When the going gets tough, the intention needs to get harder

At a store the other day, I saw a commercially packaged St. Joseph’s statue that promises to have property sell fast when the statue is buried in the ground outside. Having a (lovely, like brand-new) townhouse for sale at the moment, in another state, and with ‘nary a bite, seeing the statue at the store had me considering if its power is real (and if I should buy it). I’d heard the tales but have never seen any proof. It didn’t escape me, however, to think how the planting of a St. Joseph’s statue in the yard is a lot like intention but with a dose of divine intervention.

We’ve all been there, when what we’re sellin', just ain’t movin’and divine intervention is about the only thing that will help. So, we hustle a little bit more, convinced that if we just keep putting “it” out there, “it” will finally arrive. Still, nada. At that point, I think a lot of people give up. They take jobs that aren’t right for them, they drop out of school convinced a degree won’t make any difference … they flat out stop intending.

If you aren’t aware of the story behind the discovery of King Tut’s tomb, pay close attention. Five years of work in the Valley of Kings in Egypt had netted archeologist, Howard Carter, absolutely nothing despite his unwavering belief that he was close to finding the tomb. It was not until his final season that he happened upon one of the world’s greatest archeological treasures – the intact tomb of King Tutankhamun. The moral of the story here, of course, is that if you stay on track and keep your intentions focused, while understanding that not everything happens when you want, the pay-off may be much greater than even you had expected. Perhaps I shouldn’t lower the price on that townhouse just yet.

Is the employee high potential, high maintenance, or both?

Yesterday, at a local chapter meeting of the American Society for Training and Development in Ft. Lauderdale, a panel speaker discussed the importance of organizations nurturing their high potential employees. Certainly, most would agree. Where there may be some confusion, however, is in how an organization goes about identifying a high potential employee.

Many of us are familiar with the “halo effect” in which favorable performance-related characteristics – ambitious, honest, savvy, to name a few – are attributed to an employee because the person is nice or likes us. Perhaps, in some instances, these are accurate assessments. When they are not, a manager may succumb to categorizing a “nice” employee as being high potential while the employee who is demanding, forthright, and exacting, but who adds considerable value to an organization, is considered high maintenance and, thus, having low potential. While the former evokes warm and fuzzy feelings toward the employee, the latter is typically a love-hate relationship because organizations love what this employee produces but hates having to deal with their personality or demands.

Don’t despair if you’re trying to decide if an employee has potential, is a pain, or both. Read Katherine Graham Leviss’ article, High-Maintenance Employee: Why Your Best People Will Also Be Your Most Difficult ... and What You Can Do About It.

The Power of Your Intentions: Creating an Intention Statement

Companies have mission statements to guide directors, managers, and employees in making decisions, interacting with employees, customers, and vendors, producing quality goods and services, and their involvement and contributions to the communities in which they operate. The mission statement is representative of the values an organization’s leadership hopes all of its stakeholders will adopt. Popular theory suggests that people should also develop their own mission statement as a guide in conducting their lives. While this is a good idea, in crafting your career, an Intention Statement is more powerful.

Scholars, scientists, clergy, and coaches all know the power of intention. Plain and simple, intention is an energy force that puts into action the events necessary to achieve a goal. Most of us have personal experience with intention and goal attainment and yet we don’t hesitate to dismiss intention whenever we feel blocked. Enter the Intention Statement. By writing down (this is a very important step in the process) what you intend to have happen, that energy is transmitted outside of yourself to begin attracting the circumstances you need to realize what you want to accomplish. Where intentions fail an individual is if the person is hazy on what they want. Think of intention as a radio signal. Muddled transmission equals muddled reception.

Below are some intention statements to help you in developing your own roadmap to the career you desire:

1. To employ my skills, talents, ability, and passion in a position that facilitates developing others to achieve their goals.

2. To work with an organization that respects, encourages, and develops its employees to their fullest.

3. To engage in challenging work that is always pushing me to the next level.

4. To be inspired by the product or service my organization produces.

5. To be able to engage with others around the world to acquire new ways of thinking and acting so I may pass this new knowledge along to others.

6. To work with an organization that is above-board and forthright in their dealings with employees, clients, and vendors.

7. To be fairly compensated for my experience, knowledge, and performance.

Read a great article here on the power of making statements of intention.