I used to have a job where I traveled around the country, giving trainings and workshops at law schools and universities. I tracked my frequent flyer miles and got the upgrades and perks. I had favorite airports and packing hacks.
One time as I got through the security screening I sat down on a bench to tuck something into a bag and I saw a $50 on the floor. The place was relatively deserted, and after making sure there was nobody patting their pockets worriedly, I kept it. Score!
What’s funny is that now, whenever I go through security, I scan for the benches on the other side, checking for $50 bills.
I don’t just do this at the airport it happened at. I do it at every airport.
I recognize that this is bonkers. I had a single small lucky experience once, seven years ago. If I am going to find cash on the ground again, it’s just as likely to be on a sidewalk or in a grocery store as under an airport bench.
But my limbic system formed an association, and it activates without my conscious thought.
My friend’s dog is the same way. Once, long ago, the dog stumbled on some recently spilled french fries near a certain tree in a particular park. Now the dog tugs at the leash whenever they’re approaching that tree. It will be the french fry tree forever.
What does this have to do with your career?
We’ve all got some associations and assumptions from our past work environments. Those form our professional identity. A bunch of them are logical, deliberate, and conscious. And some of them are deeper, formed way back three jobs ago when an especially positive or negative experience formed an association.
That’s why I start all of my client engagements with a Work Biography. I interview the client about their formative work history.
For each significant job, I ask 6 questions:
- How did you get the job?
- What were you hired to do?
- What was your biggest achievement?
- What was your lowest moment?
- Who knew your work best, and what would they tell me about you if I asked them?
- Why did you leave?
Those questions are deliberately chosen to help uncover patterns and key identity markers. What motivates you? What’s demoralizing or frustrating? What kind of network and reputation have you built? How do you make career decisions?
Looking together at formative moments, career highlights and low points, and the relationships you formed along the way can help bring patterns into the light. Clients tell me often that this exercise helps them make connections and see themes that they hadn’t noticed before.
It also helps me as a coach understand a client’s level of self-awareness, and the assets and obstacles we’ll be working with as we create an action plan for growth and greater happiness.
If you’d like to do the Work Biography on yourself or with a friend, you can download a .pdf with the questions here.
