Some may find this bimonthly message a bit off the norm. However, since it is my last message as Interim Dean I thought I would take a somewhat different approach, one that might be helpful to some folks as they assess their work situation at the University. This message is about helping you assess whether you are happy in your job and a good fit for what you are doing.
Happiness at work is the subject of much research and attention these days. What surveys have found is that what most people want today is a good job. This is a different goal than say just 30 years ago, according to the book, “The coming Jobs War” by Jim Clifton of Gallup. Having a good job is a win, win for both employee and employer. Research has shown that having the right job makes people happy, happy people work harder, and happy people generally have a better quality of life, are less likely to get sick and live longer. Not a bad outcome.
Lisa Dzintars-Pahwul, managing director in talent acquisition at New York Stock Exchange Euronext feels that employees are happiest when they can use their personality and character strengths in their jobs. Strengths come from talents. According to the Gallup organization, talents are the reliable, innate features of our personalities, our inborn paths (enduring patterns of thought, feeling and behavior) to high levels of performance. Talents become strengths when they're combined with skills, knowledge, and a final crucial element: practice. However job happiness is not just about a good match between your strengths and the strengths the job requires, but also resilience according to psychologist from the University of Pennsylvania. Resilience (mental toughness) is the ability to bounce back from adversity.
We are now living in a world where change is constant and accordingly requires a different set of knowledge, skills and talents/strengths. Even if everything went well in your position in the past, things may not match up quite the same way today. It is not easy working in this global, competitive environment of 2012.
We all have our good and bad days in our positions, however if you truly are not happy in your position, it is in your best interest to figure out why and to do something about it. Hopefully you will discover that you just have not adequately aligned your strengths with the strengths required of your position and working together with your supervisor you adjust accordingly. There are tools out there to help you identify and apply your strengths. Also, it may require realizing that you must attain a new level of mental toughness. In most situations things can be made better.
However, there will be those situations where that alignment just does not exist and then a different course of action is needed. That doesn’t mean that you are a failure, it just means that you have not found that right job for you, and your strengths. It is important to realize that talents cannot be taught. Talents begin to develop in childhood and stabilize in adulthood. Everyone has talents that convert into strengths; the key is matching them up with the right position. While realizing you are not in the right position is a tough decision to make, it could make a big difference in your happiness, positive emotions and health.
Thank you all for your support provided me this last three months while serving as Interim Dean. A special thanks to the administrators and staff in the UNL Extension Deans office. These are quality professionals who make things happen. It was a great experience and I learned a lot about Extension and the importance of the organization to the state. Best of luck to everyone as you move forward with excitement and a new future as we welcome Dean Charles “Chuck” Hibberd home to Nebraska.
-- Alan Moeller