3 myths that may be killing you at work

Do you ever feel like you have to leave the best part of yourself at home while you slug it out in a job that leaves you feeling lifeless? You are not alone.

Many of my clients report this particular form of Hell. Many feel trapped working in an environment that does not bring out their best, yet they can’t afford to leave. Others hit a beyond-tolerance point and do leave, but find themselves right back in the same situation in the next job.

What is going on? Why do many feel cursed, experiencing the same deadening inside regardless of the job they are on? It sounds like something out of the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. In that movie he wakes up each day to realize it is the same day. Despite all kinds of crazy attempts to change the day so that his life can go on, he is stuck in this weird time trap.

It may not be the job.

It may be what you believe.

When listening to clients, I often hear a pattern of faulty thinking. Marcus Buckingham explores these as myths in “Now Discover Your Strengths”. He is one of the early thinkers of the “strengths-focus” that swept business and education. I still find his work, and in particular the myths he identified, very relevant in the challenges facing many of my clients.

Remember the days of grabbing your report card at school, scanning past the ‘A”s and ‘B’s, to lock in on the ‘C’s and ‘D’s? And your parents did the same, yes? Did you spend a lot of time and energy targeting on how to raise the lower grades and ignoring the good marks?

The wisdom of today is to leverage your strengths. Know what they are and use them to pull up your weaker areas.

This makes sense, right? Unfortunately, large numbers of the workforce believe they work in jobs that do not play to their strengths, according to Gallup polls.

Are they in the wrong job? Maybe. But more likely they are buying into 3 key myths that Buckingham described:

Myth 1: As you grow older you are supposed to change. You are supposed to mature and drop away the dreams you had as a kid. Those dreams were foolish.

A truth: As you grow, you actually become more of who you really are. The point of life isn’t to grow into something or somebody, but to leverage the real you — the you that started with those dreams and fantasies as a kid. So go back and dust those off. Take a look at what they have to tell you.

Myth 2: To grow, you must develop and eradicate your weaknesses.

A truth: Focus on your strengths. Identify what you are good at and grow those. First of all, they will be your default under stress — the things you can rely on when it hits the fan. Second, knowing and working your strengths allows you to leverage them around your weaknesses. For example: I know I have good people skills. I can get into relationship easily. That comes in very handy when I am thrown into a new job or new environment. I can rely on those skills to get connected with people who can help me.

Myth 3: The team wants you to sacrifice or ignore your strengths and do what the team needs. In other words, somehow play smaller or sacrifice yourself for the good of the team.

A truth: It is better for you and the team for you to share your strengths and preferences with the team. Figure out what your best is and bring it to them — often. That is where synergy comes from and that is what contributes to high performing teams. You may have to sub-optimize your desires to optimize the team effectiveness, but you contribute best by bringing your best.

What I have learned for myself and with my clients is you have more control over how you experience work than you think. It may not be about needing to change jobs — it may be about changing your beliefs about the job.

Do you see these myth mindsets playing out in you? In someone you are trying to help?

Originally published at http://davidschoof.com .