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From Stuck to Surrendered: How Trusting God’s Timing Led to the Right Calling with Will Graham
71 Plays1 month ago
In this episode, Will Graham discusses his career journey, from frequent job changes to spending ten years in an unfulfilling role. He explains how patience and faith in God’s timing guided him to his true calling, and how he now helps others facing unemployment or unfulfillment in their careers.
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Transcript
Introduction to Crossroads Career Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to the Crossroads Career Podcast, a show where we help you hear God calling, get the right job, and maximize your potential through inspiring stories of individuals and professionals who've experienced a crossroads in their career.
Welcoming Will and His Journey with Crossroads
00:00:16
Speaker
Welcome back to the Crossroads Career Podcast. Today, we are excited to have Will with us. And Will is um not only a friend of the ministry, but has worked with us, has been involved with Crossroads, is one of our career guides.
00:00:31
Speaker
And he's also, I would say, somewhat of a marketing genius and a jack of all trades. I don't know anything that Will cannot do. Maybe there is something, and maybe we'll find that out today. So Will, welcome to the program. Thanks for coming.
00:00:46
Speaker
Thanks, Tim. Thanks, Tim. Yeah, just a ah quick about me, and I'll kind of tie this into how I first became familiar with Crossroads career, which is going on, i think about six or seven years now is when became acquainted with Crossroads.
00:01:01
Speaker
Yeah, and I had met, I was introduced to Crossroads founder, Brian Ray, had a conversation with him. No, I knew nothing about the ministry at the time. And as he's kind of telling me, you know, when the ministry was founded, which was several decades ago, what the ministry has been doing all these decades and kind of who it who it helped serve.
00:01:21
Speaker
I remember listening to him talk about, you know, the people that are helped, job seekers that are helped. I remember telling Brian, I said, Brian, there have been times in my life and career that I have gone through career transition in which I have been facing either job loss or I've wanted to you know make a job change.
00:01:38
Speaker
I said, Brian, I would have paid someone like you or your ministry a significant amount of money to do for me exactly what you do for free for other people.
Navigating Career Transitions and Finding Peace
00:01:48
Speaker
And it's not just what Crossroads does directly, but obviously there are churches and ministry partners that carry the material for Crossroads.
00:01:55
Speaker
and bring it to the community of job seekers. And so my background at the time, so when Brian and I got introduced, I had just ah made the decision to go full time with a consulting agency that I'd actually been operating for at that point, I think it was about 16 years, ah decided, hey I'm going to go full time, i'm going to burn, you know burn the boats, you know no more working for other people.
00:02:18
Speaker
um as an at least as an employee and so I just you know gotten into my consulting agency at that point but one of the things that um I was reminded of is again as I was familiarizing myself with the Crossroads material is just how useful this material would have been four years earlier when I went through what could probably be described as a catastrophic and chaotic career transition that that drug on for months. And one of the great lessons I learned during that time, um and again, correlating it with crossroads ministry philosophy, when it comes to job seekers, um you know, job seekers are taught that there is an upward element um of their ah maturing and their discipleship that correlates with their job search. There is an inward component to that and then an outward component.
00:03:12
Speaker
to that. So four years earlier, um again, as I was going through this catastrophic, uh, career transition, I realized I didn't really have the upward or the inward down at all. I was like skipping right to the outward part, which is, Hey, I got to hurry up and find a job. Got to get an interview. Got to send my resume out. yeah And so, uh, one of the things, again, I realized then if I had had this four years earlier, there would have been more peace. There would have been more progress. Um,
00:03:35
Speaker
And so I can't say enough about what Crossroads has meant to me and how it's helped me now as a guide help other job seekers as they're going through varying degrees ah of of chaotic or catastrophic job job searches.
Reflections on Early Career Challenges
00:03:52
Speaker
Well, for sure. And diving right into that, can you describe and tell us more about that time where you were facing this catastrophic chaos and just the uncertainty and unfulfillment? What was the struggle like? What was the context for you?
00:04:05
Speaker
yeah and it goes back a little bit further than that. So i've but I've basically been in the workforce for a little bit more than three decades now. And I realized that very early on, as I was trying to get my footing, I really couldn't, you know, I didn't have much staying power or stamina to work any one place for very long.
00:04:22
Speaker
Some of my job stretches were three months, some were, so if if it was two years, that was a long time. It's like, wow, I just stayed at a place for two years. And back then, if you go back like 20, 30 years,
00:04:33
Speaker
You know, two years was nothing to to be at at one at one job. I mean, that was considered to be a very short time. I'd say fast forward to nowadays, two years is probably considered a very long time to be at any one place. But back then, that wasn't that great. And I think that as I started to, again, change jobs every one you know one to two years,
00:04:51
Speaker
ah people would notice like, oh, I'm looking at your resume and you've had five jobs in five years. Or I would meet people, other people that would um basically say, okay, this is a reflection of your character or, you know, my parents had the same job their whole life or, you know, things like that. And so I got to be very, um you know, self-aware, I guess, of, hey, I haven't really lasted any one place for very long. I'm going through a lot of job transitions, a lot of career transitions.
00:05:17
Speaker
And so I got I started to idolize longevity, started to think I'm going to be a better person or people will think better of me if I don't change jobs every every one or two years. And so I found a place to work. It wasn't the most challenging, wasn't the most exciting, was not the most fulfilling.
00:05:34
Speaker
But I found a place to work that like, OK, let me give this a year. OK, I was able to make it to one year. And then after one or two years, I thought, hey, if I can make it to five years, that would be great. I made it to five years.
00:05:45
Speaker
Five years, I started looking and I think I've sent my resume out to a couple
Faith and Career Transitions
00:05:50
Speaker
different places. I had a couple of phone interviews. And when it all came down to it, I thought, OK, those didn't exactly progress like I thought. So I'm just going to stay. And I stayed there for another five years. So i was at one after the guy that changed jobs every one or two years. I was suddenly at the same place for 10 years.
00:06:05
Speaker
But again, as I said earlier, was not challenged, was not excited, and it was not very fulfilling. And so I kept telling myself every year for a couple years, hey, this is going to be the year that I finally get another job. And so at about that time, ah my wife, who had also been at the same place of employment for about nine or 10 years,
00:06:25
Speaker
uh had opened an etsy shop a few years earlier it was starting become very successful and i kept telling her hey you should just quit your job and just do this full time like there's no reason now that you're making about as much money as you were making with your uh you know w2 job why you should be working anywhere else and so uh she's like well are you sure we should do that oh yeah don't worry i'll find a i'll find a better and a better paying job know before you do that and so that year uh i i kept working that same job i'd had for 10 years I had some freelance opportunities that came up that looked pretty good. i was like, now I don't have to look for another job because between this thing I'm to doing in the evening and what I'm doing you know for my day job, like this this will I don't have to make any moves right now. you know's It's fine right now.
00:07:05
Speaker
And so as I started to dive into that ah freelance opportunity, I was going into it you know one week, one month, two months, was still waiting to get paid. And when it was all said and done, I didn't get paid for it.
00:07:18
Speaker
And so I'd wasted months of my life thinking, hey, this is I can do this as well as my full time job. And so as my wife, you know, kept her word and said, OK, I'm going to quit on this date.
00:07:30
Speaker
It's like, hey, now we don't have enough money to pay the bills. This is and and I'm stuck with a job that there's no growth opportunity and there was never any growth opportunity with that job. And so that created a lot of chaos, that created a lot of doubt and uncertainty. And it really kind of helped me see how much I lacked the upward component of ah of really giving God my career.
00:07:53
Speaker
Because I thought, hey, I'll just find a place where they'll they'll have me for 10 years and i'll I'll build up this this look of of longevity and it will impress people.
00:08:04
Speaker
And what I didn't realize is that after 10 years of kind of coasting, it was really hard to find a job. Like I would go on Indeed and I would apply to ah hundred you know different places every day, and like like for weeks at a time and wasn't finding anything.
00:08:20
Speaker
And so that was that was kind of the origin for how I ended up in the career transition that, again, I classify as catastrophic. Okay. So a lot of people, i think, can relate to the switching of jobs,
00:08:36
Speaker
Right. I know I can as well. And some people figure out that, well, I'm just really not great at working for somebody else. To your point, right? Like you said, you know, besides that 10-year stint, right, you go back and look, you probably had quite a few different positions.
00:08:53
Speaker
And in that, there can be a lot of, you know, mistaken identity and value, like you said. Maybe I'm not as good as I thought I was, or maybe I should just get something that everybody does. Maybe I should have a linear career path.
00:09:06
Speaker
So share a little bit more about that and maybe the pressures that you faced and how did you overcome that? yeah because I would say that even in the ah the one stint in which I had the same employer for 10 years, there was a little bit of variety as to what my exact role was.
00:09:22
Speaker
um But it was really hard for me to um really see that, you know, your your career is it is is your calling or it should be your calling. Your calling should be your career and vice versa.
00:09:35
Speaker
And I know with me, when it came to um
Career as a Calling and Embracing New Skills
00:09:39
Speaker
how I approached the job, one of the um really terrible, i guess, questions I always faced was, you know, should I shoot double down and master something, a discipline, a skill, or should I learn something new?
00:09:56
Speaker
And even when, like, at the the place that I was at for 10 years, and I'd already been doing a lot of marketing, but i was I was very specific in my, very specialized in my skill, like I was doing a lot of you know copywriting, graphic design, publishing kind of stuff. When it came to anything that was like video related, like I, you know, give me the most complex publishing layout software and I could open it up and and do wonderful things in it but when it came to anything video, I would open up video editors be like, i don't even know what this it means. Like, what is FPS? Like, I i just didn't understand. i wasn't oriented that way.
00:10:28
Speaker
remember my boss at the time was always, um telling me, Hey, you know, we we really need to learn. And this is about the time that video was becoming more normal when it came to communicating or publicity or marketing.
00:10:41
Speaker
And used to tell me, Hey, if we could just learn video about it when he said we need, he said he meant me and I needed to learn it, not him. And I just kept resisting. And I kept like, I just don't, I just don't think I'm oriented that way. We'll fast forward, you know, many years later, and I finally did learn video editing and it's, it's what I enjoy most do now. But But even then, part of the reason why I was so hesitant to learn a new skill, and this is what I tell anybody that's in career transition, that is even if you're, you know, mid-30s, mid-40s, even mid-50s, it's never too late. God may be waiting until that exact moment to have you enter into a new skill or a new discipline, a new industry, anything. Like change is obviously kind of the only constant in life.
00:11:24
Speaker
And what I have found is the more that I resist change, the more I'm resisting, you know, God's plan to do something different with me. That's probably going to be better. You know the old saying of, you know, God's not going to leave you, you know, where you are. He's not going to leave you the same.
00:11:39
Speaker
ah i think that's true. It's just that sometimes we're so stubborn, and we don't recognize, oh, this is God providing, you know, change here and and and trying to drive me in a different direction because he's got something else for me to do.
00:11:51
Speaker
He's either drag, yeah, to your point, I mean, he's either going to drag you, right, or give you an opportunity to to be led to that place. So I think most everybody has been in that position for sure before. So, ah you know, when it comes to God's provisioning you in this, um what's something that kind of stood out, maybe ah a specific instance, right, where you saw God move um even in the last couple of years?
00:12:19
Speaker
Yeah. well I'll tell you, even going back, you know, again, this was 10 years ago that I had was coming up on the end of this 10 year stint and was facing the major career transition. But I remember, you know, the first couple days, couple weeks of this isn't going to work. Something's got to change. I somehow have to double my income in the next little bit for us to be able to even pay the basic bills.
00:12:41
Speaker
um I can remember making the statement very ironically to my wife at the time. I said, or it was my mom. I talked to so many people at that time and and was saying a lot of the same things. But I said, if um I understand that this is going to be difficult, I said, but this thing cannot drag on for like four or five months because that'll just be, that's the worst case scenario. Well, guess how long it drag on? About four or five months.
00:13:05
Speaker
and And we survived. We kept paying our bills. And one of the verses that kept coming to mind, which I realized with Crossroads career, kind of the The ministry verse is, you know, Ephesians 2.10, for we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus do good works.
00:13:21
Speaker
If you go a little bit later in that book to Ephesians 3.20, we read, you know, to him who was able to do exceedingly above all that we ask or think.
00:13:32
Speaker
um but I found myself praying that verse constantly and saying, God, I know you're going to come through. um I don't know how because it's not going to be through the normies, but somehow you're going to come through ah both long term and in the short term. And so I just kept having to to lean into God as the provider.
00:13:51
Speaker
And the other thing that I had never noticed before, and i I probably read through this many times, it just never stood out to me, is 1 Peter 5. A lot of people know the the the verses early on
Insights from 'Make Work Better' and Working Genius Model
00:14:02
Speaker
in that chapter, which talks about, you know, God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.
00:14:07
Speaker
ah Therefore, we to humble ourselves utter under the mighty hand of God and at the proper time, he will exalt us. And I kind of took that. OK, exalt. Hey, maybe that also means promote or get a better paying job.
00:14:18
Speaker
And then as I read further down um in that. same section, ah Peter's talking to the Christians that he's writing to that are that are in Jerusalem, and he says that he's acknowledging that they're suffering. And he says, after you have suffered a little while the god of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in christ jesus will so will himself restore confirm Strengthen and establish you and as I looked at that I thought my goodness restore confirm strengthens house I said those are all four things I desperately need and I need for my for myself for my career for my family and so I just found myself praying this over and over again I felt like every single week during that four or five month period that went by ah That God would show signs of hey look I'm working
00:15:06
Speaker
I'm working to restore. um where And a lot of times the the things that happened were the confirmed part of that and the strengthening part. Like just when I thought, okay, the week's nearing its end and I have worked a full-time job and I have spent hours and hours every evening doing job search stuff, I was spent. I would just be like, nothing was left. And I felt like, okay, God, I really need your strengthening. And he would come through every time. So that's that's sort of, and and what I'll say too ah about restoring and establishing,
00:15:34
Speaker
When I finally did in September of 2015, finally get that next level job, it It made all the previous four to five months of suffering worth it. It was just like, oh, yeah, that was kind of a tough. But it was literally when you when you go to that next level, you know, you're not where you were.
00:15:55
Speaker
And it really is worth the journey once once you get there. And that's when I get back to Ephesians 3 20 of it he's able to do exceedingly above all that we ask or think is it wasn't just like, God, you know, I need this, you know, provide it for me. It was like it wasn't just.
00:16:10
Speaker
providing the material things, but it's also providing a lot of joy as well. Absolutely. Because I mean, the job search is grueling and exhausting, especially when you are trying to just keep life going and that's stressful and a lot to carry. And so thank you for sharing just how God met you and comforted you and sustained you and then ultimately provided your next steps.
00:16:32
Speaker
And, you know, it's interesting. You said something about calling and work. And I think sometimes Your calling can be your work and then other times your work or your nine to five or your whatever can really provide for you to do your calling in your other time of life. But can you talk about what you've learned and what led you to write a book about making work better and how those might be connected?
00:16:59
Speaker
Yeah, because if you take the exception of that 10-year employer that I had, again, I was changing jobs every you know three months to two years. And if there was one constant throughout, and probably the reason that I would always give for why I was so quick to leave some of these employer so quickly, it would be just workplace dysfunction. And ah one of the things I've been exposed to over the last, I'd say probably five, six years um has been um organizations and movements that have specialized in workplace culture and organizational health.
00:17:34
Speaker
and understanding ah just the world of work, like like what what makes the optimal, not necessarily ideal, but what makes the optimal workplace and workplace culture. And so I stumbled upon some leadership development resources. I stumbled upon assessments like the six types of working genius, which I love assessments, generally speaking. I love DISC. I love StrengthsFinders, the Synerges Quiz. There's so many that I've used in and hiring and staffing through the years.
00:18:00
Speaker
But when the six types of working genius came out, it really seemed to me to be the thing that was assessing people based on what actually happens at work. you know it's it's it's it's it's It's the six types of work in any organization.
00:18:12
Speaker
and um So as I started to practically implement the the the model of the six types of working genius so with various clients that I had, I started to realize, hey, the more we implement this and put the right people in and the right seats doing the types of work they were made by God to do, they tend to flourish and there tends to be more productivity and there there tends to be less ah frustration, um both for the person doing the work as well as for the company that's meant to and the customer that's meant to benefit from the work. So um I kind of took that logic and married it with a couple of other ah phis philosophies that i developed from from my observations and wrote a book called Make Work Better.
00:18:55
Speaker
Tagline is how empowered teams transform work and deliver better results. Because again, just taking a lot of places think, well, we just need to hire, fire, get different people in here. And sometimes that is necessary, but oftentimes we just have the wrong, we have people doing the wrong types of work.
00:19:11
Speaker
And just if we reassign work, work is happening um or is being performed by, you know, what people will see a world of difference. So the example that I give is there was one job that I had in which I was asked to be a ah a project manager for a product launch.
00:19:28
Speaker
And in this particular job that I had, um the we kind of parachuted into sort of the the end end ending part of the project. Not like we didn't really start at the beginning. it's like the beginning had already been started. Someone else was leading it. We were kind of down to the implementation phase.
00:19:46
Speaker
And it's like, all right, Will, we want you to project manage this. I thought... I don't know if this is a phase I should be managing, but okay. Well, anyway, that um that project took years off my life. I didn't enjoy it. I probably didn't do a good job at it. project The project went okay. The project launch went okay. Not great.
00:20:02
Speaker
And we were getting ready to do a similar product launch, that same that same employer, just a you know couple months later. And I said, i know what we're going to do. i said, we're going to end up parachuting into the end of this, you know as opposed to starting at the beginning. a and I said, I really think that there's somebody else on the team that has the right working geniuses for this phase of the project that I think needs to be leading it And so to my delight, that particular organization picked that person and said, okay, well, this person will be, and I said, I'm still going to contribute. I said, but here's what I can contribute best based on what aligns with my working genius. And so I got to stay in that area and and we had a, whole different product team.
00:20:41
Speaker
That project went so much better. I mean, the the product launch ah went off with people not getting burned out. You know, not everybody understood what they should be doing. The results were a lot better. And I said, oh, it actually works. If you have people working in their genius areas versus their frustration areas or, you know, what's usually the case, people work in their areas of competency.
Shifting Mindset: From Competition to Development
00:21:03
Speaker
which means they can do something okay for a while, but they eventually burn out. um So i've seen I've seen the model work. So the whole Make Work Better movement is really about getting people into positions that align with their working geniuses so that they're doing exactly what God made them to do the majority of time. we We don't always get to do that. Sometimes we do have to work outside of our genius areas, but if we can spend most of our time in our genius areas, it works out better for everyone.
00:21:29
Speaker
And well, Tim, you might be thinking the same thing that I am, but can you fill in the gap between, you know, a decade ago, this catastrophic, like chaotic season, and then like where you are now?
00:21:42
Speaker
And tell us a little bit about that journey. And I'm sure it contributed to how you wrote your book and maybe you getting to experience finally that freedom of working more and you're working genius. But what was that this past decade like for you?
00:21:56
Speaker
Yeah, I'd say the biggest mindset shift that I've had for the last 10 years, and it's been not an easy one, and it's one that I often um encourage others to enter into,
00:22:08
Speaker
is to get away from a competitive mindset and into more of a development mindset. And here's what I mean by that. It's really easy to see other people, whether it's at your workplace or or counterparts at other workplaces within your industry, what have you, as your competition. Or if you're like me, I'm a Gen Xer that's kind of a mid-level. you know I'm not the oldest Gen Xer there is, but I'm certainly not the youngest either. I'm kind of in between there.
00:22:34
Speaker
um When I was doing a lot of consulting where I was asked to be, in many cases, a deeply embedded consultant, like, you know, going to an office a couple times a week, working closely with teams, I would find lot of the people that I was working with to be.
00:22:48
Speaker
a bit younger, ah but probably having a little bit more of an authoritative mindset than what I was expecting. I'm like, oh, you're junior to me. You know you should just be asking me, what should I do? What should I do? Not, hey, I want to do this.
00:23:01
Speaker
so And I'm not saying that, I'm sure most Gen Xers have, because the Gen X generation is a much smaller one than say some of the succeeding generations, like like the millennials.
00:23:13
Speaker
And so you're going to have far more millennials that are gonna be in positions of middle management than even Gen Xers primarily because there's more of them, right? And so when I would come into some of those environments, I would just be like, this person doesn't know what they're doing. They don't have all my experience. you know I would just kind of emote that way. And probably a couple of years ago, I realized, you know what? I'm being sent into these situations.
00:23:38
Speaker
not to feel threatened. Not that I did. i felt like it was the other way around in some cases that others saw this older guy with you know gray hair coming in and and and telling them what they should be doing and they may have felt threatened. But I feel i feel like um in those situations, um rather than be resentful towards those that may be junior to me, may have less experience, that it was actually my job to develop them and say, look, this person's in a position of middle management, they're making decisions.
00:24:09
Speaker
I need to develop them as opposed to, oh, I'm going to do that better than you. it's just It's just a mindset shift. And so um my my life's role right now is really to develop people that are in middle management, that are younger than me, um and help them come along because a lot of lot of them may have collaborative or less collaborative mindsets. But that's really been what my focus has been. And in the last couple of years, what's interesting is I'll tie it in with something that Crossroads is doing.
Empathy Through Struggles and Value of Mentorship
00:24:40
Speaker
When I made the decision about, about a couple years ago to become a Crossroads guide, which, uh, that ministry is all about, you know, providing a 45 minute free consultation to a job seeker.
00:24:52
Speaker
And the thing that was amazing is that the first, I can't probably 10 or so conversations I had, I would hear, um, the dread or, you know, hear the panic and the voices of of those that, you know, that I would call and provide this kind consultation to.
00:25:08
Speaker
And when I look back, I'm like, oh, my goodness, this is why I went through this 10 years ago, because now I can tell someone, let me tell you a little bit about what I went through and how I was able to lean on God and how he came through. And I'm confident it's going to happen for you, too.
00:25:22
Speaker
And at the end of the conversation, mean, I call. I feel so much better. Like in some of these conversations I would have would even begin with the person in tears. Like they would just bust out crying like this is so difficult.
00:25:34
Speaker
And I would I would listen. And of course, you know, we would go down, you know, their journey. We talk about their journey. But just being able to share aspects of my past, again, it kind of made sense like, oh, this is why I went through what I went through 10 years ago, only because I'm able to now to develop people.
00:25:50
Speaker
that are going through something similar at varying stages of life. I mean, I've, I've talked to folks that are in their twenties, thirties, a lot of them forties and fifties that are just at their wits end. And like, I don't know what I'm going to do. And by the end of the conversation um I'm able to sort of transfer some of the piece that I've been able to develop and maintain over the last, you know, 10 plus years to them so that they can continue to walk down the job search journey with more hope than what they had when, when the conversation started.
00:26:19
Speaker
Yeah, the the mentor thing is a big deal, right? You thought it was competitive competition. You changed your mindset and said, no, I want to develop these people. And that that's a big shift and something that the older generation has an opportunity to do.
00:26:35
Speaker
you know So if you are in your later stage of your career, thats said that's a challenge for you, right? Is look around your workspace, look for people that you can mentor and coach and lead, because they need you.
00:26:48
Speaker
ah We need each other. And you have so much experience and value, but sometimes that might not be as honored in certain places, but try to start with one person, right? And and that that kind of gets me to the question of, you know, what's um what is some advice that you got along the way from a mentor, from somebody above you that made a big difference in your career?
00:27:11
Speaker
ah So much and and so many. I think probably the best advice that I got that I think applies not just to one's work life, but across the board,
00:27:23
Speaker
it's um It's a five letter word. It's R-E-L-A-X. It's relax. Because I think my my tendencies, generally speaking, are to just get on fire really quickly, at least with my hair on fire and and and react react to things as opposed to respond. And so just understanding that difference between ah you can eat, everybody can and does react, right? I mean, something happens, a challenge.
00:27:53
Speaker
um again, at varying degrees or stages of of catastrophe. um It's easy to react. It's really hard to just respond. And one of the super practical things I do ah to to prevent a reaction and instead choose a response Is I, if if possible, I just get away and go to a different place.
Self-awareness and Responding Thoughtfully
00:28:13
Speaker
Like if I'm sitting here and in my home office and it's like, I'm about to start reacting and it's not going to be healthy or productive. It's not going to be in a mode of faith.
00:28:23
Speaker
then what I'll do is I'll be like, all right, well, my truck is sitting right out there. I'm just going to get in my truck and just drive a couple miles away and and get into a a better frame of mind. And so, again, whether it's it's work, I mean, that applies to work life, anything.
00:28:37
Speaker
um It's just the understanding the importance between responding and reacting. And responding is a far more productive um approach to reacting. Well, and, you know, if you're listening and haven't taken the working genius or like,
00:28:53
Speaker
read, make work better, or just had some time to really think about like how you are wired and how you are made. I feel like that's even helpful to learn, like, how can I relax? Cause I think outlets are different for different people, but how can I create some space between the situation and my response and buy myself some time to choose what I'm going to do. And so I think it's all related, you know, personal life and work can really overlap, especially in how we're wired and what we bring into work and what we bring out of work. And so I really love that advice. Well, I think we all need to be reminded of that.
00:29:28
Speaker
And I'd say to to boil it down to one term, it's it's it's self-awareness and it's understanding, you know, God created you and wired you to be a certain way. And it's not like everybody else.
00:29:39
Speaker
And again, the working genius posits that there's six different types of work in each organization. in Everyone has you know at least two of those that are their genius areas, but not everybody on planet Earth has this has the same two working geniuses because we wouldn't get everything done that needs to get done. right So I think it's easy for people, especially those going through job transition,
00:29:59
Speaker
to say, oh, if only I was like this, if only i was this job title or that talent or whatever, because they don't seem to have a hard time getting a job or they're well paid. That's the temptation, right?
00:30:10
Speaker
To do that and not understanding if you're not, um you know, a six figure paid engineer, And suddenly for a day you could be and you could get that job. If that's not how you're wired, you know, after probably a day but or or at least within a few days, you're gonna what was I thinking? Why did I go in that direction? That's not me. Right.
00:30:29
Speaker
And so I think just, again, the the crossroads philosophy of upward, inward and outward. where again, upward, you start with that vertical relationship with God and understand, ah you know, what is he trying to teach me through this season? And then you go to inward, which is really looking inward and saying, how has God created me? And what has he created me to do? What specific gifts and talents, you know, as they have played out on the stage, like what and what do others say about me? What do others say that I'm good at? And as we get into the outward, this is when you're actually doing the performative parts of the job search with interviews and sending out resumes, et cetera.
00:31:04
Speaker
Um, following, uh, that path is so much easier when you have self-awareness and when you're trying to be five different people, if you're like, Hey, I'll just do whatever, you know, whatever you'll hire me to do, I'll do that never ends well. And it doesn't start well either.
00:31:19
Speaker
So yeah, that's why I'd say self-awareness is, is probably the best way, you know to, to, to term exactly what it is we're talking about.
Recap and Encouragement to Engage with Crossroads
00:31:26
Speaker
Well, it has been a pleasure to talk with you today. Thank you for your perspective. a lot of things to unpack, lot of things to think about.
00:31:35
Speaker
I do want our listeners to just really think about that um ah concept of and responding versus reacting, mentoring versus competition. And it's a mindset that you can change in your workplace. So whether you're yeah had a job for ah a month or for 35 years, right?
00:31:55
Speaker
um God's going to use you in amazing ways. So thank you so much for joining us today. We really appreciate you. Appreciate you as a guide. Appreciate you as a as a, just a fellow person in the ministry. And if you would like to have a guide call with will maybe,
00:32:13
Speaker
Who knows? We have a whole bunch of guides. So you might not get Will, but you're goingnna get somebody great. and We have a 45-minute guide call that is free. Just go to our website, crosshandscareer.org, and you'll see that right on the homepage to sign up, and somebody will get in touch with you right away. So, Will, thanks so much again for joining us.
00:32:33
Speaker
Thank you, guys. It was a pleasure. Looking for guidance in your career? Our Crossroads guides are ready to help. Set up a complimentary call now by visiting our website, crossroadscareer.org.
00:32:45
Speaker
Thanks for listening.