In essence, this means that jobs, like people, have "personalities" and communications needs. The managerial positions you want and are qualified for demand that you make constant adjustments to your basic style. That's a "given" for success in managing people. You'll be happier-and better able to make the needed adjustments-if you understand whether you have a natural fit for the job (and must therefore make only minor adjustments in style) or whether you must constantly watch for situations where you'll have to make major adjustments in your style.
Determining the Communication Style of Your Desired Position
To determine the communication style of the job area you're considering, think of the characteristics of the job. What kind of requirements does it have? Would you be making many contacts? Initiating action? Taking risks? Or would the position be such that you couldn't accept risks? Must perform without error? Serve others? Pay attention to detail?
Different job factors have varying degrees of importance on a job. For each factor, decide its importance and rate it numerically. If the factor has a very low importance, rate it a 1. Give it a 2 if it's low, a 3 if the job has an average requirement for that factor, a 4 if the requirement is high, and score a 5 only for those factors for which the job has a very high requirement.
Caution: No job requires a 5 on every factor, nor will there be many jobs that have only a 1 requirement for very many. Most of your judgments should be in the 2,3, or 4 category.
By now, you have probably guessed that each factor you were rating represents a behavior representative of one of the four major communications styles. For example, the first behavior, accepting challenge, is a High D characteristic. A score of five on that factor would indicate that you're looking for a position that's High D at least on that one characteristic. A rating of one would show a low D requirement.
Six of the factors are High D behaviors, 6 are High I, 6 High S, and 6 High C. Turn now to Figure 6.3 for a listing of each factor's style identification.
On the profile, circle the job style(s) that have high scores (well above the 50th percentile) and those for those style(s) that are low (well below the 50th percentile). Usually, you'll have ranked one or two styles high and the others midrange or low.
After completing the exercises in the last section, you have a good idea of your skills, strengths and weaknesses; goals and objectives; and your communication style. You still may not know what job you are best suited for or what you should search for.
Part of this is related to your basic makeup. It's more comfortable and less effort to look for the same kind of employment you had before. Radically changing job types can be a great personal risk. Can you face the challenge of a second or even third career at your age? Or should you stay in the same kind of job because you aren't ready to risk that much?
Now really is the time to consider whether or not it's time to change the direction of your work life. A well-known executive recruiter conjectured early in 1990 that executives and professionals working today can expect to have at least six job changes during their working careers, four of which will be involuntary. Some other interesting statistics (and not so interesting, if you happened to lose your job at the time) also tend to lend credence to this idea. At the end of 1989, you couldn't pick up a newspaper without reading about a major company going out of business, closing down a location or locations, laying off a number of employees, or offering older employees early retirement. Big business lost more than two million jobs, while small business and new business start-ups were responsible for the creation of over 22 million new jobs.
William J. Morin, president, director and CEO of Drake Beam Morin, Inc., in an interview with Consuelo Mark on "Wall Street Quarterly," CBS, January 17,1990.
Harry Levinson, a famous industrial psychologist, writes frequently on career topics and career changes. In numerous articles, he has pointed out that the most critical factor for people to consider in choosing a second career is their "ego ideal." The "ego ideal" is central to people's aspirations, and is an idealized image of the way they hope to find themselves in the future.
People strive throughout their lives for their ego ideals, but never fully achieve them. When people feel they are progressing toward their ego ideals, they feel more positive about themselves. The closer they get to their ego ideals, the better they feel about themselves. The greater the gap between their ego ideals and their current self-images, the angrier they are at themselves, and the more inadequate, guilty and depressed they are apt to feel. (This loss of the ego ideal is one of the worst features about being unemployed.)
When careers help satisfy ego ideals, life and work are rewarding and enjoyable. When careers do not meet these self demands, work is a curse. The desire to attain ego ideals is the most powerful motivating force. Delivering on the promises you make to yourself, then, is an extremely important aspect of choosing a new direction.
