I recently was contacted by the Human Resources Director of a San Francisco Bay Area law firm. She was interested in me speaking on career mojo and employee engagement at their leadership retreat in Northern California. She specifically wanted to know how I worked with executive coaching clients and law firms to unleash employees’ intrinsic motivation, and enhance their career development and engagement.
The HR Director and I spoke about my approach to executive/career coaching, and the factors that can tap into employees’ mojo or positive spirit. We also spoke about the Gallup organization’s findings on employee engagement. Employee engagement has been at an historic low level. Organizational leaders need to tap into peoples’ inherent motivation and creative drive to boost the number of actively engaged employees from the paltry 33 percent reported by the Gallup Organization.”
People want work that is aligned with their intrinsic motivation seeking mastery, autonomy, purpose and self-direction. Employees want their work to be meaningful in order to be happy and fully engaged. However, a number of people make career mistakes that jeopardize their career success. Inspiring leaders provide resources and support to help their people make the right career decisions.
The Human Resource Director is interested in me speaking at a workshop about how my leadership coaching clients that have created meaningful work and are resilient and happy. She also wanted me to address how firm leaders could regain their mojo, and stay engaged if they had slipped into nojo and become disengaged. We further discussed how organizational leaders can benefit by working with an executive/career coach to enhance their career satisfaction and productivity.
In Mojo: How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back If You Lose It, leadership expert Marshall Goldsmith lists seven common career mistakes.
Common Career Mistakes
Goldsmith lists seven professional mistakes that contribute to career failures in otherwise competent, successful and smart people:
1. Over-committing
2. Waiting for the Facts to Change
3. Looking for Logic in All the Wrong Places
4. Bashing the Boss
5. Refusing to Change Because of “Sunk Costs”
6. Confusing the Mode You’re in
7. Maintaining Pointless Arguments
a. Let me keep talking.
I had it rougher than you.
b. Why did you do that?
The managing partner and I are working on improving his self-awareness and listening skills. He tends to talk a lot and convince everyone that he is right. He has a “big ego” which inhibits his effectiveness as a leader. Coaching has helped him learn to decrease his need to be right, and be more collaborative with the firm partners. He has learned to stop maintaining pointless arguments to stroke his ego.
7. Maintaining Pointless Arguments
Arguing happens anytime you put a group of intelligent, successful people into a room and give them a problem to solve. It also happens simply because people have egos, and it’s human nature to compete with other members of the tribe.
Arguing can put our mojo at risk by needlessly creating enemies instead of allies. Many arguments are traps in which we fight to improve our status among the tribe, rather than to solve a problem for the greater good.
Learn to avoid the following argument traps that do nothing more than zap your spirit:
a. Let me keep talking: Everyone has opinions and enjoys expressing them. In fact, we feel it’s our right to do so. Sometimes, however, we just can’t stop; we have to have the last word. It can be very hard for smart people to “just let it go.”
b. I had it rougher than you: When we revel in how poor we were and how much we had to overcome to achieve our current station in life, all we’re doing is trying to elicit other people’s admiration. What’s the point?
c. Why did you do that? We’ll never know people’s true motivations. We can speculate with generosity or paranoia, but we never may get a completely frank answer. Why waste hours trying to get to the bottom of why people do things? It will only exhaust your mojo.
Are you working in a professional services firm or other organization where executive coaches are hired to provide career and leadership development for organizational leaders? Does your organization provide executive coaching to help leaders sustain their career mojo? During challenging economic times, leaders at all levels need to improve their emotional intelligence and social intelligence skills as part of overall career development.
One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Am I willing to stop maintaining pointless arguments to massage my ego?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations, provide executive coaching and career development for leaders who want to maximize their career mojo and be fully engaged at work.
The HR Director and I spoke about my approach to executive/career coaching, and the factors that can tap into employees’ mojo or positive spirit. We also spoke about the Gallup organization’s findings on employee engagement. Employee engagement has been at an historic low level. Organizational leaders need to tap into peoples’ inherent motivation and creative drive to boost the number of actively engaged employees from the paltry 33 percent reported by the Gallup Organization.”
People want work that is aligned with their intrinsic motivation seeking mastery, autonomy, purpose and self-direction. Employees want their work to be meaningful in order to be happy and fully engaged. However, a number of people make career mistakes that jeopardize their career success. Inspiring leaders provide resources and support to help their people make the right career decisions.
The Human Resource Director is interested in me speaking at a workshop about how my leadership coaching clients that have created meaningful work and are resilient and happy. She also wanted me to address how firm leaders could regain their mojo, and stay engaged if they had slipped into nojo and become disengaged. We further discussed how organizational leaders can benefit by working with an executive/career coach to enhance their career satisfaction and productivity.
In Mojo: How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back If You Lose It, leadership expert Marshall Goldsmith lists seven common career mistakes.
Common Career Mistakes
Goldsmith lists seven professional mistakes that contribute to career failures in otherwise competent, successful and smart people:
1. Over-committing
2. Waiting for the Facts to Change
3. Looking for Logic in All the Wrong Places
4. Bashing the Boss
5. Refusing to Change Because of “Sunk Costs”
6. Confusing the Mode You’re in
7. Maintaining Pointless Arguments
a. Let me keep talking.
I had it rougher than you.
b. Why did you do that?
c. It’s not fair.
As you think about these potential pitfalls, try to pinpoint the ones to which you’re predisposed. I will focus on the seventh career mistake in this seven part article series.
I am the executive coach for the managing partner of a San Francisco law firm. The managing partner’s competency-based 360 feedback survey indicated that he needs to improve his listening skills and be less argumentative with members of the firm’s leadership team. I have been doing a lot of training in emotional intelligence for the law firm.The managing partner and I are working on improving his self-awareness and listening skills. He tends to talk a lot and convince everyone that he is right. He has a “big ego” which inhibits his effectiveness as a leader. Coaching has helped him learn to decrease his need to be right, and be more collaborative with the firm partners. He has learned to stop maintaining pointless arguments to stroke his ego.
7. Maintaining Pointless Arguments
Arguing happens anytime you put a group of intelligent, successful people into a room and give them a problem to solve. It also happens simply because people have egos, and it’s human nature to compete with other members of the tribe.
Arguing can put our mojo at risk by needlessly creating enemies instead of allies. Many arguments are traps in which we fight to improve our status among the tribe, rather than to solve a problem for the greater good.
Learn to avoid the following argument traps that do nothing more than zap your spirit:
a. Let me keep talking: Everyone has opinions and enjoys expressing them. In fact, we feel it’s our right to do so. Sometimes, however, we just can’t stop; we have to have the last word. It can be very hard for smart people to “just let it go.”
b. I had it rougher than you: When we revel in how poor we were and how much we had to overcome to achieve our current station in life, all we’re doing is trying to elicit other people’s admiration. What’s the point?
c. Why did you do that? We’ll never know people’s true motivations. We can speculate with generosity or paranoia, but we never may get a completely frank answer. Why waste hours trying to get to the bottom of why people do things? It will only exhaust your mojo.
d. It’s not fair: You disagree with a decision that has been made. Worse, you believe you haven’t been given a legitimate explanation. Arguing won’t change the outcome and makes you look childish. Deal with it. Save your precious mojo.
These four “losing” arguments have the same end result: no change in outcome. Look for ways to make your point, and then move on, with your mojo intact.Are you working in a professional services firm or other organization where executive coaches are hired to provide career and leadership development for organizational leaders? Does your organization provide executive coaching to help leaders sustain their career mojo? During challenging economic times, leaders at all levels need to improve their emotional intelligence and social intelligence skills as part of overall career development.
One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Am I willing to stop maintaining pointless arguments to massage my ego?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations, provide executive coaching and career development for leaders who want to maximize their career mojo and be fully engaged at work.
Working with an experienced executive/career coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-I and Denison Culture Survey can help your people tap into their intrinsic motivation and create happy companies where people love to work. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision, mission and strategy of your company or law firm.
I am currently accepting new executive coaching, career coaching, and leadership consulting clients. I work with both individuals and organizations. Call 415-546-1252 or send an inquiry e-mail to [email protected].
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