500: Episode 500! How The Way The World Works Is Changing

Cindy Gonos 00:01

We really are changing not just the way that people think about how they do work and how they get work, but I think even before we start that work, we start helping folks understand themselves.

Introduction 00:15

This is the Happen To Your Career podcast, with Scott Anthony Barlow. We help you stop doing work that doesn't fit you, figure out what does and make it happen. We help you define the work that's unapologetically you, and then go get it. If you feel like you were meant for more and ready to make a change, keep listening. Here's Scott. Here's Scott. Here's Scott.

Scott Anthony Barlow 00:46

This is the 500th episode of the Happen To Your Career podcast. All right. So this is pretty exciting. Because over the last 10 years, we have been able to deliver this show for you. And it's been so much fun. It's been such an all over the place journey. And it's also not where we started. What we do now, as an organization, as a podcast, is miles and miles different from what we did, what we started out with. It started out way back when almost 10 years ago, when myself and my friend Mark had a blog, we had a blog, it was called Happen To Your Career. And we were really focused on taking control of your career, for things like getting a raise, getting a promotion, being able to make a career change. And it's now evolved into so much more, so much more. We're still helping people make career changes, we're still helping people get promotions, we're still helping people do all those things– take control of their career, and lead a much more intentional life. But it's bigger than that. It's much more than that. And it goes beyond just those individual career changes. Now, we've evolved the company into a very different ‘why’. The reason why we exist as an organization is not just to help people get promotions, but instead to be able to change the way that work happens. And even the way that we think about work, so that we can make it much more fulfilling for humans. That's the impact that we want to have as an organization. And it really does start with individuals. It starts with you listening to this podcast and making a decision to do work differently, to find what's going to fit you and be able to live that out in your world through your career. Also, it goes beyond that. We really want to be able to make an impact with leaders of organizations. And the way that we want to do that is help them be able to create fulfilling work inside those organizations. Okay, so I have a special treat for you today since it's episode 500. All right, that is the entire rest of the team here, or at least five of our team. And we're in Moses Lake Washington, we are literally gathered around a tiny table in my studio, to be able to share with you some of our favorite ways that we get to exemplify our ‘why’, the reason why we exist, how can we change work, how we're focused on individually, and broader picture, changing work and the way that people think about work. So fun fact, you probably don't know this, we have never talked about it on the podcast, but every single morning, we do a morning stand ups– 15 minutes long. And as we're rotating around, one of the things that we do is popcorn. By the way, this idea comes from one of our listeners and clients, Melissa, thank you so much for the popcorn idea. And that's how we pass the baton from one person to another. So I get to pass the baton right now to... they're all looking at me. Okay, I'll popcorn it to Ben. Ben, what is your favorite way or what are some examples of your favorite ways that we exemplify our ‘why’?

Ben Fox 03:59

Yeah, I'm relatively new at HTYC. And from reading the job description, I knew that this was a place that would not only talk the talk, but walk the walk. And as a career coach, to find a place where I could be working on my own dreams and goals as part of my job. And the employment was groundbreaking. I've had aspects of that, but this was the first time where I could see that I'm gonna be living the life that I really want most. And then from that place, being able to serve clients, and I think that's probably the most authentic way to actually help people as a coach.

Scott Anthony Barlow 04:48

You know, it'd be really strange if we didn't do that actually. That would be like, yeah, we're out there. We are trained to help clients live their most authentic lives, live without what they want to do. If we weren't doing that, that would be pretty hypocritical.

Ben Fox 05:03

It would be. And it has happened to me and my former jobs and companies. So, you know, we talk about unicorn opportunities. I definitely feel like this is one for me. And again, yeah, from that place, I know that my work with people's way more authentic, way more me, and being able to see what my colleagues are after, like, what are the dreams of the people around this table and help them figure out how to get there together. A lot of coaching work for me has also been pretty solo, pretty siloed. And having a team that understands what it is we're doing and helping each other do that for ourselves, groundbreaking.

Scott Anthony Barlow 05:50

You know what I think is really fun about that, is that when you are, as you said, you know, pursuing the things that are important to you, or pursuing your dreams, pursuing whatever you want to call that, like those things that are what you really want, I think the way... and you and I have had a little bit of conversation about this. But the way that you get to show up for the people that we support is very different. It is very, very different. And it's really hard to fake that. That's the thing that I found over the years, it's really difficult to fake that.

Ben Fox 06:21

Yeah, just coming from previous roles, it's almost like I've had to split my personality in half where when I'm working with a client, I can get really excited in previous jobs about what it is they want and why I'm there coaching them, but because of the way the company is being led, or some bureaucracy, I have to put aside some of my own dreams and goals. So yeah, I'll say the word again, it's pretty groundbreaking for me to have a place that says, "hey, we actually need you to think about what it is you want. And why are you here? Like why are you at a company like this? And how are we a fit for you?" So many companies are like, "tell us why we should hire you."

Scott Anthony Barlow 07:15

Convince me why you're awesome for us.

Ben Fox 07:17

Yeah. And here, it was more like, "This is a two way street. We want to make sure this is right for everybody." And I think because we do that, we can be that for our clients, we can be that for all of you listening, and show you that that exists already. And sometimes we have to create it, but it's out there, and we are examples.

Scott Anthony Barlow 07:38

I love that. And I think what's really interesting about that, for me, too, is that it role models that for our clients so that they can, as they're figuring out what is right for them and they're interacting with you, Ben, and other people on our team, then they have a great example of how they can carry that forward into their organizations, whatever that is like, whatever is their extraordinary fit, whatever it is their unicorn opportunity, then they get to carry that forward. That's actually one of my favorite things.

Ben Fox 08:11

Yeah, it's precisely that. I think a lot about leading by example. And there's nothing I could say to a client, that's gonna have them believe that "oh yeah, there are unicorn opportunities out there for me. I can make the impossible possible for me." The only way I know how to actually have them believe that is, through example– my own example of other clients. So yeah, it's, again, the most authentic way to do this is to be living it.

Scott Anthony Barlow 08:41

Okay. So just like in... this is weird, because we don't really have microphones for our meetings. But just like in any other meeting, you get to popcorn to someone else. Who will you popcorn to next?

Ben Fox 08:52

I will popcorn it to my lovely colleague, Kate.

Scott Anthony Barlow 08:56

Kate, tell me a little bit about what are some of your favorite examples of our why in action?

Kate Wilkes 09:03

You probably should set a timer. Because I'm going to really, really have a hard time. Strap in folks. I think that for me, I did not know that work could be like this. I was really taken aback when I started to believe that this was a thing. I've worked in many corporations. I've worked in large academia, departments and mission and vision and values. It was plastered on the walls, on the website, it was everywhere. And as an employee sitting in a seat, you knew it really wasn't true. You knew that they weren't really exemplifying those things. So when I came here, and don't do career change like me, I fell into this beautiful role, at this beautiful company. Go do it the way that our coaches said to do it, you'll get there quicker. But when I came here and I realized that our values are what we live every day, and that we don't bring people on the team unless they, not only share those values, but have a strong desire to live those values. And that's eye opening for me, that is not the way that I've ever been able to work in my whole life. So, for me, our ‘why’ is literally our ‘why’ everyone on the team. And so we are ridiculously helpful to each other, to potential clients, to people who are working with us, to anybody that we interact with. And it's just a delight to be a part of a team where that kind of stuff actually matters, that is what drives us, and that is why we get really excited to show up every day,

Scott Anthony Barlow 10:39

You know what I think is difficult about that is that we do live our values. Also, it is really incredibly difficult, I'll say, to integrate those into everything. And you know, I heard you say one thing earlier, like we don't hire people unless they fit our values. I will also say that we have in the past, we have actually made the mistake of bringing people on board that really didn't fit, our values did not align with what they valued. And we have done that. However, the harder part of that is moving people off the team that don't fit those values. And in some ways, it's easier, because if we are living our values day to day, it's easier to see. But also it's difficult when we make a mistake around that. And we have to course correct in one way or another. So I totally agreed with that. And I don't think I would live in it. I'd have a hard time at this point going back to an organization that didn't, well Ben said walk the walk. But I think it's actually in many ways harder to actually do it. I don't know, how do you think about that?

Kate Wilkes 11:51

I tell on first time conversations with people that are thinking about how we can help them, I tell everyone I'm like, "I can't imagine going back to the old ways, it would be such a soul killing experience to work anywhere that didn't just exemplify whatever values they put up." We are lucky here because we get to physically see the change. I talked to Cindy and I talked to people, when they're saying, "Hey, I need help and I don't know where to start." And then we get to hear their success story. And there's a whole team of people behind the scenes, helping those people from day one, to the time when they come on the show with Scott and say, "I got my unicorn role." And it's all because we all are living those values and helping the people and trying to spread that ‘why’, right?

Scott Anthony Barlow 12:38

I heard you say, "see the change." And in some cases, I don't know, I almost think, like, we should take pictures like before and after. Because in a lot of, not all cases, but a lot of cases, some of our clients look healthier, compared to what they're previously going through. There's a very real physical and emotional toll of being misaligned with your work. So it kind of triggered that for me. We've never done something like that. But it's almost, I mean, you see things like that in, I don't know, like, well, health and wellness type industry, right. But in some ways that carries over.

Kate Wilkes 13:14

I tell people all the time that I live for the success stories, because I remember when these people have come to us and they didn't have hope. And they didn't know that work could be fun, and their life was a mess. And, they were just like I need something better. And then when you hear them talk about where they're at now, it's like a glow up for your soul, right? Your whole soul.

Scott Anthony Barlow 13:37

That's fun. Okay, who would you popcorn to?

Kate Wilkes 13:41

I will popcorn to Samantha.

Samantha Martin 13:43

Hello. So the one thing I would say is the craziest to me, for me personally, and how we exemplify our ‘why’. I started by saying the craziest because I still have a hard time wrapping my head around having true control of my career. And just like Ben said, not being stuck in a role and being like, these are the things that you do, being able to, like, evaluate what I'm doing every single day and not say, "Oh, I don't like this. I'm not going to do it" but be able to go to the people on my team and say, "I don't think that this is my strengths. And I don't think that I can keep doing this or want to keep doing this" and having them rally around and say, "Okay, well, what would make it better for you? Or who can we pass it to? Or who can we bring on the team?" And just really like being able to niche down and be like, "This is what I'm good at. This is how I could make the team better, the company better and my life better." I'm still getting used to it.

Scott Anthony Barlow 14:36

I think that's hard, though. I mean, Ben and Megan, who's another coach on our team, were having a discussion the other day talking about there is an adjustment coming out of operating one way, pretty much your entire work life. And then even if you're in an environment that is encouraging those types of behaviors, it still feels really difficult, to me, at least it feels really difficult to adjust. So I'm curious what do you think about that?

Samantha Martin 15:08

Yeah, I still find myself on autopilot sometimes just doing the work, and not really evaluating what I'm doing and not being like, "oh, that's draining." And then I'll kind of come out of it and zoom way out and be like, "Oh, this is when I was feeling energized. And this is when I wasn't. And this is when I was working on my strengths. And this is when I wasn't." And for me, it's like writing it all down. That's just how I do it, and then coming and talking about it. And it's always so wild to be encouraged to do those things.

Scott Anthony Barlow 15:36

In the Happen To Your Career book, the very last chapter ends with "how to continue to thrive", because even when you get to a situation that's wonderful, an environment that lines up with what you want, people that are the type of people you want to spend time around, even when you get to that situation, it still requires continuing to become a different person, it still requires continuing to evolve skills. And although we don't talk about what you just mentioned in the book, I think that's something to point out, like, even when you get to that opportunity, that unicorn type of opportunity, then, to some degree, it requires, like, a commitment from the people that you're working with. And that's, I mean, that's more difficult than normal.

Samantha Martin 16:20

Yeah, I definitely think we talked about the exposure problem all the time, as far as like, not knowing what jobs are out there. But it's also... so I think exposure can also be about the people that are around you and the people you surround yourself with. And the crazy thing for me is every day I'm working on this podcast and seeing the craziest unicorn opportunities being lassoed. And I'm like reevaluating my career based on that. I think it's really helping people, you know, solve the exposure problem and listen to other people and surround themselves with people that they want to be like, and they want to have a career like if they don't have people in their life like that. So I think it's cool. And it's, I mean, definitely helped me navigate my career into the place that I want it to be heading.

Scott Anthony Barlow 17:04

We're all up here in Moses Lake, over the last two, three days, I don't know how long, it's been last 72 hours, which has been a really fast 72 hours. We have been evaluating our next year's goals, and working on deciding what the work is going to be and prioritizing which strangely is what we held much of the world with. But we're doing that for ourselves. However, the word of the last couple of days has been very meta. And I think that Samantha, you should have seen her face. So but I think it is somewhat meta that you get to work on this podcast. And part of that helps you evolve well, and decide what you want to need for your own career. Like that's super fun for me, like, in some ways, nothing makes me happier than the metaness.

Samantha Martin 17:54

Well, it's just cool to like, again, be exposed to all of that and keep reevaluating and realizing that, like, this is the right place, this is the place that I want to be and I can make the role that I want in this career as we grow. So it's just been really fun and exciting. I will popcorn to Cindy.

Cindy Gonos 18:13

Thank you, Samantha. I have to say, Samantha never wants to be on the podcast. We have to fight her. And she is amazing. I'm not sure what, anyway, I don't know what's wrong with you, Samantha. I've been thinking is all of you guys have been talking. And I was even saying before we started this because in my role as Director of Client Success, I talked to folks and Kate does it now too, which is amazing. But what we do is we are talking with folks right at the beginning of this, right? So I'm sure there's lots of people that are listening to they're like, "I don't even think that exists only it Happen To Your Career" or even moreso. I don't know what that looks like. Right? Like, I don't know what that looks like. Because we think about these things that we're... I don't know that we think we are supposed to want in a career. And I would say, for me, personally, the way that I see our 'why' show up the most is really, we really are changing not just the way that people think about how they do work and how they get work. But I think even before we start that work, we start helping folks understand themselves better, and start to think differently about who they are and where they thrive and how they thrive. And sometimes, like with Samantha, you start to see those things as you're in a really amazing role. But not everybody gets that type of opportunity where they land in a really awesome organization and then they get to start defining who they are and what they want to be in their career. So I think that when I see clients come in and I hear it a lot, "I don't know what I want. I don't know what that looks like." It's really, I don't know, it's magical to me to be able to even see somebody have a little bit of an epiphany to say, "I can now define what autonomy for me looks like in a really ideal situation" where they can start to paint that picture because I asked them about their unicorn opportunity, the very first time we speak. And sometimes people have a really clear vision of what that is. And then at the end, their vision is different. Or they come in and they say, 'I don't know what that looks like." And we get little tidbits of it. And then by the time they've gone all the way through this process, they know what it is, they know what it looks like, they know how to talk about it. And yeah, I don't know who said it, like, never been able to go back. It's easy for us as, I know, I always try to check myself, right? When I'm sitting with someone... Yeah, I do. I have to check myself because what I have, what I've experienced here may not be something that they've seen, so I'm not trying to rub it in people's faces, right? So it's about figuring out because then all of a sudden, because somebody said it, I'm just gonna call it out, I keep it real, right? This episode is not about getting folks that want to work for Happen To Your Career. We love working at Happen To Your Career, but our unicorns are not necessarily your unicorns. Right? So I think a lot of folks are, "Oh, what do I have to do to work at your organization?" It's not our organization. There are places out there. So I would say, for me, our ‘why’ really shows up when we're able to help clients rethink the way they think about themselves, and then hence, and therefore, they're able to think differently about how they work and how they're able to thrive.

Scott Anthony Barlow 21:33

I think that's such a valid point, too. I mean, first of all, we're going to, even as we continue to grow, we're just going to stay a relatively tiny team. Our goal and how we want to change the world is not going to be from us having, you know, 19,000 team members, you know, that's not in the plans right now. However, the way that we plan on doing that, and what we often call our secret mission, is to get enough people that we have been able to help and touch in one way or another through this podcast, through content, through being able to have people go and opt in for our eight day figured out mini course to help them start to figure out what intentional looks like for them. And then, you know, get our email newsletter. All of those ways, or even, you know, becoming clients and we get to help them at a deeper level. But then for those people, once they understand what work can be, and how it can be different then them to go into the organizations that they've identified as their unicorn opportunities those, by the way, if you've listened for more than like a few podcasts, you've probably heard the term unicorn opportunity. But the way that we define unicorn level opportunity, is those opportunities that you didn't believe were possible, either in the world or for yourself, in one way or another. And it looks very, very different. To your point, Cindy, from person to person, what is my unicorn level, opportunity is not the same thing as the next person. And that's completely okay. And the reality is that, you know, Happen To Your Career is probably not the unicorn opportunity for most of the people in this world. And that's okay. But we need to create those, and we need to allow people, enable people to find those in other places. And then here's the part that's super fun, that secret mission part, you get to take that and teach other people that, you get to take that and be able to... once you figured it out for yourself, impact your new coworkers, and help raise the expectations for what work and fulfilling work can look like. And I think that's actually my favorite part. That's actually my favorite part of our ‘why’, honestly, that whole secret mission that goes along with it.

Ben Fox 23:50

Yeah, you get to be a secret agent for changing how the world thinks about work.

Scott Anthony Barlow 23:56

Yes. So Ben came up with another fun fact and came up with that in the last 48 hours. And we're like, "Yes! That is it. Yes, you get to be a secret agent." And I mean, it's so true in so many different ways. And we need that, like, it's not going to change on its own, it's not going to change the expectations and norms of work, and what that is, without your help. So I really appreciate it very, very much. Thank you, by the way, for 500 episodes. It's only been possible with you listening, and sharing and subscribing and telling other people about this show, about this podcast. That is literally the only way that has been possible. If that wasn't happening, which by the way, we just found out the other day that we're in the top 5%, I think there's like a 2 million-ish podcast out there now. We're in the top 5% of all podcasts shared in the entire world on Spotify. Yeah, did you know that? Oh, my goodness. Kate's like... Kate might have a heart attack. Yeah, that was super, super fun to find that out. Kate, are you okay? All right. So I appreciate that. We appreciate that. Because this very much would not be around if it wasn't for you. So thank you for taking the time to write a rating and review on your podcast player of choice, thank you for sharing it, like texting a friend and dropping the link in there and telling them about the show. All of those things actually really help us reach other people, which then puts these ideas of what work can be out into the world. So this is our own personal, we'll say TEDx talk, we're spreading the ideas of what fulfilling work can look like. We really appreciate it. Thank you very, very much. To another 500.

Scott Anthony Barlow 25:57

Hey, many of the stories that you've heard on the podcast are from listeners that have decided that they want to take action, and they've taken the first step of having a conversation with our team to try and figure out how we can help. And if you want to implement what you've heard, and you want to completely change your life and your career, then I would invite you to do the same, let's figure out how we can help support you. So here's what I would suggest, just open your phone right now, go to your email app, and I'm gonna give you my personal email address, Scott@happentoyourcareer.com. Just send me an email and put 'Conversation' in the subject line. And when you do that, I'll make sure you get to the right person on our team, and you can have a conversation with us. We'll try and understand your goals and what you want to accomplish in your career no matter where you're at. And we can figure out the very best way that we can help you in your situation. So open that up right now. Drop me an email, put 'Conversation' in the subject line, Scott@happentoyourcareer.com.

Scott Anthony Barlow 26:57

Here's a sneak peek into what we have coming up in store for you next week.

Dan Ruley 27:03

If I have to wake up tomorrow morning, and do this specific thing, and then turn around and do this specific thing, every day for the next 10 years, is this something that I really want to keep doing?

Scott Anthony Barlow 27:16

Getting promoted is usually great news. But what if you were promoted beyond your ideal role? Many people don't ask themselves what they truly want out of their career before they automatically begin climbing the corporate ladder. In fact, that's one of the most common things I've heard over and over again, even when I was interviewing people who wanted new jobs, they'd say, "Well, I want growth" and usually by growth, they meant promotions. Okay, it's not uncommon to work for years to get to the top, only to realize it's not all you wanted it to be. For example, if you're great at sales, you may get promoted to sales manager. But those skill sets are completely different. And sometimes those roles are completely different. So what do you do if you feel like you've surpassed the role that would actually fulfill you?

Scott Anthony Barlow 28:06

All that and plenty more next week right here on Happen To Your Career. Make sure that you don't miss it. And if you haven't already, click Subscribe on your podcast player so that you can download this podcast in your sleep, and you get it automatically, even the bonus episodes every single week, sometimes multiple times a week. Until next week. Adios. I'm out.