How to find your career sweet spot

By Dr. Doug Gilbert

You’ve heard what Confucius “said”: Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.

Sounds good. But, how do you find this elusive work satisfaction?

It’s hidden in the career “sweet spot” – the intersection of three key factors:

• Interests – what excites you
• Skills and abilities – acquired and natural talents; things you can do easily
• Personality – the way you like to work and relate to others

If your day-to-day work doesn’t intersect these three factors, then your current job could be holding you back. Individuals who align who they are with what they do find greater work satisfaction and, often, greater success.

Diagnose your current career situation by asking yourself three questions:

• Am I interested in my work?
• Am I underutilizing or not using an important skill?
• Does my personality match my workplace?

If there’s a fundamental mismatch between who you are and what you do, then it could be costing you in the forms of stress and job dissatisfaction.

And you’re not the only one who suffers.

Teams and organizations are stronger when there is a clear understanding of what each individual brings to the workplace. And, “bringing out” the value of others is critical in building an effective team.

So, how do I “reinvent” my career?

Think of yourself as a one-person business. Then, draw your personal business model. It’s not that hard.

In fact, you can draw your personal business model in a single-page exercise.

Start by asking key questions such as:

• Who are my customers?
• What value do I provide?
• What is my revenue? How am I rewarded for the value that I provide?
• What key resources do I need?
• Are there any key partners that I rely upon?
• What expenses will I incur financially? What “soft” costs will I incur, like work-life balance or stress?

Using these answers as the building blocks, you can start to align your skills, talents and interests with meaningful work.

Learn more

Dr. Doug Gilbert will explain the business model philosophy and how to apply it to your personal career path at a free professional development opportunity at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 8. As a contributor to the book “Business Model You: A One-Page Method for Reinventing Your Career”, Dr. Gilbert leverages a diverse business and organizational background to provide insight into personal business models. His work has included international executive positions for a European pharmaceutical company and working in a “Big Four” strategy and transformation consulting practice.

For more information about this free learning opportunity, call 303-446-5850 or email denver.admissions@rockies.edu.