Re-inventing the “important” in our lives

A friend of mine, HR top professional in a respected and admired multinational company, reading my posts, has thrown to me the following challenge:  “What about switching focus? Can you write about re-inventing “important” in our lives? … starting from the premises that “you can’t have them all” as something will always come first, what about finding other reasons to go to work other than professional advancement?”

I believe that the ability to switch the focus in life should be part of one’s day-to-day reinvention efforts in order to feel accomplished and happy.  In my view, people that come at work in organizations fall in one of the following main categories: some that come at work for the exclusive financial remuneration that allows them to cover present living expenses and others that come for reaching their personal aspirations while making some money on the way as well.

I would assume that my friend’s question is an innuendo for the last. The realities of the New Normal force many companies to reconsider their organic growth. Many companies have introduced an “organizational development freeze” that mainly alienates educated professionals used with a career advancement that was up until now almost guaranteed.

What educated professionals should do in this case? What they should ask themselves when evaluating their present situation? And more than that, is anything that the company can do for securing its “human capital” and its commitment?

First things, first. I have to start by saying that I personally embrace the concept of a life continuum that covers our life, including work. I never think about two platforms’ dilemma, personal life and professional work, that have to be balanced, mixed, you name it. For me this is a wrong mindset that induces people a permanent sense of guilt of either pushing too much on one direction or not pushing enough on the other.

Imagine that even using the “HR politically correct” balancing-work-life expression is wrong to start with. Those who have seen in work a set of balance scales, have witnessed that the moment of perfect equilibrium is almost impossible to obtain as balance shifts even a little one side or another. This is why a continuum is a much better concept. It accepts the fact that one can perform the best if s/he’s working in an environment that actually shares and prolongs the same intrinsic personal values and aspirations the person has.

This being said, it is clear for me that those interested in “re-inventing the important in their life” should ask themselves if they are still captive to the dual-life-disorder mindset. First step is to understand where you stand. It is nothing wrong if one believes that separation in between the two should exist and should be managed. But then, s/he should not complain either about the choices this approach requires and the sense of guilt that might come at one point when taking such choices.

But if you want a “guilt-free” card, then acting proactively in shaping your life as a continuum should be one of the first choices. I intentionally used the “proactive” term as I actually like these people refusing to live their life in a reactive way, most of times in response to things they face and can’t control.

The vast majority of people are living their lives based on the “heads or tails” principle (“right” side – continue on the same direction; “wrong side” – change). There are few, that I definitely like, that will try to change the odds by “arranging” their coin before tossing it up, with the hope that by doing so the coin will drop on the “right” side. I enjoy their proactive attitude as I believe it will also bring them opportunities passed by others just because the last failed to recognize these opportunities in the first place due to their reactive attitude.

“Worldwide, 40% of consumers say they do not wait until a new innovation has proven itself before they will purchase it.” – Nielsen, January 2013

The above finding endorses my hope that more and more people will try to escape past captivities, ahead of a “choice-frozen” majority.  These people will try to redefine their lives on a different set of needs and aspirations, far from just the singular hierarchical advancement. Educated professionals should start matching their presence in a working environment with their intrinsic set of values and the values the company provides: storied, responsive, accessible, sustainable, and ethical.

The people that I’m putting my hopes into should look for a team and a place of work that have remarkable stories they can relate to and remember. When I was young, all kids I knew and played football with wished to become great players like Pele thus wishing to play for Brazilian Seleção. Aspiring only to hierarchical advancements is similar to the aspiration of playing for Brazil. Great achievement if you succeed but you should also accept to face strong competition. History remembers great Brazilian players unable to reach the national team because the spots were already filled with more-than-great players.

Are there any other ways to benefit from the “Brazilian-national-team” type of attractiveness, that can show us how to rapport vs. the work places we like being part of? A South African kid has offered me a potential answer on a Wednesday evening few years back when he decided, in his own way to grasp own sense of belonging to the wonderful Brazilian team story (http://www.itv.com/sport/football/update/2014-03-06/neymar-introduces-invading-kid-to-brazil-team/). Since Wednesday the kid will be most probably remembered next to players like Neymar, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Romario or Pele.

I believe that people should push the boundaries in reevaluating their professional expectations and goals on the basis of a different set of values and aspirations, other than the exclusively hierarchical advancement. By doing so, they should be able to reach the level of satisfaction and sense of belonging to a work place, similar to what the South African kid had in respect to belonging to the Brazilian national team on Wednesday in Johannesburg.

Finally, what companies should do for securing their “human capital” and its commitment? I will advise my friend to look into “Heritage Heresy”, an interesting report  introduced to me by my wife (http://trendwatching.com/trends/pdf/2014-03%20HERITAGE%20HERESY.pdf). Though a marketing report, it offers in my view some interesting insights on what companies can do for relating even closer with educated professionals that look for the redefinition of their sense-of-belonging concept.

For many companies, these days, the needs and wants of the newly redefined-in-expectation educated professionals often don’t align with the old narrative that these companies labored to build over the years into their organizational brands. The management (not only HR) will be forced to get out from the inherited mind silos and to accept own mentality disruption for matching the one witnessed by their talents.

It will be, in my view, about new experiences provided for people you care about. Management team members acting as barristers offering coffee from portable coffee desks to all few hundred employees in a particular day. Companies being proud about their teams and showing them to the world. If a company has already done similar steps, then it should just not be hard to benchmark them against the smile people have at work. In this way the company will find if it still on the right track towards becoming the best place one should aspire to be in.