CK Taneja - Hidden Strengths
My former career coach, Alison Cardy, has a podcast she calls “To a Billion with Joy”, where she interviews all sorts of interesting people, particularly in how they pursued their passion into a career. In episode 6, she interviewed CK Taneja, and he has some wonderful insights I’d love to share with you.
If you’d like to hear the whole episode, you can check it out here – https://www.toabillionwithjoy.com/beautiful-souls-podcast-month-one/.
Also, Alison and her team of career coaches really are phenomenal. If you’re looking to rediscover your passion at work (or to find somewhere – a new career? – that’s a better fit for you), I highly recommend speaking with them. You can learn more at CardyCareerCoaching.com.
Back to CK’s insights… You may remember my own better-workplace framework from an earlier posting and how I find that everything comes back to the same four cornerstones of work satisfaction and productivity: purpose/meaning, mastery/growth, autonomy, and connection/community. As I listened to CK, his ideas fit seamlessly into my framework. Here’s how:
Purpose – CK discusses the importance of aligning each individual’s mission with their organization’s purpose. Once an employee understands how their work fits into the larger goals of the company – and how those goals accomplish something that is personally meaningful and fulfilling for them – they will pull in the same direction you want to go. They will work with you (not against you), they will often put in extra effort or diligence, and they will need less guidance and redirection (though not none. Everyone likes some validation that what they’re doing is appreciated). Ensuring this alignment is good for the organization and for your team member.
How can you help each person on your team see how their values and ideals line up with those of your organization?
Mastery – CK also recommends we look for the “hidden strengths” in others.
What are they good at, specifically what are they good at that others don’t recognize?
How can you give them recognition for those strengths?
Everyone wants to have mastery of a skill, to be good at something.
What opportunities or professional development can you provide to your team members to allow them to gain skills, knowledge, and mastery?
Autonomy – Lastly, CK encourages us to remember to empower our people. He notes that people want to do the right thing, and they often know how to do that (and their everyday tasks) without us micromanaging them. To help them be successful, we need to be sure they have the resources they need, and we can also help by getting any barriers to success out of their way (including us!).
Do you know what your people need? How will you find out what else they could use?
In what ways can you minimize the obstacles, red tape, and bottlenecks that slow them down or that keep them from getting where they want to be?
Connection – While CK doesn’t specifically mention anything in his short interview about building a community within your team/workplace, I’m sure he’d agree with me that this is what keeps your people coming back to work day after day. The relationships that your employees have with you and with one another are what makes work enjoyable and worth showing up to day in and day out.
What are some ways you can help to build a sense of community within your team?
How do you initially bring people into your work team? (Are you considering their needs as well as what you and your leaders are good at?)
In what ways can you foster and strengthen connections among coworkers?
How does your organization show it cares about each person?