Assess Your Workplace for Sustainable Ambition
Does your workplace support the concept of Sustainable Ambition?
One of the P’s for Right Effort is Place, meaning does your work environment support you in finding Sustainable Ambition and support the type of life you are seeking?
This one may admittedly be hard to attain unless you work for yourself, as companies need to change to accommodate this view. Yet, you do have the choice of trying to find a company that invests in its employee experience, has built a great culture, and supports a sustainable workload.
We provide a perspective here to give you a start in assessing your workplace on if they support the concept of Sustainable Ambition in principle. We also put forth if there are actions you can take yourself and/or ask for that would get you closer to Right Success, Right Aspiration, and Right Effort with your current employer.
Right Success:
If your company doesn’t have an articulated Purpose, Vision, Mission & Values, define these for your own group at minimum. If you’re in the top spot, get this work done for yourself and your team. If you’re not, ask your leader if this is something the organization could take on.
Ask if you can direct your energy towards more of your responsibilities or a new project that align with your flow experiences. If you are in charge of your own scope of work, redefine your own tasks towards more flow-state activities.
Right Aspiration:
If needed and desired, have conversations that explore potential career, role, and job options to realign your pace.
Or, if you are highly engaged right now in your career, ask for new assignments that develop new skills, challenge you in new ways, and/or put you on the path towards the next job rung you are targeting.
Building on the above point, pay attention to how you are feeling about your career and keep an eye towards what’s next. Own your career development and progression. Be deliberate about moving up and get the skills and capabilities you need to make your next move. Look for pivots that build from where you stand today and move you forward in the direction you want to head. And don’t be afraid to ask for the opportunities you seek. Too often we sit back expecting organizations to recognize us and give us opportunity. Much better for them to see you as eager and ask for what you want.
Right Effort:
Get clear on your priorities with your boss, even if that’s a Board of Directors. Gain alignment on where you can make the most impact and where you are going to put your effort and deliver excellence.
See what you might be able to deprioritize and get off your plate.
Look for other small changes that might make a big impact such as starting work at a later time to do drop offs and avoid traffic, leaving early on some days and finishing work at home, having one day every other week at home, or working a 9/80 work schedule (work nine days every two weeks getting one day off, but hold to your total hours).
Is there an HR program you want to champion or spearhead for your organization that would benefit you and others?
This is just a start.
There’s more work to do on this front to make the places we work more supportive of Sustainable Ambition. We’ll share more as we develop our thinking around this important topic.
If you have any specific challenges you are wondering about or ideas and solutions that have worked for you, please share them with us.
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Sustainable Ambition™ is about crafting a fulfilling career to support your life from decade to decade.
It is centered around articulating your personal definition of success and achieving that without burnout while honoring your personal aspirations and ambitions as they ebb and flow over time. The end game—more fulfillment and ease in your professional and personal life, while still being ambitious.
We offer 1:1 Executive Coaching, Leadership Coaching, or Career Strategy Coaching, as well as VIP Leadership Brand Sessions and Workshops on a range of Sustainable Ambition topics. We also provide tips and inspiration, advice on career management over the decades, guides on key Sustainable Ambition topics of interest, and coverage of tools and inspiration.