Marble Jar Gang Career Counseling: Personal Profile - Part I

The basic premise or formula is to recognize that when your skills + traits + behaviors are placed in the right environment the outcome will give you a greater chance of success and happiness in your work.

In the first four posts, we’ve have been able to start to understand your skills, traits and behaviors along with the importance of the environment. This is the first of two posts where we will begin to develop your ‘best work’ profile. This week we will investigate what motivates you, what excites you and where you find your enjoyment.

“He who has a why can endure any how.” - Fredrick Nietzsche

Finding your ‘why’ doesn’t have to be complicated but it does take some thought. There are many philosophies on this important discovery. Take a look at one of our favorite videos on 'why' from Simon Sinek https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZoJKF_VuA Feel free to browse around on your own as you will find many. This is the MJG offering as we found it impactful.

WHY? The first step in your personal profile. Fill in the blank with 1-5 words that perfectly describes you. Concentrate on your work for the first profile but consider doing a personal one and compare the alignments, or contrast.

I am _____________(your name).

What I love to do is_____________________________(a task or activity from your work day, think about what gives you the greatest reward or value to your position)

I do it for______________________________________(make this an action statement that is people oriented not self-oriented)

What those people want or need from me is ___________________(the payoff or value of the action described in the above point)

This is how they change_____________________________(how do you effect their decision making, behavior, attitude or inspiration)

FINAL INSTRUCTIONS: Put this all together in five sentences and continue to tweak until you are certain that this describes your WHY! Ask a few friends to listen to your paragraph and see if they agree. When you are satisfied with your first step in your profile development, place a marble in your jar because now you know WHY.

Next is When, Where, What and How.