What’s your career motto?
Photo Credit: Airik Lopez, Creative Commons/Flickr
When I am facing a challenge or am nervous about taking action on something, I repeat the following phrase: A closed mouth won’t get fed. I picked up the phrase in college when I needed a favor from a fellow barista and was beating around the bush. He blurted out, “Allison, a closed mouth won’t get fed. What do you need?”
Oddly enough, my inability to speak up has been a problem all of my life. In elementary school, teachers would write about how smart I was, if only I would talk more. At work, my bosses would encourage me to share my ideas more once they discovered something I was toiling away on in a corner somewhere.
To be honest, I’ve embraced this as part of my INTJ personality; I prefer to work on things on my own, sharing only when near completion or perfection. But this has very clear downsides; sometimes being too quiet can stifle my work as people who need to know or can help aren’t included.
What’s your career motto?
“A closed mouth won’t get fed” has become my career motto.
I see a career motto as a phrase that summarizes your framework for taking action and solving problems in your day-to-day work and as you figure out your larger career focus. It also serves as a reminder to stop doing things that hold you back (or encourage you to do things that often move you forward). My motto reminds me that:
If I don’t ask for help, I won’t get any.
If I don’t talk about my accomplishments, I won’t get noticed.
If I don’t ask questions, I won’t produce great results.
If I am silent, my career will stall.
What’s your career motto?
What’s your career motto? http://t.co/5Dgk2DP6
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Some valid points, but I want to make sure you are aware of and embrace the introvert movement. I am a fellow introvert and didn’t really understand what that meant until I watched Susan Cain’s TED talk. Introverts get their inspiration, motivation, etc from internal forces and extroverts from external ones. But us introverts are set up to fail in today’s society. Our qualities aren’t celebrated in the same way.
I appreciate your post but want to make sure you watch this too!
http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts.html
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ajlovesya Reply:
September 18th, 2012 at 12:08 pm
I love Susan Cain! Her book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts, was an amazing read. However, what I am talking about is not changing who I am, but realizing that it might be beneficial for me to push myself to reach my goals (like the way Susan pushed herself to actually give that TED talk! http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/books/review/how-the-author-of-quiet-delivered-a-rousing-speech.html?pagewanted=all)
I still prefer downtime alone; I still ensure I set time aside to focus my thoughts and ideas. Yet I also make sure that when I have figured out a solution to a problem after spending so much time thinking about it, I actually tell people! That when I am struggling, I ask for help instead of beating myself up. I also ensure that I surround myself with people who respect my desire to spend time alone instead of thinking I can turn myself into someone I’m not.
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ajlovesya Reply:
September 18th, 2012 at 12:10 pm
Also, THANK YOU for bringing up this point! I wish I had addressed it explicitly in my post. While we all have room for growth, the last thing the world needs are people trying to be someone or something they are not.
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Do you have a career motto? http://t.co/2TVEIfSP
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“Network before you have to.”
Networking doesn’t come naturally to me as a fellow INTJ (I’m in the middle of reading Susan Cain’s book, too!), so this motto is a reminder for me to make sure I take advantage of situations where I get to meet and build relationships with new people. Then, whenever I’m looking to hire a consultant or new staff member, facilitate connections between people, or search for job opportunities I already have a strong network at my disposal.
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ajlovesya Reply:
September 21st, 2012 at 10:17 am
This is a great one, Matt! It’s also nice to see how you can leverage that network to help others as well!
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Lovely post, Allison. Thank you.
My career motto: “Quality tends to fan out like waves.” -Robert Pirsig
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ajlovesya Reply:
September 21st, 2012 at 10:18 am
Thanks, Kyle! I love this – a great reminder to focus on excellence.
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I don’t have a career motto, but this post has inspired me think of one! Like you, I am also an introvert, and I need to work on speaking up more, sharing my opinions and asking others for help when I need up. Thanks for this post!
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ajlovesya Reply:
September 21st, 2012 at 10:18 am
No problem, Tasasha! Let me know when you come up with one
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What’s your career motto? #nonprofit http://t.co/jCqrnBOJ
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Thanks for posting this Allison! A motto that I often use in all areas of my life is “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” It reminds me to stop trying to perfect things before I move forward or for the perfect time to come around, because that never happens. Sometimes “good enough” is all you need.
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What’s your #nonprofit career motto? http://t.co/3Nt6bd8X
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