Blog — Clear Career

We all try to leverage what we can to enhance our careers, and lives. Whether it’s eating healthier, getting more sleep, exercising more, or continuously learning, we’ll take any advantage we can get our hands on. But we hardly talk about neuroscience; our neuroscience, and we can use it to our advantage. Why is that? Neuroscience is the scientific study of nerves and specifically how they (the nerves) affect our learning and behavior. However, for the purpose of this blog, we’re going to think of neuroscience as the science of our brain. In a world where change is rapid, the need for understanding social behavior - and its/our neuroscience - is becoming more and more important, especially to one’s career.

So, lets talk about how you can leverage neuroscience to your advantage. Specifically, lets look into key indicators of emotional stability and instability, and how you can take control of them in an effective and strategic way. One model, SCARF, focuses on how individuals collaborate and influence each other, and the ways in which our brain provides a reward or threat response. Its main focal response points include:

Status: The word status represents the social standing that we as individuals hold in relation to others; to ourselves.
Certainty: When we are certain of things, we’re more comfortable; capable.
Autonomy: Autonomy is the belief of having control over our environment. When this happens, we feel less threatened, and can thrive
Relatedness: Relatedness ultimately determines the perceived trust of an individual or organization (whether they are in or out of our circle).
Fairness: Being treated with perceived fairness is ultimately rewarding to our brains. We feel as if we’re equal; enough.

In each of these domains of social experience there are two responses in which our brain responds; we either see them as a reward or a threat. And as we begin to understand the nature of each individual domain, we all can begin to protect ourselves from the threat responses; maximizing the reward responses.

So, lets talk about a few of the domains, and how we can minimize the threat responses within them, while maximizing the reward responses.

(1) Status:

As we discussed earlier, status simply represents the social standing that we as individuals hold in relation to others. Now, it’s important to understand that it can be very easy to threaten someone's sense of status, even by simply giving advice, suggesting that someone is ineffective with a task, or by having a micro debate. An example of this may be a job interview. In said interview the interviewee may see the interviewer as of a higher status, thus having a fearful or timid response.

Some ways to protect your status, and the status of others around you include:

Give others the opportunity to give themselves feedback
Ask questions; don’t make assumptions
Plan important conversations ahead of time; don’t just execute them at random

“When I look at a person, I see a person - not a rank, not a class, not a title.”

(2) Certainty:

Uncertainty creates discomfort, and discomfort can be negative in many different ways. An example of this may be a job seeker who doesn’t fully know what they want in a career or position (they are uncertain). Because of this, their tendencies and conversations come out as broad and not focused.

Some of the ways you can combat discomfort in yourself and your business include the following:

Create a plan or strategy
Break things down into bitesize objectives
Identify clear expectations

When things are mapped out, certainty is fostered. Just by having a plan, you can create perceived certainty for you and your business, and ultimately build a reward response for your brain.

“I act with complete certainty. But this certainty is my own.”

(3) Fairness:

Fairness is not about right vs. wrong; many situations can be equivocally both. What’s important for us to realize is this: Perceived fairness in the workplace, or in your career, helps provide unity, and things that are perceived as unfair generate a negative response.

An example of this may be one of the following situations:

The company is downsizing, but leadership is making more than ever. Fair?
A colleague works the same amount of hours as you, but they make 75% more. Fair?

“Fairness does not mean everyone gets the same. Fairness means everyone gets what they need.”

As you continue to leverage neuroscience to your advantage, it’s important to remember that you are wired for specific responses; to perceive things as rewards or threats. Through understanding the SCARF model, you’ll be able to better control your responses, and tailor them towards rewards. You’ll also be able to help others do the same.

For more questions on how neuroscience can influence your career for good, schedule a complimentary 30-minute strategy session.

References:

Rock, D. (2008), SCARF: a brain-based model for collaborating with and influencing others, NeuroLeadership Journal, Issue One

5 SECRETS MISSING IN YOUR JOB SEARCH Job seekers call me every single day and most of them have a passable resume, spend time reaching out to people on LinkedIn, go to networking events, and have in-demand, marketable skills.

These are the things most people think the job search is all about.

It’s true that these pieces are important and I help my clients take action on all of these every single day. But as I’ve talked to hundreds of job seekers, I’ve noticed that there are a few things that even the savviest of job seekers tend to overlook; things that would make all the difference in the world for them.

Here are 5 secrets that can hold you back from your next paycheck when they are missing from your job search:

#1 TURN UP YOUR HAPPINESS

Shawn Achor says it well. “Success does not mean happiness. Check out any celebrity magazine to look for examples to disabuse you of thinking that being beautiful, successful, or rich will make you happy.”

The same is true for you during your job search. If you aren’t happy during your job search, don’t expect to be happy when you land a job. The tendency is to think that a successful job search ends in happiness - landing a job. And, while this can be the case for some job seekers, a happier job seeker tends to be a more successful job lander and employee.

I’ve asked tons of employers who they’d rather hire - a skilled and happy employee, or a skilled and sad employee. You can see it. The question answers itself.

Here’s a little bit more proof that happiness is a secret.

Having a job will not make you happy and you don’t have to look too far to see evidence of this. For example, a recent Gallup poll showed that only 31.5% of employees are fully engaged at work. That leaves 68.5% who are not completely happy with their job.

How do you get happy?

From a neuroscience perspective, it’s quite simple. There are four major chemicals in the brain that influence our happiness levels: dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins. If you get more of those, your happiness increases. Getting happy isn’t rocket science or brain surgery. It’s brain science.

Here are some ways to boost your positive neurochemicals:

Go outside and get some sunlight
Listen to uplifting or soothing music
Get a massage
Exercise or take a walk
Meditate on a happy event
Laugh with some close friends or family
Close your eyes and breath deeply for 5 minutes

# 2 EXUDE SELF-CONFIDENCE

Employers buy confidence. As a career coach, I’ve seen it hundreds of times. A slightly under-qualified, yet confident job seeker who can connect with the hiring manager and team well, is more likely to land the job than a qualified job seeker who has lower self-confidence.

A confident job seeker is a successful job seeker.

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams and live the life you’ve imagined.” - Henry David Thoreau

Do you think this is just all in the imagination?

Over the last 5 weeks, I’ve been facilitating a career development class at the San Antonio Public Library and a little over a dozen job seekers regularly attend. We've really become vulnerable and grown closer as we help each other improve.

When we started the class, our time focused on fine-tuning their career goals, defining their professional brand, getting crystal clear on their job function and industry, and putting together a job search strategy. We were making some great progress.

But what do you think came up as the number one thing that got in their way of pursuing their career goals and dream job? Lack of confidence. This lack of confidence came out in different ways for each of them: self-deprecating comments, slouched shoulders, underselling their skills, and not giving themselves enough credit.

Here’s the deal - when employers pick up on your lack of self-confidence, they tend to run the other way.

Here are some ways to boost your confidence during your job search:

Repeat positive affirmations to yourself every morning
Surround yourself with supportive friends or family
Change your appearance - groom yourself, get a new haircut, get glasses, or jewelry
Dress nicely - a few new outfits in your wardrobe can dramatically boost confidence
Prepare and plan ahead - know what you want, believe you can get it, and be open to how it may come to you
Focus on the fact that you can learn how to do the job even if you’re not 100% sure you can do it right now
Express gratitude for what you’re learning during the job search process

# 3 KNOW YOUR PERSONALITY PREFERENCES

Your personality preferences are some of the most amazing things about you. They are part of what makes you...well you.

When I speak with people about their preferences, what I often hear is that they wish they were like so-and-so or if they could only be more organized or more extroverted or some other personality trait they seem to value more than their own, then their job search would be better.

You’ll get into trouble fast when you start down this road.

Theodore Roosevelt said it this way, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Your personality preferences are things to be celebrated, not assessed. Cherished, not shunned.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator© is one tool that enables you to identify your personality preferences. In fact, what prompted Katharine Cook-Briggs and Isabel Briggs-Myers, to begin developing MBTI© in the first place, was the waste of human potential during World War II. This mother-daughter team wanted to make accessible Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung’s work to everyone. Today, over 2 million MBTI© assessments are taken annually and the tool is translated into 30+ languages.

But what does this have to do with your job?

Knowing your preferences is extremely helpful as you navigate your career because it helps you communicate to others what type of work you enjoy doing and the work environments that are the most conducive to you being able to deliver immense amounts of value.

Where do you prefer to focus your attention?
How do you prefer to take in information?
How do you prefer to make decisions?
How do you prefer to order your world?

Imagine if you knew the answers to these four questions. The answer could help you decide which tasks to do at work, what type of environment you work best in, and how to develop and manage your career. Knowing your personality would also assist you in choosing which job search strategies would work best for you, picking industries that your preferences might be more attracted to, and it would give you options as to what roles may play to your preferences really well.

In fact, this is exactly what the MBTI© Career Report gives you - 10 pages of tips, tools, and strategies you can turn around and use to your advantage in job search mode. Combine this knowledge with coaching from a certified MBTI© facilitator who can guide you in the application, and you'll be able to effectively match your unique strengths to the best career environment for you.

# 4 CREATE CRYSTAL-CLEAR CLARITY

Your brain loves clarity and thrives on focus. The opposite is also true. When your brain is unclear about something, you tend to experience confusion. Confusion and the stress that accompanies it is a threat response.

When you begin looking for a new job, your brain can easily go into overload because of the lack of clarity on what it is that you want. The tendency is to focus on how your past situation could be fixed if you or someone had only done this or that. The past cannot be changed, so I recommend a forward focus. Focus on the past and that’s where you’ll stay. Focus on the future and that’s where you’ll go.

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” - Socrates

Dr. David Rock of the NeuroLeadership Institute discusses five categories of threats that can cause our brains to experience a fight, flight, or freeze response. One of these areas has to do with being certain of where you’re headed and what you want. In other words, getting crystal-clear on what you want increases your odds of getting into the calm and connect mode.

Many people tend to think that they know what they want, but if someone were to ask you right now - where do you want to take your career? Could you give me a polished paragraph of where you see yourself in 5, 10, 20, or 30 years? Chances are slim that you can articulate this clearly, but there’s no need to critique or judge yourself.

It’s time to get to work because knowing the answers to these questions will set you apart from the crowd, give you confidence, and enable you to clearly communicate your goals to potential employers.

Here are some ways to start building a clearer career path for yourself:

Write your goals down on paper; resist the urge to put your goals into a digital format - paper is real and tangible and there’s something about writing your goals down on something you can touch in real life that makes you more likely to achieve them
Use the SMART acronym to focus your goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound goals tend to happen more often than those day dreams you don’t document
Every time you have a new idea about something you want to do, write it down; writing it downs doesn’t mean that you’re committing yourself to it, it just means that you’re entertaining the idea - keep this log and regularly review it. Keep what you like, change what you want, and trash what doesn’t fit anymore.
Articulate what’s important to you in your career - get super clear on your priorities and values and don’t budge on these.
Set internal goals for yourself as well as external goals. In other words, some of your goals can only be measured by you - internal peace, joy, or happiness. Write these goals down as well. People who are less in touch with themselves won’t feel comfortable with the idea of these subjective measures, but what’s going on in your head and your heart plays out in your life.
Talk with a coach, mentor, or trusted friend - someone who can challenge your internal story. You have some amazing patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting that have enabled you to achieve your goals in life so far and when you need to take things to a new level, it requires new thinking, feeling, and action patterns. Get clear on what these are.

#5 FOCUS ON QUALITY NETWORKING

When it comes to your job search, it’s not about how many people you know. It’s all about knowing the right people. Resist the urge to begin inviting everyone on LinkedIn to join your network or following everyone on Twitter. Instead, choose targeted networking over the shotgun approach.

When it comes to networking, why is quality over quantity the way to go?

You probably already know this, but 80%+ of job opportunities out there are not advertised on sites like Monster, Careerbuilder, or Indeed. Why is this? Businesses invest a pretty penny posting a job opening, recruiting potential candidates, screening those candidates, and starting the interview process. This is money they’d generally prefer investing elsewhere.

And, employers are human like the rest of us. They tend to want to work with people who they already know, like, and trust. Like you, they tend to go with the certain over the uncertain.

As a career coach, I’ve watched it happen dozens of times. Someone who is looking to make a job transition reaches out to an acquaintance and that person is able to connect them to the person who can help them land their next job.

In real estate, the mantra is “Location. Location. Location.” In job search, the mantra is “Networking. Networking. Networking.”

If you want to take this targeted strategy over the spray and pray approach, here are a few things you can do:

Get your talking points in order by answering these questions:
- Who do you want to talk to?
- What would motivate them to speak with you?
- What do you bring to the other party?
- What makes you unique?
- What’s your targeted function and industry?
- What are you giving them in exchange for their time?
Regularly sign up for online or in-person trainings; these are great opportunities to network with the trainer or fellow trainees
Attend trade shows, conventions, or conferences: better yet, man a booth, host a breakout session, or deliver a key-note
Target specific organizations, people, or groups on LinkedIn; always have a clear reason as to why you are reaching out to someone or joining a group
Join professional associations like your chamber of commerce, business masterminds, or Toastmasters
Leverage some of your social groups like wine club, church, or country club
Connect with past professors, mentors, or teachers who are well-connected; they may not be able to help you find a job, but they probably will know someone who you should get to know
Reach out to industry specific recruiters who have a reputation for doing great work; all recruiters are not created equal, find a good one that you enjoy working with
Keep following up with your networking contacts - create a frequency that keeps your name at the top of their radar, but doesn’t make them wince they get another phone call or email from you

If you want someone to come alongside you and help you identify your career goals, assemble a short and long-term career management strategy, or simply get your next job faster, schedule a consultation here.

Are You Leveraging Neuroscience In Your Career?

5 Secrets Missing In Your Job Search