“Go ahead! Do it your way!”

When anyone said this to me when I was kid, I also heard what they didn’t say out loud, but clearly was part of their message: “… and see if I care if you do it wrong and fail and waste your time and look goofy, and, and….”

Whew, thank goodness, those days are over, right?  Thank goodness our bosses, peers and teammates sincerely want us to “do it our way” and succeed, not fail. Thank goodness, in this age of awareness, we can say what “my way” is so others can understand what we do best, where our strengths and talents can be most effective, plus what we aren’t good at, what doesn’t interest us, and where we won’t perform well.

What’s that, you say? Those days aren’t over yet?  Plus, you can’t say, in a powerful, authentic manner, what “my way” is without sounding self-centered and egotistical?

Well, if you’d like to reduce the struggle, effort and give yourself an opportunity to be more satisfied at work, here’s a strategic process you can use whether you are job hunting or job shaping, meaning, you are in a job and want to change it, shape it to suit your talents and strengths better.

1. Be the CEO of your career. Be responsible for your own professional development.
2. Take the long view of yourself. What do you want to be known for? What’s the legacy you want to leave?
3. Get clear about what “my way” is: Identify your strengths, talents, and what energizes you naturally.
4. Get clear about what “my way” isn’t: Identify what doesn’t energize you. (Notice I did not say “identify your weakness.” When we categorize something as a ‘weaknesses’, we tend to automatically criticize ourselves, think we should not have any weaknesses, then spend tons of energy trying, and not succeeding, to change the weakness to a strength.  I recommend ending the practice of trying to be super-woman/man and begin a practice of being yourself.)
5. Enlist supporters, trusted advisers, mentors, or a coach to help you expand your ability to speak yourself powerfully and authentically.
6. Get into action, start the conversations. Learn, adjust, act.

There are a variety of assessments and diagnostics available to help you identify your preferences and motivations. I use Performance Style & Ambitions®. It’s powerful, internationally known and respected, and “client-approved”, as in, my clients use it with success. They use what they’ve learned to put the best project team together for a client, to address conflicting views, to reduce misunderstandings, to accelerate collaboration and produce results. Read about it at www.wipcoaching.com/assessments.   Those of you near Santa Cruz , join me in a Performance Style & Ambitions® workshop on June 22 and 24 at Santa Cruz Chamber. Details at: http://tinyurl.com/2dmdofb.

One last thing: To have doing it “my way” be effective and seen as a value-add by others, you must recognize that everyone else has a “my way”, too. Being able to have many “my ways” collaborate effectively is not only possible, it’s required for successful in today’s multi-everything business landscape.