#9 - How's Work?
Getting Creative about our careers | How’s Work? | What women leaders know about crisis management | Survival guide for couples that work at home
Here is your weekly dose of ideas for a better career. I hope you find something that resonates with you, sparks action and brings you value and joy. If you missed last week's edition which was all about power - power shifts we may be overlooking; distinction between ‘power over’ and ‘power to’; power of persuasion; power dynamic in job interviews; power to stay beautiful - you can catch up right here.
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This week, two themes shaped my thinking and research: IDEAS and Family.
IDEAS started with a simple question: When your job has vanished because of the COVID-19 pandemics, and this has caught you completely unprepared, with no resume and no clarity what to do next, where do you begin?
I believe that despite all the worry and anxiety, this forced break is a golden opportunity to sit down, catch your breath and calmly - and creatively! - reflect on your experiences. Now more than ever we need to be creative when it comes to our careers. Put simply, being more creative means having more ideas. Too often, we skip self-reflection almost entirely and jump straight into action. Self-reflection seems either unnecessary - don't I already know myself? - or complicated - you just don't know how to frame it and where to start. The problem is that immediate actions are often knee-jerk reactions, and skipping self-reflection robs you of many ideas that might not be obvious at a first glance.
Some self-reflection frameworks can be super entertaining (and sometimes onerous), yet turn out to hardly spark action. To me, various personality tests fall into this category. So I wanted to come up with something different.
I firmly believe that we are what we do, not what we think or say. So I have been thinking how to frame self-reflection so that it is
(1) inspired by action and inspires action;
(2) simple and elegant;
(3) capable to boost our creativity and make us think out of the box for the next steps.
And so I came up with IDEAS - a method that helps us get started when we are at the very beginning of our job search process. This week I introduce the method and describe its first, most crucial step.
New Article: No Job. No Resume. Where do I begin?
A quick intro to IDEAS method for self-reflection.
New Article: IDEAS Method. I - Inventory
If you give it a try, then by the end of this step you will:
Stop panicking.
Take a fresh look at your experiences.
Realise that you have not one but three resumes: Standard Resume, Personal Growth Resume and Relationship Resume.
I found inspiration for IDEAS from many different sources. Among them, one book and one podcast stand out.
Book Recommendation: A Technique for Producing Ideas
‘An idea is nothing more no less than a new combination of old elements. The capacity to bring old elements into new combinations depends largely on the ability to see relationships.’ This little book on creativity was written 80 years ago and has not taken a single wrinkle. Find out why
Podcast Recommendation: How's Work?
The work and style of Esther Perel continue to fascinate me. Her idea of a 'relationship dowry' helped shape my thinking about the Relationship Resume. 'The quality of our relationships determines the quality of our lives - both at home and at work. All the relational habits you built in life don't immediately disappear the moment you walk in the office door. 'How's Work?' podcast brings new perspective to the invisible forces that shape workplace connections.' - Listen to it
My second theme of the week - Family - came as a result of our first full week in lockdown: as a working couple and as a big family. Again, it started with a simple question.
What Do Countries with the Best Coronavirus Responses Have in Common?
'From Iceland to Taiwan and from Germany to New Zealand, women are stepping up to show the world how to manage a messy patch for our human family.' The national women leaders are showing how to handle the crisis with the truth, decisiveness, tech savvy, creativity and love. My absolute favourite is a press conference dedicated solely for kids held by Erna Solberg, Norway's Prime Minister. No adults were allowed and she patiently explained to kids why it is OK to be scared. 'How many other simple humane innovations would more female leadership unleash? Now, compare these leaders and stories with the strongmen using the crisis to accelerate authoritarianism.' - Forbes
One TED talk captured very nicely the essence of women leadership style in times of crisis.
In Uncertain Times, Think Like a Mother
'There is a way to face these big crises in the world without feeling overwhelmed and despairing. It's simple and it's powerful. It's to think like a mother. You don't have to be a woman or a parent to do this. Thinking like a mother is a lens that's available to everybody. Thinking like a mother means seeing the world through the eyes of those who are responsible for its most vulnerable people. What's at the core of thinking like a mother shouldn't be a surprise: it's love. - TED
And last but not least, here is a series of short videos that I absolutely loved. There could not be a better timing for it!
Couples That Work @ Home: The Survival Series
This series is valuable for all working couples who now find themselves juggling two careers, their relationships, and for some their kids too, under one roof 24/7. The key habit and an important trait of successful dual career couples are deliberate conversations. In this series, Jennifer Petriglieri - an INSEAD professor and author of ‘Couples That Work’ - offers a few key themes to discuss in your couple: concerns, priorities, parenting, boundaries, new routines, practicalities, support and sticking it out together. - Jennifer Petriglieri
Stay healthy, stay creative, stay together, stay in love,
Arina
Illustration: based on artwork from Diana Sudyka