"The fullest representations of humanity show people to be curious, vital, and self-motivated. At their best, they are agentic and inspired, striving to learn; extend themselves; master new skills; and apply their talents responsibly
… Yet it is also clear that the human spirit can be diminished or crushed and that individuals sometimes reject growth and responsibility. Regardless of social strata or cultural origin, examples of both children and adults who are apathetic, alienated and irresponsible are abundant.
Such non-optimal human functioning can be observed not only in our psychological clinics but also among the millions who, for hours a day, sit passively before their televisions, stare blankly from the back of their classrooms, or wait listlessly for the weekend as they go about their jobs."
-Richard M. Ryan and Edward L. Deci
If you read part one of “Tapping your Best Work” and found yourself lacking the desire to do your best work, you’re not alone—millions of people struggle with this problem and want to be reinvigorated. Fortunately, there is a great deal of science around motivation, personal strengths, and engagement in one’s work.
“Engagement” is another way of referring to that state when we are immersed in work for its own sake. That is, we’re driven to do the work for intrinsic reasons (meaning, contribution, curiosity) rather than solely for extrinsic reasons (pay, recognition). Understanding engagement, both in yourself and those with whom you interact, is vital in building a foundation of understanding for your role as a recruiter, coach or leader.
We can’t tackle this topic in just two discussions, but I will share a few ideas of how you can start reinvigorating your sense of engagement right away.
Approach critical tasks with methodologies that create “Flow.”
Flow (a term coined by psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi) is the mental state where a person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity. Flow exists in any interesting sport, game or work task. Creating flow in any task requires that you have the following conditions:
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The task must be challenging (i.e. not easily obtained or accomplished).
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The task must require a high personal skill level to accomplish.
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The task has must have clear goals and rules of performance.
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The task must be performed in an environment where you have the ability to concentrate and avoid distractions.
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In accomplishing the task, there must be a way to gain ongoing feedback about your progress.
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In accomplishing the task, there must be a way to measure or gauge success.
Think about the tasks that you perform on a daily basis. Do some of the tasks you perform fit the criteria of producing flow? If not, then you may need to add some tasks or a project that would allow you to experience more flow in your workday. At the same time, remove some things from your schedule that have no chance of producing flow.
If you’re a manager, are the people you manage performing tasks and projects that fit the criteria of producing flow? If you do not know the answer to this question, it’s important that you find out. By nature, each individual experiences flow differently based on their talents, strengths, and interests. If an employee is experiencing flow in their day-to-day work, they’ll be engaged and produce their best work.
If you’re a recruiter, are those in your recruiting pipeline experiencing flow in the tasks and projects they are performing in their current jobs? Most are not. If you can engage a person in a dialog concerning these issues, you’ll have clearer insight concerning their true motivations for staying in an existing job. You’ll also better understand the objections and fears of making a change.
Being able to inspire candidates to consider new roles by indentifying with their deep frustrations will put you on a new footing in the recruitment dialog. Demonstrating how a candidate could then be experiencing flow in his day-to-day work transforms you from a recruiter into a trusted and credible career counselor.
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