The world is full of career advice. Everyone seems to have an opinion about what you should learn, where you should work, and what you need to do for a successful career. Go to an Ivy League school, study STEM, learn data science, start a side hustle—the list of suggestions goes on and on.
Albert Einstein famously said, “Once you stop learning, you start dying.” Humans are naturally curious and inquisitive; when we learn, we grow. So what happens when you feel like you are in a position where you have nothing left to learn and nowhere to grow?
There are a lot of things that contribute to a corporate culture, and many organizations put a lot of effort into building a strong culture. Culture is hard to define, and it can look different to people at the top of the organization than it is does to those employees working down in the trenches. Just like many things in life, the best intentions might not always play out how you want them to. So how do you know if the culture you actually have is good or bad?
Every person and talent executive I have spoken with in the past few years has referenced diversity and inclusion as a key focus area. Diversity covers a wide range of topics—it means having a diverse group of people based on gender, religion, race, generation, sexual orientation, and more. The Royal Bank of Canada has a great definition of diversity and inclusion: “In simple terms, diversity is the mix of people; inclusion is getting the mix to work well together.”
We’ve all heard stories of people who have worked so hard that they’ve died on the job. But what about other side effects that might not be as visible? Studies have found that office workers, especially in demanding conditions, have a number of increased health risks, such as higher risks for obesity, heart disease, cancer, and more from sitting for most of the day, even it they work out regularly.
If there’s one thing humans are good at, it’s building things that do what they are supposed to do. From cars to engines, phones, and computers, we’ve been doing it throughout time—we design things, and those items do what they are intended to do.
The same is true for the organizations we design and build. We’re the ones who have created these systems, yet we get mad or surprised when they do exactly what we designed them to do.
During my weekly podcast The Future of Work Podcast, I ask a few fun questions of my guests to get to know them better. I often ask who they would have dinner with if they could choose anyone alive or dead. The question stumps many of them, but the wide variety of answers show just diverse and interesting these people are.
Work is a team sport that relies on multiple people and groups coming together to achieve something. These teams can either be formally structured or be created on as as-needed basis. Sometimes these teams comprise individuals in the same geographic location, but in today’s globally distributed and connected world, it’s far more likely that these teams are spread out all over the world.
It’s no surprise that having a sense of purpose is a huge part of building culture. A sense of purpose helps employees feel connected to the organization and helps the organization make sure employees are doing their best work because they want to, not because they need to. But is this sense of purpose something the organization has to provide, or is it something that employees have to bring with them? The answer is both.
Just because leaders have made it to the top of the business world doesn’t mean they always have their noses in business books. I talk with top leaders in HR, business, and entrepreneurship every week on my podcast The Future of Work Podcast, and I enjoy seeing what these successful people are like outside the office. One thing they have in common: they all like to read. Their book recommendations show just how varied their personalities are.
