We all know that caring is important on jobs traditionally referred to as the “caring professions” such as teaching, nursing, and any job involving taking care of people. However, most jobs involve working with other, and thus caring is crucial to a successful career in any industry. I believe caring is a strong predictor of long-term career success. It is what separates the good companies, good leaders, and good professionals from the great ones. Caring has three essential components:
Self-care: physical & emotional well-being
Caring about the work: purpose & meaning
Caring about others: empathy & collaboration
I often find that ancient wisdom applies to all people of all faiths and all religions and can be incredibly relevant to our modern lives. One such life lesson which comes to mind when I think about the concept of caring is from the didactic Jewish ethical literature. Rabbi Hillel says: "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? If not now, when?" ~ Ethics of the Fathers, 1:14 The place to start is to care about ourselves, love ourselves and lead our own lives. We are each responsible for the way we act and the direction of our own life. First, we need to develop and learn to express our individuality. But we cannot live purely for our own benefit. We are a part of a greater whole and need to take the next step and bring our gifts out into the world. Each of us has something unique to contribute to a greater good, to the well-being of society as a whole. And action is required NOW. There’s no better time than the present. Self-care: A great career starts with caring about yourself and your dreams. You have to be confident and believe that you deserve success and the good things that come with it. But the road to success is long and winding and far from easy to navigate. Caring is what will carry you through all the setbacks, failures, and everything else life throws at you. When you care about yourself, you do whatever it takes to succeed. When you practice self-care you position yourself for success. Be an active participant, be kind to yourself, and remain positive through the tough times. Caring about the work you do: Work has meaning when we care. If you do not care about your own work, no one else will. Work fills a large part of our lives. The only way to be truly satisfied is to give it our best and deliver great work. I love the story about the little girl and the starfish by Loren Eiseley. An old man out for his morning walk on the beach sees a little girl dancing on the beach which is littered with starfish. As he gets closer to her, he realizes the little girl is busy throwing starfish back into the sea. When he asks why she is doing it, she replies that if she doesn’t throw them back, they’d die soon. The old man advises that there are thousands of starfish so, sadly, her efforts wouldn’t make a difference. The little girl quickly bends down, picks another starfish and throws it back into the water. She then looks at the old man and says “it made a difference to that one.” We can make a difference in anything and everything we do; small actions may stack up to make a big impact. Caring about others: The real key to navigating both the triumphs and the challenges of the modern workplace is empathy. Simply stated, empathy is putting yourself in another person’s shoes. I highly recommend Brené Brown’s 3 minute YouTube video on Empathy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Evwgu369Jw. Empathy is a prerequisite to building positive work relationships, team work and collaboration. Most professionals work in teams, which are often very diverse and need to collaborate across different countries and time zones. Navigating interpersonal issues can be tricky. Empathy enables people to communicate better and to collaborate more effectively. Thus, employers should be looking for those employees who care about their professional growth, those who care about the work they do, and those who care about others. Sample interview questions:
Caring about professional growth: What professional development activities do you engage in outside of work?
Caring about work/professional pride: What are your standards of success on your job and how do you measure them?
Caring about others/collaboration: What approaches have worked best for you in establishing positive and effective work relationships with others? Why have they worked?
I invite you to record your answer to any of the questions above and share with me via Google Drive, Dropbox, or your favorite collaboration platform. I will respond to everyone within 3 business days but can commit to providing detailed feedback only to the first 5 who contact me. More about interviewing skills in my next blog posts. Be sure to follow the savvy professional series for job search and interviewing tips and offers for free feedback and critique. Email me at info@choicefulpath.com.
