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Top Ten
Things Kids Teach Us about Our Careers
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by:
Carwin Dover
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Inciteful
Insight: * Children may be better teachers about our career
than graduate degree professors. From infancy thru teenagerism, our
children give us great tidbits which can be useful in our own career
development. The method to discover their teachings used to be written
on railroad crossings. Stop, Look and Listen. The following are some
samples of what you may learn when you stop, look and listen to your
kids.
* Inciteful is spelled intentionally to mean to urge one into action.
10. Work will go on without us.
If you have ever missed work in order to care for a sick child, attend
a school event, or just go fishing or shopping, you know the work you
missed was somehow done. I know I now wish I had tested this teaching
more frequently.
9. Pace yourself.
Go for 8 or 10 or 12 hours at a hundred and ten per cent, arrive home
and then just try to give five minutes at seventy five per cent to an
excited child. For some reason, that little person who considers you a
hero, God and desirable wants all of you until bedtime! Kids will
attempt to teach you to save energy so you can make a sprint to the
finish at the end of the day or week.
8. You are the most important person who works
there.
My Dad was a Methodist minister for 50 years. I came along towards the
end of that career. He knew God was the most important person, closely
followed by the janitor, chairman of the board and all of the other
members of the church. He was last in line. When I first began to
remember at about 5 thru about age 49 when he died, I always thought he
was the most important person who worked there. Not even the Bishop
could come close!
7. Success is often in direct proportion to
attention given.
Children try to teach us that lots of attention creates success. I was
one who figured out that lots of attention given to a career made it
possible to climb the ladder of success quickly. Eventually, my kids
and wife taught me the value of balancing career and family, or should
I say I finally learned what they tried to teach me all along!
6. Giving honor comes easy with respect.
When my kids were young, they had great respect for their Mom and Dad.
They gave us honor easily and frequently with drawings for the
refrigerator and stories from books and their imaginations. When we
respect our boss, our employees, our fellow workers, our customers and
suppliers, it is much easier to say "Thank You!" All we need to do is
let them earn our respect and be respectful.
5. Humor is a serious asset.
Raising kids is serious business. Luckily, kids usually provide ample
opportunity for parents to be humored by their antics, struggles and
successes. Add a little humor along the career track and you may even
find yourself drawing a Dilbert cartoon!
4. Two heads are better than one.
Take on a kid one on one and you have your work cut out for you!
Include your spouse in the process and your odds of success increase.
Transfer the lesson to marketing, customer service, employee training,
and other challenges. Use the expertise of those around you. Allow me a
shameless marketing tip: Hire a coach and discover how two heads draw
out your own expertise.
3. Attraction works better than whining.
How many times have you said, "Quit your whining or you won't get
anything!" You were trying to teach your child to act and behave in an
attractive manner. Go and do the same in your own career.
2. A power play is a temporary victory.
I always tell parents, "Avoid power plays with your kids. If you don't,
your child will always win." Often I receive a quizzical look with,
"But if I ground my child, they lose, right?" Think about it. Those
battles are often repeated and what fun is that? Find ways to avoid
power plays in your career to elevate yourself.
1. Behind great success is a greater spouse.
It is easier to raise kids with a Mom and a Dad. It is easier to to
develop a career when your spouse is supportive. Let your spouse know
what your definition of supportive is and remind one another you are
both on the same side. The world is yours.
About the Author
Carwin Dover works with owners and managers who
want to balance their business and who want to balance their life.
Learn more at www.mycoachswebsite.com .
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