In our industrial age, most employees performed recurring tasks in the manufacturing of products. There was not a lot of formal and creative thinking required; rather, compliance to policy and following procedures generally created a good product. How employees felt, and what they thought, were generally not welcomed into the impersonal production process. We managed people by command and control – dictating and telling. It was effective; that is why we did it.

But that is not today’s workplace. In today’s intellectual age, our employees are face-to-face with customers, not behind machines. They must connect personally and emotionally with customers – they must be thinking and feeling – in order to earn customers’ loyalty. Every customer event must be right, but few customer events are exactly the same. That means employees must be ready, thinking and connecting in order to know how to make the service event right and memorable.

Command-and-control management does not activate this type of performance. Employee performance and loyalty must be inspired, not manipulated. Employees who feel capable, competent, important and valued respond to customers in a loyalty-building way.

Author Simon Sinek presents in his book, Start With Why, that we respond better when our connection is emotional and personal. Employee loyalty is based on management’s ability to win their employees’ hearts, not just their minds. Hearts are connected to our deep emotional side – the side that drives our most significant behaviors. Loyalty is based on heart. “Heart responds to inspiration, not manipulation.” Exceptional performance comes from the heart.

Engage-and-inspire managers:
1. Know their employees and hire them into roles that play to their talents and passions.
2. Customize jobs to play to employees’ strengths and the things they love to do.
3. Provide recurring feedback to build a strong personal rapport and connection.
4. Help employees feel part of the team, important and personally valuable.

Great performance is dependent on committed employees. Employees become committed when they are emotionally invested in their work. Hire the right ones. Help them feel important, capable and valuable. Activate their heart.

Review your management style and assess its impact. Do you manipulate or inspire?

But most of us don’t play to our unique talents, passions and strengths. Instead we work hard to look and act like others; we blend.

Be aware in an economy where companies need more done with less, managers are not looking for employees who blend – who do average; they want employees who stand out. Stand out employees find ways to create great value for their company by using what they are great at. Stand out employees actively participate – they get noticed for their effort, energy and performance.

To develop your “Stand Out,” try this exercise:

1. List the things you are great at. Don’t be humble; be honest. What are your talents and strengths – these are your greatest ways to stand out.
2. Next, list what you are passionate about. What gets you excited, fired up and engaged? Passion gives you the courage and energy to stand out.
3. Now, look at your company. What can you do that plays to what you are good at, passionate about, and adds value to your company? Share these ideas with your managers.

As author Tom Peters says, “you can’t shrink your way to greatness.” If you blend today, you lose – you are the first one downsized or laid off. So learning how to stand out may be the best way to keep a job.

How will you “stand out” at work and what can it do for your career?

I met many remarkable women at this conference but one in particular, Barbara Miller, has an amazing message you need to hear. Barbara says it best so here is her explanation:
“There is nothing I love more than my family; they are at the center of who I am and everything I do. The last couple of years have been a journey, melding my passion for my children and our life with my design work. This exploration led to the formulation of YES! Spaces – a design philosophy that helps families create homes that honor every family members’ interests and integrate them into still beautiful and comfortable rooms. Each child and every family is unique – they are a gift and deserve to be given a voice and a place in their own home.”

Okay, wow. Read the last line of her quote again.

Here’s the point. Not only does Barbara know herself well enough to play to her talents, passions and strengths, but she has so clearly shared an important message for us all. We all should have a voice and a place – not only in our house but in our world. We all get to be here – to be ourselves – to live our lives – to have a place – and to be heard. Again, wow.

So, what is your true voice (what are you great at)? What is your place (what are your passions and ways to make a difference)? What greatness do you have that the world needs? And what tolerance, patience and acceptance do have of others – who, like you, deserve a voice and a place?

Make 2010 your year of making a difference – for yourself and for others.

(Barbara always has great things to say so sign up for her blog, “Designing My Life.” And Yes! Spaces will be a book due out in October 2010.)

Some employees make things happen. They are engaged, passionate and connected to their work and workplace. They come to work excited to make a difference and are competent and confident in their jobs.

Some employees watch things happen. They are sideline employees who do just enough and little more. They are uninspired and bored. Their performance is average. Their customers are unimpressed.

What creates one type of employee or the other? Management.

Today’s management is responsible to hire employees who are a good fit for their roles. Employees who do not have the talents and passions to do the job, are quickly bored, uninspired and disinterested. They become watchers.

But hire an employee whose talents and passions match those needed in the job and they are activated, interested and fired up! They love what they do. They make things happen. They make a difference. They make an impact.

Right person, right job = maker. Wrong person, wrong job = watcher. “Fit” matters.

Take Action: Learn how to assess talents and which drive performance in each role. Focus on employee “fit.” Great people become poor employees when they work in the wrong jobs. At a time when we have to do more with less, we need makers not watchers.

Most people don’t believe that it is possible to love your job – to love what you do and to be passionate about doing it. Most feel that work is how you make the money to have the life you want. But in today’s world the right job is one that plays to your strengths, activates your passions, allows for your best performance and adds great value to your life. Finding the right job is not complicated but it does require you to take the time to know your talents, strengths, passions and interests. There is no reason for you to hate your job; with a little direction, you can learn to define and hired into your dream job. Now is the time to find the right job and a job you love.

Though there are great many more people looking for jobs in today’s economy, great companies are always hiring the best talent. Understand that if you are right for the job (you have the talents and the passion to do the job) then you are the best talent. By knowing what you are great at and what activates your passions, you identify roles and jobs that need what you do best – this makes you very competitive. This is what gives you the confidence to apply for jobs in which you know you will make a great difference. This confidence comes from being great at what the job needs and passionate about doing it. This is what great companies are always looking for.

Those who have found their “right” jobs have committed the time to learn their talents and passions. They know what they are great at and have committed to working in areas that activate their passions because it activates their best performance.

Today, passion is a key performance motivator. The more passionate you are about what you do, the greater your performance, the quicker you learn, the more connected you feel to the work, and the greater impact you provide. You can see that the right job now must be based on your talents and your passions, as it allows you to progress to your greatest performance.

Self-awareness is critical in today’s emotional workplace. It is critical that you take the time to understand how you think, what you are great at and what you love to do. Each of our brains is unique – hardwired to respond in very particular ways. This is the reason that a salesman and an accountant would rarely like to change jobs. Each of their brains processes information in a particular way – one more social and one more analytical. The right job for one is not the right job for the other. So it is critical for our success that we know ourselves well enough to know which jobs are the right fit – and they will always be those jobs or roles that play to our strengths and activate our passions.

To help you identify the “right” job, follow these seven steps:

1. List what you are great at. (Intellectual connection on the grid image). Take a talent assessment if you need help or simply list what you are naturally great at. Notice this said “great” not “good” as the focus must be on things that you are the best at to be the most competitive. Don’t be humble. Be accurate and be honest.
2. List what you are passionate about. (Emotional connection on the grid image). Passion drives energy; the more you involve your passions in your job, the more engaged and excited you will be in your role. This is the most significant component of performance. Identify what you love to do. You may see this play out in your hobbies and interests.
3. List what will make you feel successful in your role. (Success connection on the grid image). Will it be to progress to management, work a flexible schedule, work from home, have a certain impact, work with a certain type of customers, people or products, etc? Be clear in your definition of what success is from your perspective.
4. Review what you listed from areas 1, 2 and 3 above and identify where any of the items listed intersect. In other words, what are you great at, passionate about and meets your definition of success? This intersection indicates the areas of your greatest performance fit. This is critical information needed to identify your dream job – your “right” job.
5. What careers, roles or jobs need what you are great at, passionate about and meet your definition of success? These are opportunities that play to your strengths and activate your passions. These opportunities will allow you to be the most connected and most engaged. This will encourage your greatest energy, performance and impact. Create a list of your “Right” jobs, roles or careers. Consider everything that meets your criteria. You may find that the best job for you does not yet exist and if created would add great value to an organization. Don’t be afraid to invent your ideal job. Just be sure to identify its value.
6. Apply only for jobs that meet your criteria. Highlight your “fit” on the face of your resume. Use a talent-based resume – one that highlights your talents (what you are great at) and then presents how you have used your talents in other jobs. This helps a hiring manager easily and accurately assess your job fit. Since the job also activates your passion, applying for the job is now exciting, empowering and engaging. Applying for jobs that activate your passions encourages your best job application, resume and cover letter. This is your moment to show your fit and passion. Don’t miss this opportunity – this is where you get their attention.
7. Go into your interview with great confidence. You know the talents needed in the job match your talents. You know you love the nature of the work as it appeals to your passions. You have used these talents in other roles so you can easily show how they look to others. You have everything going for you. You know you are a good fit – and good fit is exactly what the hiring manager is looking for. Be confident. Don’t over prepare. Talk candidly, honestly and openly about your performance, your talents, how you fit and what value you can provide. This is how to stand out and get hired.

When you focus on “fit” – how you are the right person for the job – you show that you understand yourself, have defined roles that play to your strengths and passions and have applied for jobs that allow you to create the greatest impact. This process gives you a competitive advantage. You now stand out against applying for jobs. Not only are you good at what the job needs done but you are emotionally or passionately connected to doing it. The thought of it gets you fired up and excited to show up for work. And at work, you are happy to be there, doing what you do best and making a significant impact.

Today, job fit matters. You are unique; how you think, what you are naturally good at (talents) and what activates your passions now influences your effectiveness in the workplace. Play to your strengths. The best performers are those who love what they do. You deserve a job that needs our passionate performance. So follow these seven steps to work strong and live stronger. And managers – insist that who you hire be well matched to the talents needed in the job. This improves performance and connection.

Check out “Stand Out and Get Hired” to determine your intellectual connection, and learn to apply for the right job.

Healthy living is the fuel to living fired up. Check out Bragg’s Healthy Living site at www.Bragg.com. Learn about more natural eating, the foods (if they can be called that) that you should never eat, how to manage your health and other great information. Fast food, fast lives…fat foods, fat lives. Great information to build a healthier life right away. You won’t be able to ignite your fire if you have all the wrong fuel.

Today, I continue with my seven steps to finding a job you love because when you love your job, your performance, effort and engagement improves. Today, I introduce Step 4.

Find the right job Step 4:
Review what you listed from steps 1, 2 and 3 (what you are great at, what you love to do and what fits into your definition of success) and identify where any of the items you listed intersect. Where these three areas intersect is called your “MaxImpact Core.” This represents the environment that allows you to connect to your performance both intellectually and emotionally. This is where you have the greatest “fit,” greatest passion and greatest connection. This is critical information needed to identify your dream job – your “right” job. It is worth the effort to go through this process. Most people do not know what they are great at. Fewer know what their definition of success is. Where these, and your passions, intersect is where you will feel empowered and alive in the workplace. Find this. Trust me, you will be so glad you did and you will never take a boring job again. Life is too short to hate your job. It is your choice to have an ordinary or extraordinary job (and life). Learn how to find a job that activates your passions and makes you feel significant. Own your work and your life…you can have the best of each.

Two final steps and we’re done. I introduce Step 5 tomorrow. Don’t miss it. And share these with your friends and families who are job hunting…learn a better way of looking for the right job – one that will give you a job you love (and will excel in). For more information see “Stand Out and Get Hired” . Know yourself, what you are great at and what you are passionate about. Then find a job that allows you to use these. That is the “right” job for you.

As I travel and work with managers and employees, I find that most do not know themselves well – they are unaware of what they are great at and what activates their passions. The result is they work in jobs they find to be boring, uninspiring and disengaging. The more disconnected they become from their work, the more their performance (and the performance of the organization) suffers. So take control. Know yourself well; know which jobs play to your strengths, which jobs ignite your passions and which jobs activate your best performance. Then, if job hunting, apply for jobs that meet these criteria. Stay focused on jobs that play to your strengths because these are the areas in which you are most competitive. Play to your strengths and then be sure the employment world knows what you are great at. Great employees are always in demand.

So, if job seeking, define what jobs need what you are good at, activate your passions and respond to your definition of success. If you are thinking about starting a business (for the Florida Tech program attendees last week, this week and next week), play to your strengths by getting to know what you are good at, what are your passions and what is required for you to be successful. Find this intersection and you will see business opportunities. Find this intersection and you will max your performance.

Spend some time with yourself. You’ll be pretty impressed with the talents you have – then you’ll know how to use them to work and live in a more successful way.