Complete Article List:
- Building a Creative Business Culture
- Defining Yourself
- 4 ½ Stages of Organizational Success
- How to Fail Your Way to Success
- Six Life Lessons I Learned in Vegas
- Making Sense of Humour in the Workplace
- The Art of Professionalism: Learning the Right Way to Get Ahead
- The Secrets of Effective Decision-Making
- The Customer Rules:
Surviving & Thriving in the New Customer-Driven World - The Fascination of Sport
- Are You a Twenty Percenter?
- The Times They are a Changin'
An Investigation of Five Future Trends - The Business of Global Greening: How Technology and Business are Saving the Planet
- The Changing Face of Charity: How Businesses and Individuals are Redefining Philanthropy
- Web 2.0: Business in a Connected World
- Searching for a Needle of Knowledge in an Information Haystack (pdf format)
- The Power of Design (pdf format)
Articles
Are You a Twenty Percenter?
By Steve Bannister
Recently, a Gallup Poll asked more than 1.7 million employees in 101 companies from 63 countries the following question; "At work do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?". Only 20 percent of employees working in the organizations they surveyed felt that their strengths were in play every day. Where do you fit in here? Are you challenged at work most every day or do you feel that you have much more to offer your organization?
There is a better than average chance that you are in the 80 percent majority of people who are looking for more fulfillment in their work. If this is the case, where do you go from here? The answer lies in personal and professional development. Look five years down the road to where you want to be in your career. Maybe it's just a matter of staying in your current position and looking for more challenging job responsibilities. You might decide that you would prefer to make a lateral move in your organization. Whatever you decide, the most important thing is to make a decision right now and start charting your career course towards becoming a twenty percenter.
Twenty percenters strive for excellence in everything they do. They embrace change, make informed and smart choices, and enjoy tackling challenges. In doing this, they are continuously tapping into their inner creativity to enhance their work performance.
Becoming a twenty percenter first involves determining your comfort level with change; your ability to change yourself and your ability to react to change in your environment. Reflecting on where you lie on this Change Continuum provides you with a better understanding of how to become a twenty percenter. The diagram below describes five possible positions where you might be situated on the Change Continuum:
Red
Red is a strong colour that conjures up a range of seemingly conflicting emotions.
Red people are defiant.
Blue:
Blue is calming, strong and steadfast.
Blue people are groundbreakers and trailblazers.
Orange:
Orange has a bit less intensity or aggression than red.
Orange people usually follow reds' lead but sometimes are less defiant and therefore reside with yellow.
Green:
Green is the colour of growth with some of the same calming attributes of blue.
Green people usually follow blues, lead but sometimes settle back with yellow.
Yellow:
Yellow signifies yielding and caution.
Yellow people wait to see the repercussions of reds' and blues' actions. They then follow
the direction, which benefits them the most.
There are no right and wrong places to be on the Change Continuum. What's important is that you get to understand your comfort level with change and use that knowledge to help make important career decisions.
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on your web site please contact Steve directly.
