Working Resources Blog

Executive Coaching Secrets to Creativity - Meaning is the Key to Engaging Creativity

Are you working in an organization that values creativity and innovation? Are the leaders in your organization open to everyone discovering meaning in their work?

One of the most powerful questions one can ask oneself in the present moment is “What is my core identity and how can I align who I am with being fully engaged in meaningful work?” You need to know who you are to successfully achieve desired results.

Do you know your core identity? How effective are you at encouraging creativity? Are you passionate about the work you do fueled by meaning, purpose, and a creative spirit?

Meaning Is the Key to Engaging Creativity

Whenever someone has a burst of creativity, it is because they’ve spent time thinking over some problem or situation that has meaning for them. They have become immersed and totally engaged. If we want people to be innovative, we must discover what is important to them, and we must engage them in meaningful issues.

Michael Ray is a Stanford professor who has led some of Silicon Valley’s most creative entrepreneurs through his class “Personal Creativity in Business” for the past 21 years. Underlying his teaching on creativity is a search for two fundamental questions:

1.  Who is my self?
2.  What is my work?

Ray says you can’t know what or how you want to create until you know who you are and what you hope to do with your life. He believes that creativity exists within everyone. When people can’t tap into their creativity it’s because of an internal “voice of judgment” which is often heavily influenced by society, employers and parents.

Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you become a more innovative and creative leader. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and creativity, and who inspires people to become happily engaged with the strategy and vision of the company.

Four Paths for Finding True Meaning at Work: Engaging your Authentic Self

People want to find meaning and purpose in their work and life. Some go back to school or take a trip to Europe or Costa Rica hoping to discover who they are. Trips are a great adventure. But the saying "wherever you go there you are"  is a simple truth. It's what I call the "cosmic wild chase". The essence of who you are is already there in the stillness of the present moment. Eckhart Tolle wisely speaks of this in his life-changing book "A New Earth...Awakening to Your Life's Purpose". 

I was working with a lawyer career transition client in my coaching practice yesterday. He is unhappy as a litigator and wants to find more fulfilling work. I asked him about his motivation to go to law school. The answer wasn't surprising. He didn't know what else to do.  He is looking for part time work as a lawyer to pay the bills. Concurrently, we are working on helping him more fully understand his self and passions.

Are you looking for more meaning and passion in your work?

Awakening Meaning at Work: Three Powerful Questions to Ask Yourself

Are you in the habit of of taking time each day to reflect on what matters most?  We are usually so focused on getting through that ever-growing "To Do" list that we live in the future and not the present moment.

Many of the leaders in my executive coaching programs complain of not finding meaning in their work. We work on helping them to ponder on self-reflective questions.

What questions do you ask of yourself?

Finding True Meaning at Work: Essential Human Needs

As a leader, do you know your values at work? Are the values of the organization clear to the employees?
Do company leaders ask people what matters to them?

As the executive coach of a company CEO, we are working on him gaining further clarity.  He is gaining a fuller understanding of his values and purpose and how this helps create the company culture. We are both reading Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth...Awakening to Your Life's Purpose which focuses on being in the now and not driven by the ego. Oprah Winfrey even has a ten week webcast on the book with over 700,000 people world-wide attending!

Are you living in the moment and fully engaged in meaningful work?

    

How to Work on Purpose: Life at Work Is Like a Marriage

A lot of good people are unhappy at work. One of the main reasons is that who they are as a person
and the work culture are not a good fit.

I am frequently hired by companies to help hiring managers with their selection process. Just like good marriage their needs to be the right fit.

The more knowledge I have about the company culture the better we can predict a candidate's suitability. The goal is for both employees and the organization to share a common purpose.

Is your workplace configured to ensure that employees have meaningful work aligned with the organization's mission and values?

Meaning and the Bottom Line: Rekindling Enthusiasm and Commitment

We are a work obsessed society. We live in what I call a culture of distraction that is mostly work focused. In my travels to other countries, I have observed that people in many other countries are more focused on working to live a happy life.

A number of years ago, I gave a stress management workshop entitled How to Overcome Insomnia...The Workshop Guaranteed to Put You to Sleep! in Paris, France. After the workshop, I went out to get some dinner. I was amazed to see all of the people after work conversing at the cafes. People weren't running off to spend more time at the office. Couples having dinner in the restaurants would talk for hours.

Maybe this was the real French Paradox! Perhaps it wasn't just the red wine helping people to stay healthy and happy.

Do you live to work or work to live?   

Discovering True Meaning at Work: Do You Love Your Work?

I work with a lot of clients including lawyers who love their work. A number of my clients like their job, but want to find deeper meaning in their work. However, I see a lot people in my career and executive coaching practice that want to transition to something that is more satisfying.

Transforming your work and life involves discovering your identity, purpose and values. It takes a lot of deep soul-searching. Gaining self-insight into what you are meant to be doing takes a lot of courage and commitment. In an over thirty year career, I have developed a very powerful process to help people discover true meaning at work. It may mean finding new and creative ways to rekindle your commitment at your current work. Alternatively, it may require taking a completely different path.

Are you doing work that you love? Maybe you are hanging on for dear life!