel a lot. Airports are havens for mass anxiety. People are in a hurry, mad, frustrated, stressed and very anxious. I have fallen into this trap myself and work hard to take the stress out of traveling. I get to the airport earlier than I used to, and other things to try and not get stressed and anxious.

Airport staff respond so well to non-anxious people because they are a refreshing change from the high anxiety travelers they are constantly dealing with. I think everyone responds better to people who are non anxious.

As we head into this year, how can you think about how you are impacting people on a day to day basis? How can you be less anxious in stressful situations? I think as you work on those things you will have more satisfying results in your life.

What say you? How do you deal with anxiety? How do you deal with stress?

2013 – Resolutions of things to do and not to do

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Joseph Dworak

2013, how did you get here so fast? I cannot even remember if I made any resolutions last year so I am guessing I did not. This year I wanted to focus on things I will try and do more of, and less of this coming year. I want to limit the amount to just a few so that I can look back at this time next year and gage some sort of progress, or whether I should do these at all. Alright, here goes:

1) I want to become even more focused on the areas I already find myself working on or in. My job at Bethel, my coaching at Hamline, the consulting and speaking I do from time to time and most of all my family and relationships. Wow, that is a big resolution but really it is easy for me to make because I have already tried to start doing this in the past few years. The more focused I have tried to be, the easier it is to have good results in those areas. So, in 2013 I want to do more of the same, and try and become even more focused.

2) A few years ago I decided I wanted to stop the expanding nature of my waistline and I am happy to report that I am still down around 30 lbs from 2 years ago. This is a constant fight and all I can say is, yes I do exercise but it has 90% more to do with what I eat and little to do with the miles I run every week. Working out is great, but eating is more essential. This is still a challenge for me and I continue to work hard on eating until I am satisfied, and not until I am stuffed. I am much better at this then a few years ago. During this time I have also figured out (with the help of my wife) that onions are not the best for me and almost any fried or super spicy food. I resolve to continue to work on this and even get better at what I eat and how I fuel my body.

3) It was a challenging thing to do but this year I gave up coaching Junior Olympic volleyball at Minnesota Select. I did this for seven seasons and met so many great fellow coaches, players and parents. It was really hard to stop doing something that I love doing. But, I wanted to be all in, and time wise, I just needed that time to do some more of things in point #1. I will miss Select, but know that someday I may get the chance to be back into that level of coaching. I am so thankful for the opportunity that Scott and Alyssa gave me all those years ago.

4) I resolve to nail my new job. Recently I accepted a promotion at Bethel to lead all adult recruitment of students, everything but traditional undergrad. This is a huge challenge and I want to nail it for my team, and the bosses who had faith in my ability to succeed. I am so energized at this new opportunity that includes my old job and adds a lot of new job.

5) I resolve to maybe apply to a PHD or EDD program in Education. Yes, I am hedging here. Let us see how this one goes.

6) I resolve to love more and judge less. What more needs to be said about this resolution? Try it with me.

7) I resolve to worry even less what people think about me.

8) I resolve to invest more in future leaders, and help them succeed. People did this for me, I need to continue to do this for the next generation.

That is it! What are your resolutions? What are you going to try and focus on this year? Thanks for reading and Happy New Year!

Take the time to enjoy life

Posted on December 29, 2012 by Joseph Dworak

Roses

Do you take time to enjoy life? It seems like so many people I meet are constantly working and never disconnect. Look, I am guilty of this infraction from time to time myself, but also want to make sure I take some time to enjoy life along the way.

Work hard.

Play hard.

It is a both/and equation here. It is not a one or the other proposition, it takes both. Go hard for a time, and then rest, relax and come back charged up. Especially if you are in some sort of leadership position this is essential because the people you work with or lead will look at the example you set.

Do you constantly feel like you are at your end and you could burn out at anytime? Those extra 10 hours at work are probably not going to help your cause.

Do you feel like if you don’t do something no one else will? That is usually not true unless you are a one person show. Also, if you do buy into this it means you may not be much of a collaborator something that is essential if you want to achieve exponential results.

I am passionate about building teams where people are not free agents but rather empowered teammates who nail their own responsibilities and help out their teammates along the way. Everyone must understand their roles, relationships, responsibilities or they will not achieve any meaningful results. This “4 R” model of leadership I learned from Dr. Mark McCloskey and Dr. Justin Irving in my masters program. It is simple and it works every time.

But I digress. Work hard, play hard. Do both or someday you will end up at the end of your career wondering why you did not take time to enjoy things that you are passionate about.

Do you do this? What do you do that you are passionate about?

5 Thoughts on Life, Paths, and Choices – how to choose?

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Joseph Dworak

During the past few weeks I accepted a new role at my current employer, Bethel University, to take on a bigger role with regards to admissions and recruitment. It is a very exciting development for me, and I am so grateful to my supervisors who believed in me enough to offer me an increased role. I am also so thankful to my amazing team that I have worked with the past few years and will continue to work with in this new role. This decision puts me on a new path, with new responsibilities and just a lot of new. So how did I make this major life choice to accept this new role? How might my thought pattern help when you have a big decision to make now, or in the future? Here are five thoughts.

1) Once I knew I had a decision to make, I had a few days to process the decision. My wife and I spent time trying to play devil’s advocate to saying yes to the new role and trying to poke holes in what looked like a great opportunity. Always look at both sides of a decision – even with things that seem fantastic.

2) As I have said before: Make sure you are making the decision when emotion is not the primary factor in your decision making. I let this question sink in for a few days and did not commit to anything before I had time to sleep on the decision for multiple nights. Each morning I would wake up and gauge where I was feeling on the decision and it became more clear each day that I would say yes. I think gut decisions are great, but it also is important to put logic into the situation without emotion as well – if you have the time to do it.

3) Ask people who know you what they think you should do. I have a number of wise friends including my wife who I ask what to do based on my situation. If you have the luxury to ask them, do it. They will give you perspective you might not see yourself. Another blog post could be on why you should have friends who disagree with you and are not totally like you – this will help if you are not surrounded by a bunch of yes people.

4) If you are a person of faith, you may want to have some dialogue (read prayer) with your higher power. This for me is a calming activity that helps me see things more clear and understand what my gut is saying. If you are not a person of faith, skip this step.

5) Once you choose, stick with your decision. Let your “Yes” be a “Yes” and your “No” be a “No.” This is very important – the reason I go through these steps is that I want to be 100% committed to whatever I commit to. People will appreciate it if you are not flakey once you decide.

I am so happy for this next chapter to start in my career. So many people have helped me get to where I am now, I have spent time thanking them over the last few weeks. When I get back from a vacation to start my new role, it will be an exciting time of change and adjustment. Thanks to all of you who read this blog, it is fun to go through life with all of you as well.

Kauai, Hawaii – it is really far away

Posted on December 2, 2012 by Joseph Dworak

After a long couple of flights we made it to Kauai, Hawaii. I am often reminded when I am here that Kauai, and the Hawaiian islands are the most remote island chain on earth. You fly and fly and fly and finally you are here. Kauai is like the backcountry of Hawaii. remote, even more laid back, and not overdeveloped. We have been to Maui, and Maui is fine, but many parts are busy and full. You are hard pressed to find ‘busy’ and ‘full’ here on Kauai. You are hard pressed to find nightlife on the island of Kauai, but that is not something we are to hip on with a fellow traveler who is three years old named JD who wants to build sand castles early in the morning.

It took a few days for me, but there was that inevitable feeling of winding down, relaxing and not really caring what day it is, was, etc. I am there. What day is it? When you are here on the island there is a concept called, island time, or Kauai time. It is laid back. I think it took us about twenty minutes to get a sandwich at Subway, but who cares, it is warm and sunny. What hurry are we in? None.

The green here is brilliant green, deep, in a way that contrasts against the red sand that dots the landscape as you peer around this island. The ocean is a deep blue, one that invites you see what lies beneath. On our second day I did a little bit of snorkeling at Anini beach and it was not the most exciting reef I have ever snorkeled in, but who cares I was in the warm water and snorkeling in December. I moved around looking for some fish and found a few here and there, but all of a sudden I was face to face with a sea turtle. I was a bit taken aback and moved away quickly as the turtle looked on at me in a curious way. He was not phased by me and I went back in to observe him, or her, not sure. I was blown away that here was a sea turtle and me, and not much else. Maybe a sense of peace.

Excuse me if I have written about this before but somewhere I read that when Bill Gates was the head of Microsoft he would take off a few weeks a year and go into isolation and read and think and have almost no contact with the outside world. While I am not on some Gatesein sabbatical I do think everyone needs to disconnect, step away and recharge. You are not that important, life will go on without you if you don’t read that email.

Most people get that here I have yet to run into the wannabe CEO who is on their cell phone at the pool while their family waits for them to interact. That is not recharging, that is not sabbatical.

I am for relaxing and recharging. Get away, do your thing. Then go back and charge the world -for now, I will try and go do that relaxing and recharging thing.

Carpe Diem my friends…..

Did you prepare well? RE: Life

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Joseph Dworak

When you start off on a journey, how do you know if you have done all the right preparation for the trip? Did you prepare well? So many times in life when I have prepared well, I do not even think about not preparing well because I am ready for what life throws at me. But how many stories do I have where I did not prepare well and it came back to bite me? Many.

When I am running it usually takes me about 3/4 of a mile to know if I have worn the right clothes on that run. When it is warm it is easy to know this, unless I am overheating I usually picked the right outfit. But, when it is cold, I need to start off feeling cool and be able to warm up just enough to feel comfortable but not hot. If I have layered correctly it will put me in the sweet spot of that not hot not cold place I like to be as a runner.

The South Side Wind – it bites!

The other day I was out for a run and it was around 22 degrees outside. Did I prepare well for this run? Yes and No. After the first 3/4 of a mile I was in great shape, felt warm, not hot or cold. I continued along my winter running route (away from the cold north wind) and made my way through miles 2, 3, and 4 – when I hit the one part of my run that is on the south side of Lake Calhoun here in Minneapolis this is near the end of my run. This part is wide open and just a wind tunnel. It always is a tough place to be the recipient of a north wind. The wind was blowing between 20 and 30 miles per hour and the wind was stinging my face. For that quarter of a mile my running gear did not measure up and I was cold. Even though I did some good preparation, I was not prepared for the high winds that kicked up. I toughed it out and made it through but was happy to see the end of that part of the run.

The Snowy Climb on Sacajawea

A few years ago Danielle and I wanted to climb to the top of a mountain peak in Bozeman, Montana named “Sacajawea.” This is a great hike deep in the woods outside of Bozeman and is a local favorite. It was a beautiful sunny day in the end of July and probably was pushing 80 degrees. We had shorts on and dri-fit shirts – we thought we were good to go. We started up the hike, through the woods and quickly gained a lot of vertical feet as we went up. We soon realized that much of the trail above us was snow-covered – in July. As we got closer to the snow, the temperature kept dropping to where we were really cold. We were not prepared for the temperature to drop to the high 40′s because of the snowpack. We trudged on, but after a while realized we were way to cold, and turned around. I do not like to quit on a hike, but it was clear we needed to head back down.

Two different journeys, two different results. One time, prepared really well with a few unforeseen obstacles, and another time totally unprepared. The longer I am on this earth I realize the process of preparing well is so critical to success in any endeavor. Yes, there are times for pushing ahead and taking a risk, but also there is much to be gained in preparing well.

Do you have a story of when you were prepared for something that came your way?

Do you have a story of when you were not prepared for something that came your way?

I so appreciate hearing from all of you!

Joseph Valentine Dworak

StrengthsFinder training and consulting