Inspire
What is ‘good work’?
I’ve put the heating on; chatted like a cracked record about dark evenings; wiped away pre-schooler tears at nursery and had a surge in career-related coaching enquiries – you can tell what time of year it is! So this month’s article follows on from what you’ve been calling me about and inspiration in particular comes from Kirsty, a career-changing forty-something who’s training to be a midwife.
No definite answers from me, just thoughts and ideas to help guide your thinking and work things out.
I do an ‘agony aunt’ type Q&A in LOOK magazine every week and over the last three years the most often asked question is whether, for example, Charlotte, 31, from Leeds, should move jobs or change career because she’s not enjoying what she’s doing at the moment. I think what Charlotte’s really wondering – on behalf of all of us who’ve ever questioned the ‘rightness’ of the job we’re doing – is:
- Am I normal?
- Have I actually got it quite good, all things considered?
- Is this as good as it gets?
- How can I be sure there’s not something better out there?
- How do I decide whether or not to move on?
And my brief replies to those unspoken questions: absolutely; probably; it depends on your perception; you can’t; weigh up the potential risks and rewards.
Thinking more globally about work and when it’s time for a change I think it’s worth going back to basics and considering what ‘good work’ is. I believe it encompasses three things:
- Using your unique blend of strengths and skills in a satisfying and stretching way
- Understanding how what you do makes a difference, feeling your work is worthwhile
- Being fairly and sufficiently rewarded
We know from psychology research into people whose lives are going well, that ‘engagement’ and ‘meaning’ are central components of life satisfaction and well-being^ and my third point is common sense, backed up by equity theory – if we don’t feel there’s a fair exchange we lose motivation. Good work isn’t about earning loads of cash though, we just need to earn enough.^^
So how good is your work? How are you doing on each of those three elements?
Let’s be real, no job is hunky-dorey all the time: a role that ticks those boxes 80% of the time is probably the closest any of us gets to ‘perfect’ work. If a career change is on your mind you might think about each of those components separately and weigh up how the work you’re doing now compares against other avenues you might like to explore. My door is open if you’d like to work through your thoughts and move forward, even just for a one-off coaching session.
Kirsty quits retail for midwifery
Kirsty has just turned 40, has three kids and used to work in retail until she took nine years off to look after the children. She told me, “At 39 it felt like now or never. It was a calling, my retail work was just about paying the bills but doing the midwifery is more than a means to an end. It’s the caring aspect that really appeals, that’s what’s important to me and I knew I just had to apply.” And so Kirsty applied to do something that fills the ‘meaning’ and ‘engagement’ gaps and got not one but three university acceptances – a 100% strike rate – which is brilliant, and the story doesn’t stop there. Whilst at her local council office last month, Kirsty got chatting to a lady working on reception and before they knew it they were swapping life stories. It came out that midwifery is something lady-on-reception has thought wistfully about for ages but never acted on, so fired up by Kirsty’s tale, she phoned Kirtsy last week to say she’s got herself a place on the access to higher education course for health professionals that Kirsty completed. Wonderful!
^e.g. see Park, Peterson & Seligman (2004). Strengths of character and well-being. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 23, 603-619.
^^e.g. see Diener & Biswas-Diener (2002). Will money increase subjective wellbeing? Social Indicators Research, 57, 119-169.
More inspiration?
Take a look at the treasure chest page of my website for signposts to more career-related inspiration. Also dig out your copy of LOOK magazine (with Leona Lewis on the cover) for the feel-good feature “We Halved Our Salaries But Doubled Our Happiness” where I’ve written supporting tips on how to get your dream job and cope with the pay cut.
And finally, take inspiration from Rose Tremain’s “The Road Home.” This extract is Christy, an Irish plumber in London, talking to his lodger, Lev, a polish immigrant looking for work:
‘Well. This was a bad day for you. Shite twenty-four hours. And I’m sorry for it all. But for me it was pretty good. I mean, I have to say it was exceptional, really. When I got that boiler going for Jasmina – and it was a wreck of a heatin’ system – I had this sudden feeling of… euphoria. Know what I mean? Complete fuckin’ eejit joy! And I thought, Jesus, Christy Slane, maybe after all you can quit the booze and get back to work. I thought that for the first time in months. Because, you know, I like that plumbing work. I’ve never not liked it. I can get a hard-on looking at a nice run of compression fittings. I’m not jokin’.’
Jessica
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About the author
Name: Jessica Chivers
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Website: http://www.beyoubutbetter.co.uk
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