Posts Tagged with Work

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Jake Tapper: Journalist + Cartoonist + Author

I was watching CNN’s “State of the Union” hosted by Jake Tapper a few Sundays ago.  In between the interviews with top newsmakers on politics and policies, “State of the Cartoonion” started. This cartoon had a refreshing and funny approach to political satirical.   At the end, I noticed it was signed “Jake.”

I stopped to think for a second.  The same Jake who hosts the show?!

This led me to some digging on the interwebs to put the pieces together. I was pleasantly surprised with what I discovered.  Jake had proudly embraced his multiple interests and made it possible to be a journalist, cartoonist and author!

Source: CNN
Journalist + Cartoonist + Author

Jake was born in New York City and was raised in Queen Village, a neighborhood in Philadelphia.  He studied history and visual arts at Dartmouth College and had a cartoon in the Dartmouth school newspaper. Jake briefly attended graduate school at the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television.

Jake is the Chief Washington Correspondent for CNN and hosts “The Lead with Jake Tapper” in addition to “State of the Union.”  Prior to CNN, Jake worked for ABC News. He was honored by the White House Correspondents’ Association for his work as Senior While House Correspondent for ABC News with three Merriman Smith Memorial Awards for broadcast journalism. Jake also earned an Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Coverage of a Current News Story for his contribution to the coverage of the inauguration of President Obama.

Jake’s  book The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor debuted in the top 10 on The New York Times Bestseller list. Jake’s book and his reporting on the veterans and troops were cited when the Congressional Medal of Honor Society awarded him the “Tex” McCrary Award for Excellence in Journalism.

During the week of May 23, 2016, Jake was the guest illustrator of Scott Adams’ Dilbert comic strips. The original cartoons were auctioned to raise money for the Homes for our Troops Foundation which specializes in building mortgage-free, specially designed homes for disabled veterans.

“Hopefully Scott and I can raise some money for the organization by auctioning off the original comic strips for anyone out there who appreciates the uniqueness of this venture and the worthiness of the cause.” – Jake Tapper

It is awesome to see Jake embrace his different interests and make it work for him. He chose not to neglect his interests and instead found a way to combine them and excel at their intersection. It is noteworthy that he has been successful across his multidisciplinary interests per the sample of his accomplishments above. Further, he leverages his interests to have an impact and help others.  Jake is an inspiring example of living out what is true to you, even when it isn’t conventional.

State of the Cartoonion: Oprah for President?

Do you have interests across multiple disciplines? Do you have a hard time figuring out how they all fit together?  Is Jake Tapper’s story helpful to show that it is possible to combine your interests and be successful? I’d love to hear where you are in your process and how this story inspires you.

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You Agree To Be Narrowly Defined By The Outside World

You live in a world that expects you to make a choice about who you will be. For many, this happens at age 18 with the decision about what to study in college.  Your decision narrows the schools you apply to.  For example, if you plan to study Economics, you wouldn’t apply to a Performing Arts school.  Your decision also dictates the courses you take to satisfy graduation requirements. After college, you apply to jobs that fit what you studied. In your career, you hone in your focus with time and as you ascend the career ladder.  You become a specialist and expert in your chosen field.

Let’s assume you’re on our way to become an expert in a given field. In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell notes that in order to become world-class in any field, you need 10,000 hours of “deliberate practice.”  If this is true, then presumably you have little time to do anything else.  So you become a one-trick pony with tunnel vision and no other interests.

Society crafted this approach and set expectations a long time ago.  And you’ve obliged and followed along.  Let’s look at a few scenarios:

Job Applications.  When you apply for a job, how much do you tailor your resume and story to align with the job description? People squeeze themselves and their experiences into exactly what the requirements describe.  You become a surgeon overnight, making cosmetic and reconstructive changes.  You transplant wording from the job description to your resume.  You present yourself as if, for your entire life, you’ve longed to be a Regional Account Manager at this particular company or an Executive Assistant providing administrative support to the CEO.  All of your experience is crafted to support this story on your newly updated resume.

LinkedIn Headlines.  Before someone learns anything about you on LinkedIn, they see your photo, name and headline.  Most of the headlines I see on LinkedIn have one thing in common – they include the person’s job title.  If you’re one of these LinkedIn users, you’re introduced by what you do.  Further, you’re defined by a job title that your employer has a current need and role for.  This only gives insight into what you do.  It tells me what you’re currently an expert in or what you’re on your way to being an expert in.

Here are some examples from scrolling through LinkedIn profiles:

So what do we see in both of these scenarios?

In the job applications scenario, it is clear that society has defined molds and you’ve been trained to fit into them.  You’ve prescribed to this expectation and go out of your way to tailor yourself to fit more snugly into these molds.

In the LinkedIn headlines scenario, you define yourself by your employer’s current need.  You eagerly take on this definition and apply it to who you are. You then present yourself to the world this way. When you change jobs, you switch out who you are like seasonal clothing.

How do you allow who you are to be defined by what you do? How true and authentic is this? Further, how sustainable is it? What happens if your employer no longer has a need for your role?  If who you are is defined by your job title at your current employer, then are you a different person once you have a new title at a new employer?

According to your LinkedIn profile, you have a new job and today you are:

Yesterday you were:

Are you OK allowing yourself to be narrowly defined by the outside world?  What about the other aspects of you, aside from what you do? Why don’t you make it a priority to highlight your multiple interests and dynamic being?

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I look forward to continuing to explore this topic. I’d love to hear your thoughts.  Do you feel defined by your current role and title? Do you think this definition is fitting for who you are? Does who you work for give you a sense of self?

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Align Your Team’s Thinking Style To Improve Performance

The ability to work together and collaborate effectively has a big impact on how much teams accomplish.  This has traditionally been assessed by the output of the team which is the combined contributions of the individual team members via their assigned tasks. Inherently, the evaluation of team performance has been based on what individual team members do.

In What Kind of Thinker Are You?, Mark Bonchek and Elisa Steele argue that it is “how teams think together that most determines their performance.” They propose that similar to how team members today “have assigned doing roles, there should also be thinking roles.”

Their three-step method entails first identifying the “focus on your thinking in a particular context or setting” such as ideas, process, action or relationships. As an example, if you and your friends are planning a trip, do you generate ideas of places to visit, plan the itinerary, take action to book the flight or call up friends in Paris to let them know you’re coming? The next step is to observe if your orientation in that setting leans toward the big picture or the details. Lastly, combine these two dimensions to see your thinking style.

This exercise is good to help us identify our gaps.  Chances are, we don’t have all of the thinking styles above covered on our own.  Make note of where you stop short.  Is it a recurring theme in your work? This presents an opportunity for us to identify team members who compliment us.

I’ve worked with teams that were formed in this way where each person’s role is aligned with how they think. In one example, a product management team had an idea for a new service that would improve customer experience and generate additional revenue for the company. The initial two-person team outlined the new service as explorers and experts. They then added a project manager who was more planning and process-oriented and identified all the necessary milestones to make the new service a reality. Next, an extended team was put in place to drive and take action in functional areas such as operations, marketing, sales, training etc. Lastly the core product management team and project manager combined efforts to build relationships with supporters and strategic partners.  Ultimately, the service was launched successfully with the combined effort of individuals whose contributions aligned with their thinking style.

When we’re all operating in our zone, we get more done, are more effective and perform better. It makes sense to focus on our strengths and get help in areas where we’re not as strong.  When this is someone else’s strong point, it ends up being a win-win for the team. Richard Branson said it best:

Surround yourself with people who complement your weaknesses and share your passions — success will follow.

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Where do you fall on the chart above? Can you think of teams you were a part of that had an imbalance? What was the impact on team performance and morale? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

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Goal Pillars: Choose the Foundation of the Life You Want

We love the outside reinforcement that comes with a new year and the opportunity it presents to start fresh.  We are gifted a clean slate with 52 untouched weeks, 12 blank months and 365 (or 366) days to start over.  We get another chance at realizing the goals that weren’t prioritized before. In the spirit of being hopeful and positive, we shake off what was and look forward to what will be when we do things better this time around.

Common goals include getting fit, eating healthy, losing weight, saving money, or spending more time with family and friends. Each year, these goals have a 12/31 target date, but they usually go unachieved by the time 12/31 rolls around.  Why is that? Why is it that these “important” goals don’t motivate us enough to achieve them? Why do we have these goals in the first place? Maybe the why isn’t very clear and doesn’t give these goals a higher purpose and greater meaning.

I created a framework using goal pillars to address this.  Each pillar is something you prioritize in order to have a fulfilled life and together they provide balance. Goal pillars facilitate the creation of the best version of yourself and support the overall lifestyle you want.  You can use this framework to simplify the goal-oriented changes needed in your life so your vision of your future becomes a reality.

Goal pillars facilitate the creation of the best version of yourself and support the overall lifestyle you want.

Here is what this looks like:

Here are some pillars you can include in your framework with goals for each:

PHYSICAL

Maintaining soundness of the body, freedom from disease or abnormality and optimal well-being where the body functions as designed.

  • Run 15 miles weekly
  • Drink more water and fewer sugary drinks
  • Get a good night’s rest

MENTAL

Cultivating a healthy psychological, emotional and social well-being which affects how you think, feel and act as you cope with life.

  • Practice meditation to reduce stress
  • Develop a network of positive friends
  • Keep a daily journal to document your feelings

EMOTIONAL

Being happy, self-aware, self-confident and resilient to cope with life’s challenges and recover from setbacks.

  • Build more authentic relationships
  • Develop hobbies to reduce boredom and increase pride in your work product
  • Take a class to learn deep breathing techniques

SPIRITUAL

Religious faith, values, principles, beliefs, and morals.

  • Attend church regularly and pray daily
  • Practice forgiveness
  • Set aside quiet time each day with limited distractions

SOCIAL

How you get along with people, how people react to you and how you interact with society.

  • Visit friends and family more often
  • Talk to strangers and understand their story
  • Start a random act of kindness project

INTELLECTUAL

Ability to think critically, questions one’s surroundings, pay attention to current events, develop creative ways to adapt to unexpected challenges and grow from experiences.

  • Take a course on a new subject
  • Subscribe to a journal or magazine
  • Read at least 10 books

PROFESSIONAL

Improving a career or occupation in which you were trained by learning to earn or maintain professional credentials such a academic degrees, conferences and or other opportunities in order to advance.

  • Attend one industry conference
  • Enroll in training course
  • Secure speaking engagements at local organizations

FINANCIAL

How you manage your money and assets and plan for the future along with the related decisions and activities

  • Develop a personal budget
  • Build and maintain an emergency fund
  • Develop an investment strategy for retirement

PERSONAL

The sum of personal choices that contribute to one’s personal identity

  • Pursue interest in interior design by taking on projects to help friends and family
  • Deepen relationship with extended family members
  • Take more trips and create a travel blog to document the journey

FAMILY

Routine interactions and activities that a family have together including spending time and doing things together

  • Develop family traditions for key holidays
  • Set aside one night per week as family night with board games or movies
  • Create a stronger relationship with my partner

INTERESTS

Activities enjoyed outside of work that are an extension of one’s personality or desired lifestyle

  • Join a volleyball league
  • Buy and rent out an investment property
  • Take an online course on data and analytics

COMMUNITY

Provide resources such as time, items, skills, money, assistance etc. to those in need

  • Volunteer at a local senior home and do art projects with the elderly
  • Donate household items to Salvation Army or Goodwill
  • Tutor students in an after school program

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Identify a customer need and develop a solution that is profitable and scalable

  • Define, invest in, build and run a business
  • Build a team and create systems and processes to run the business remotely
  • Advise startups and mentor founders

The great thing about goal pillars it that the framework is flexible and fluid! As new pillars become a priority in your life, you can add them and remove those you’ve achieved or that are less important.  Instead of moving through life aimlessly, this gives you a tool to design and live a rich, intentional life with purpose!

Here is one more example before it is your turn!

Which pillars would you include in your goal pillars?  I’d love to hear how you use this approach in your own life. Feel free to share in the comments below!  And pass along to anyone who could benefit from this approach!

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