Are you happy and successful at work?

January 12th, 2012 by Gary Hales - MBA

Are you happy and successful at work?

We spend so much of our lives at work but how many of us are doing a job that we are happy in and being successful at?

To achieve success and happiness at work, it’s important that you are using your strengths as often as possible.  Now it’s unrealistic to expect a job to be 100% perfect all the time but ideally you should be using those skills which you are strongest at, and enjoy doing, 70-80% of the time.  If you’re not then you’re unlikely to be successful and even less likely to enjoy your job.  A coach is going to have a challenging job working with you to improve your life if you remain in an unsuitable job or career!

So what are your strengths?  A good way to look at what your strengths are and how best they can be used in your work or career, is to look at Howard Gardner’s “Multiple Intelligences Model”.  This is a great way to “chunk up” your skill set and understand ,on a broader level, what you are likely to be good at.

We are all familiar with IQ and most people are aware of EQ (emotional intelligence) but Gardner identifies some different “intelligences”.  By understanding where your strengths are in relation to these intelligences, your coach and yourself can work much more effectively to assist you in achieving success in your career.  So are you strong:

  • Verbally/ Linguistically?  Are you able to communicate well to others, expressing yourself and understanding what others are saying?  Do you find it easy to make up stories?
  • Logically and with Maths?  Can you quickly and easily pick up the underlying principles and causes of a problem or remember telephone numbers easily?
  • Visually/ Spatially?  Do you “see” things in your mind and find it easy to understand graphs, charts and diagrams?
  • Musically/ Rhythmically?  Can you easily hear patterns, recognize them and often have a song in your head?
  • Bodily/ Kinesthetically?  Are you well-co-ordinated and enjoy playing a sport or dancing?  Do you like adrenaline sports and scary rides?
  • In the Naturalist area?  Are you sensitive and caring towards wildlife, pets and enjoy gardens and parks?
  • Intrapersonally?  Do you have a good level of self-understanding, knowing who you are and what you can do?  Do you like individual sports best and find it easy to set plans and goals for the future?
  • Interpersonally?  Do you have an ability to understand other people?  Are you very sociable and like being with other people?
  • Existentially?  Do you often consider questions around what is life and death?

Understanding where your strengths lie in terms of your “intelligences” is critical in helping you find a job and a career that is most suited to you.  With your children, it’s good to help them to develop skills in all of the above intelligences as they are progressing through their childhood and adolescence.

You will be the most successful and happiest when you are learning, developing and working where you can make the best use of your natural intelligences.  Your coach is there to help you make the most of your life with the skills and abilities you have been blessed with.  A fundamental building block in coaching is to assist a client in developing their self-awareness.  Knowing what your strengths are is a fantastic starting point to get you on the road to a happy and successful career!