Meaningful work
When your work is aligned with your genius and who you really are, it’s easy to feel like it’s got real meaning for you. As a reminder, I believe there are four main parts to having meaningful work:
- Mission – you and the people you work with all want the same thing
- Environment – you enjoy being in the space and with the people at your work
- Activity – you get to play the role you are best at in the team
- Nature – you get to use your genius and to bring your whole self to your work
This post is about the third element, Activity.
Doing what you do best
Obviously a big part of feeling aligned with your work is the functional stuff that you get to do. If you’re great at crunching numbers, you’re probably going to feel a bit out of sorts if you’re expected to do work that involves creative design. And the reverse is obviously true too. Or if you like to think things through before coming out with an answer, you’re going to struggle a bit with fast-moving activities.
I could go on, but I’m sure you get the point – it’s when you’re doing what you prefer that you feel most aligned in your work.
Playing the best role for you
And you also need to think about whether your work allows you to play the role in the team that is best suited to your particular genius. Are you best as the top dog CEO, or are you better in more of the team-leader position? Maybe you’re a leader, or you could be a better follower. As an aside, there is nothing wrong with being a follower, the best leaders only get noticed when they have a great follower to help them actually get things done.
Some people are great at new ideas, while others do a far better job when they have something clear to implement. A world full of ideas people without the completer-finisher types (see Belbin team roles) to actually do stuff is a recipe for disaster. Others are great at leading from the front, while others take more of a coaching approach, and help others to bring out the best in themselves (that’s me, with my Core Process of En-Couraging Potential).
Being the best you can be
When you get to do the functional stuff you’re great at, and you get to do it in the way that best suits your way of working, that’s when everything aligns beautifully, and not only is your work a delight, but you produce much better results.
So make a point of understanding not only what your functional genius is, but also how you like to deliver it.
Because that’s how you’re going to make the biggest difference in the world.
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