In this episode of the Transform Your Workplace podcast, Brandon Laws interviews Carson Tate, business coach and consultant, about the topic of employee disengagement. Even though a fulfilling and meaningful career can seem like a pipedream, we can find purpose in the workplace. Check out this sneak peek into Carson’s methodologies, get inspired, and learn some tools for finding meaning and, in turn, eliminating workplace apathy.
GUEST AT A GLANCE
Carson Tate, a best-selling author, consultant, and business coach, is all about helping organizations develop leaders, engage teams, and elevate performance. Her latest book, Own It, Love It, Make It Work: How to Make Any Job Your Dream Job, is just one of many avenues through which Carson “equips, empowers, and inspires” business leaders and teams.
A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST
🔊 Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, Sponsored by Xenium HR
🎙️ Host: Brandon Laws
📋 In his own words: “The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders.”
THE PROBLEM
Workforce apathy is a pervasive, systemic problem that has immense costs for organizations.
The latest Gallup Poll shows that 64% of the workforce is disengaged, and it isn’t just businesses who pay the price. We experience burnout, health consequences, and it undeniably affects our families.
In her book, Own It, Love It, Make It Work: How to Make Any Job Your Dream Job, Carson writes about the Sunday Scaries, a growing anxiety response to the upcoming workweek. She describes the feelings that go along with it: “[There’s a] pit in your stomach. You don’t want to get out of bed. You hit snooze so many times on your alarm.”
And Monday morning is no better. Carson explains, “You’re physically there, but your heart, soul, and mind is elsewhere. It’s the lack of connection to the work — not going above and beyond and not seeing the value that you produce.” It’s a condition that many of us find ourselves in — a cyclical apathy that persists week after week and month after month. We all want to feel gratified at work, to feel seen, and to feel heard. We all want meaning and purpose, and when we find it, we engage.
THE SOLUTION
It starts with us
“We need to look at engagement from a different lens. And so I’m looking at it as the relationship that you have with your employer. That relationship is built off of Social Exchange Theory, which is about give-and-take in a mutually beneficial way. It takes two people in a relationship to make it work. And we know this in our personal lives and our dating and married lives, but we forget about this in the relationship with our employer. You have a tremendous amount of power in the sense that you bring something to the relationship. […] Are you willing to do the work and get clear enough on what you need?”
People who love their jobs
“They have an internal locus of control, which means they recognize that they’ve got agency and power to make choices in the world and that the world doesn’t happen to them. And they take that same framework to work, but they’re also radically self-aware. They know what they need in terms of recognition. They know their strengths and how they benefit the company. They know their growing edge. They know where they need to develop. They’re great at relating to people and want more relationships like that. And then they also see value in the work that they do. And those elements are what they have used over and over again to create these affirmative positive, successful experiences at work.”
Naming and claiming your fears
“So the first step is to name and claim the fears, which is ‘turning on the lights.’ We work with our clients just to really name them, and I push really hard. I want the worst-case scenario. I’m like, ‘let’s just […] see it all out there. Okay. Now we have something we can work with.’”
“Then, how do we have a crucial or a courageous conversation with your manager? What is it that you really want? Where is this just your brain’s negativity bias, keeping you trapped? Or is this just some old patterning around how you’re not good enough or worthy enough? Let’s just explore what’s really going on and how we choose to move through.”
Scanning your day
“Our brain is wired to scan for threats. It’s always going to look for worst-case scenarios. Now, we need to retrain it to focus on the positive. So just like you go to the gym to train your muscles to get stronger, we have to train this brain muscle to stop scanning and saying ‘everything about this is wrong.’ So the easiest way [is called] ‘two roses and a thorn.’ So at the end of the day, you share with your partner, your dog, your friend, your spouse, or whomever, two roses — two positive things — and then the thorn.”
Cultivating a learning mentality
“It starts first with […] being willing to ask questions. What if? Why not? Have you thought about…? Have we explored…? […]I really think mentorship can be so powerful. And even if your company doesn’t have a formal mentorship program, that doesn’t mean you can’t reach out to someone you admire and be really clear on what you want. Start to cultivate that relationship with that person through a series of questions and really wanting to learn more.”
LEARN MORE
Take the Dream Job Assessment, or head over to carsontate.com to learn more and get inspired. You can also buy Carson’s book, Own It, Love It, Make It Work: How to Make Any Job Your Dream Job on Amazon.