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Dan Pink

 

Thursday, June 25, 2009 10 am Pacific, 11 am Mountain, noon Central, 1 pm EST

 

The Six Career Secrets Nobody Bothered to Tell You

Much of the strategic advice we pass on to young people about their careers is outdated -- and even dangerous. If we really want to help them, we need to tell them what successful people have already figured out: That there is no plan. That talent is overrated. And that in today's environment, it's not about you.

 

Bio

 

Daniel H. Pink is the author of a trio of provacative best-selling books on the changing world of work.  His newest work is The Adventures of Johnny Bunko:  The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need.

 

Questions

 

  1. Which is more important to professional success and personal fulfillment in your own work and life – persistence or talent?  What about in other people's lives?
  2. In your own work and life, have you made too many mistakes or too few?
  3. What imprint are you trying to leave on the world?
  4. What is one career lesson you know now that you wish you had known when you were 21?



EXERCISE: Check Your Time


First, make a short list of what is most important to you: the people, the activities, and the values.  Pare the list to ten or fewer items.

 


 

Next, take your iPhone, your day planner, or the free calendar you got from the insurance guy--and examine how you've spent your time in the past week or month. How many hours can you assign to each of the life priorities you identified? Where have you successfully aligned your values with your time? Where do you find gaps between what you preach and what you actually practiced? This exercise can keep you honest and help you steer your days toward a more meaningful life.

 

 

 

 

 

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Meet Dan...


His books...

 

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Listen to Dan...


Oprah Soul Series interview (Fall 2008) (See also: O, The Oprah Magazine interview)

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Interview Questions

 


1. You say "There is no plan."   I am reading a book by the Miller twins who just wrote, directed, and acted in a feature film starring Ed Harris, who plays their alcoholic father. When their father died in  jail cell, they vowed to make the film, Touching Home, as a dedication to their love for him. They had no plan and succeeded in making the film, but they were young and free.  What about those of us with family responsibilities?

2. In your latest blog, you mention Charles and Ray Eames (I used to have an Eames chair, but sold it at a yard sale over 30 years ago). How did the Eames move from Point A to Point B throughout their lives without a plan?

3. You also say that talent is overrated. What else is important in careers?

4. You say "It's not about you."  Then who is it about?  Dick Bolles says to do something you are passionate about and that the world needs, but you have to be passionate about it. Isn't it about a dance between what you are passionate about and what others need or desire? 

5. What if you are passionate about lots of things?  How do you know what to focus on?  Or should you focus on one thing or keep your options open?

6. What is most important to you (people, activities, values)? What did you find about yourself when you did the exercise that you designed, "Check Your Time?"

7. You said in your tele-interview blurb that much of the strategic advice we pass on to young people about their careers is outdated---and even dangerous. What kind of advise is dangerous and why?

8.  You mentioned an upcoming book you are writing about what motivation.  Can you give listeners a sneak preview?  What are employers looking for?  Will that book be a comic book like The adventures of Johnny Bunko?

9.  If listeners have more questions, how can they contact you?

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