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April 2009 Newsletter: Time to glow
When the political commentator, John Sergeant resigned his place in the UK television dance competition ‘Strictly Come Dancing,’ he famously said that: “It’s time to leave the party before the party gets rough.”
John came to mind this week when I said: “Thanks and no thanks” to a couple of invitations to continue doing some work where the sense of fun and excitement had fizzled out like flat tonic water.
In these difficult financial conditions, it’s tempting to hold onto opportunities from a position of fear. After all, who knows where the economy is heading, and maybe we’ve seen nothing yet of how bad things will become. So I was heartened to read a piece by Professor Lynda Gratton from the London Business School from her new book called: ‘Glow:how you can radiate energy, innovation and success.”
Professor Gratton’s research has shown that the majority of people spend less than 20% of their working lives feeling energised, engaged and innovative. Yet, to stay ahead it’s going to be those who radiate positive energy, creativity and success who will keep their jobs.
She offers three key things to focus on if you too want to glow:
What we can never do is to expect companies to provide this kind of glowing environment for us: it’s up to us to learn how to motivate ourselves, our colleagues and our communities to build the environment we need in order to glow.
My encouragement to you this month is never to be afraid to leave a job or turn down an opportunity where you cannot glow. It may take courage to walk away, yet you’ll never look back when you pay attention to your energy, get out in the world and extend your connections in different areas. Otherwise you will become another sad statistic: a recent UK survey of 60 year olds in Britain showed that almost 75% of them had strong regrets about their choice of work.
The confident choice is to take risks, follow your dreams now rather than looking back in the future with regret. Now is a time to take great opportunities for change. Be prepared to leave the party before the party gets rough.
Best wishes
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