Career and motivation

Historically, work was treated as a means to an end. Individuals worked hard

to fulfil their financial needs and they have little control over their work.
Given the volatility of technological development and rapid changes in the
organizational system, structure, employment relationships have taken a
different form in the new economy. The conceptual dimensions of the
meaning of career have to be redefined.
Why do some people love their careers when others do not? We may assume
that high level of education or that are highly paid may be more likely to
engender love. Yet, loving a career is more than mere job satisfaction. It
means to have a long-term passion for the career.

Loving a career and go far beyond job satisfaction

- A person may be satisfied with a job for many reasons like pay,
benefits, an employer and prospects for promotion. However, job
satisfication implies basic liking of a particular job. In fact, focusing on
love rather than satisfaction is much is more valuable.
- A career with a heart starts from fulfilling broader human needs; it
gives positive emotions derived from enjoyment of ones daily
activities.
- Such career will generate positive resonance, tone and perspective.
Resonance refers to a feeling being in tune with other people and the
environment. The idea of tone fits well with concept having positive
energy and enjoying continuous learning through doing ones job.
Finally, having a sense of perspective means being able to view
oneself positively in the broader scheme of life

Negotiating mindfully
- Developing and sustaining a career with heart requires process of
negotiating mindfully. It means to reflect from ones mind and heart
and think beyond instrumental issues such as salary and consider the
broader issues of life and well-being (work life balance).
- To effectively manage ones career, negotiation is needed which
requires one to pause, reflect and observe objectively. Negotiation is
viewed as a self-serving process, it create opportunity to create value
on both sides of the table.
- The negotiation of identities, roles and mutual expectations can be
between an employer, a customer, a partner, a family member with
our own inner world.
- To pursue a career with a heart, one must negotiate along three
dimensions- protean orientation, positive emotions, and integration
with life.

Example: Authenticity- seekers(always question their own idea)

always strive to negotiate mindfully to rethink the nature and the
expectation of their career.
- RIASEC Model
We can always use models to assists us to determine the values that
we considered important in our work, and also to ensure that the career
we chosen are perfectly suited with our personality type. For instance,
RIASEC model has categorized career into 6 groups for 6 different
personality types such as realistic, investigative, artistic, social,
enterprising and conventional.
-

Protean in orientation
- The career has to be self-directed and aligned with an individuals own
values
- Self-directed means is driven by the persons sense of control and
feeling that they can make a difference. Often, their performance is
enhanced if they are aware of the effect of their work on others
- A protean (changeable) career orientation is a mindset rather than a
pattern of behaviours. They often make changes in their work, acting
in a self-directed manner until they feel they have meaning. They also
strive for competence, seek to influence the environment and want to
know what they do have an impact on something.
- Alignments with the values are also important for building a career as
having knowledge of ones values allows one to maximize job-related
choices made during the course of a career
- Career Enactment
- Career enactment is the concept that individual enacts his own career
story.

Positive emotions
- The career must generate strong positive emotions, such as joy and
excitement for the person
- Employees who have positive emotion are likely to spread that
positivity to other employees and ultimately exhibit improved
performance
- Notably, a source of positive emotions for one person may not serve as
a source for someone else
- Employees who turn the switch and mask their negative feelings
have noted that they actually benefited from putting on a fake smile as
it can actually lead them to feeling happy (fake it till you make it).
Besides that, their better performance can lead them to satisfaction
and accomplishment.

These positive emotions act as fuel, providing the sustenance for

progress and facilitating ones ability to continuing pursuing a career
with a heart.

Integration with life

- The career must fit well with the persons broader life, beyond work
- For the people who love their careers fully, the work has to fit in well
with the rest of their lives, across multiple domains such as family,
community and leisure.
Eg: The career will not represent a career with a heart, despite having
strong sense of passion for the work itself but have to sacrifice the
hours spent to accommodate health and family demands.
- A creative and satisfactory way has to be found out to address the
demands without decreasing work hours.
- Eg, lifestylers and collegiality seekers(friends) always look for
career that can fit well with their personal lives.
- The boundaryless career
- A career that go beyond the traditional career boundaries to include
the considerations of organizations, professions, countries, family and
etc.

Career commitment
- The three commitment models which are affective, continuance
(awareness of cost to leave the organization) and normative (a feel of
obligation to continue employment) commitment. Affective
commitment is the emotional attachment of the employee to the
organization. Commitment is the unwritten reciprocal contract
between the employee and the organization.

Motivation
- Motivational components include income, status, structure time,
interpersonal contact, intrinsically satisfying and opportunity for
challenges. The extrinsic components are the economic dimensions
and comfort goals while the intrinsic dimensions are the expressive
dimensions and learning opportunity.

Maslows Hierarchy of needs

- Maslow's hierarchy of needs is often portrayed in the shape of a
pyramid with the largest, most fundamental levels of needs at the
bottom and the need for self-actualization at the top. The most
fundamental four layers of the pyramid which contain esteem,
friendship and love, security, and physical must be met before the
individual moves to the secondary or higher level needs. Different
levels of motivation could occur at any time or at different levels for

different individuals.