Galt Global Review

Your book, Dare to Change Your Job and Your Life, not only inspires you to rethink your career and life, it shows you how. Could you give a brief summary of the book?

Dare to Change shows individuals and organizations how to move beyond traditional thinking about careers. It provides an integrated perspective on how we grow and change through life and how we make major decisions. Dare to Change normalizes change and shows how “Questers” move forward by strengthening Quester qualities such as authenticity, resilience, a sense of purpose, intuition, and optimism.

One of the things you address is how the career and life cycles interact. Can you expand upon this?

We tend to alternate between transitional and developmental periods throughout life. Transitions, which generally begin during late adolescence then occur every decade after that, are times for questioning who we are and what we want to do. Changes in priorities, needs and lifestyles may result.

During developmental periods we make commitments to and work toward desired goals. At the same time we also experience the career cycle of entry, mastery and disengagement. During entry, we’re enthusiastically learning new job tasks. In mastery, we’re competent, confident and productive. If we’re no longer challenged by our job duties, we lose enthusiasm, productivity and confidence.

This disengagement stage of the career cycle tends to parallel the transition stages of the life cycle. By age 30 (the first major adult transition), many people are seeking new challenges and skills. Growing individuals, who feel they’re no longer deriving desired work rewards, generally move from their positions after progressing through a career cycle. Many clients I see in my counseling practice are in transitions. They may be depressed, burned out, stressed, anxious. Their feelings tend to be related to job dissatisfaction or loss, divorce or relationship challenges, pregnancy, death of a loved one or illness.

One gentleman with whom I worked experienced an intense transition at age 60. At 59, he had lost his engineering job, had issues with his son who was in trouble with the law, had divorced his wife a year earlier and lost his mother within a year of losing his job. During this major life transition he came to terms with his losses, went back to school to update his skills and is now working in a new field of engineering. In his 60s this gentleman became a Quester, whereas before he had been living his life more as a Traditionalist.

During my own age 30 transition I traveled around Europe for 9 months, alone. At that point in my life I had become disengaged with my first career choice and was also re-evaluating my marriage. I needed to reassess what to do next. I didn’t realize at the time that I was experiencing the age-30 transition, a normal period of growth.

How long does a transition typically last?

Transitions average 3 to 5 years, and developmental periods average 5 to 10 years,

Although everybody has their rhythm, a transition occurs on average every 7.5 years. Interestingly, in my research I discovered that many organizations move their employees either by promoting members or transferring them to a different department approximately every 7 years. When I asked one particular department why they did this, and if it was based upon any particular research, they replied that they didn’t know of such – they just knew that this “worked.”

You talk in your book a lot about who you term as “Questers.” Who are Questers? What are the key qualities of a person who is a Quester?

They are creative, growth-oriented individuals who tend to value internal rewards such as growth, autonomy, achievement and challenge over external rewards such as prestige, and money. Not that most Questers don't like these things as well, but they are prepared to make trade-offs to get what they want.

Questers periodically reassess who they are and where they want to go. Questers are authentic, intuitive, optimistic, resilient, confident, have a sense of purpose, and courage to take planned risks to create their desired lives. They will move up, down or sideways on the occupational prestige ladder to continue needed growth and revitalization.

Can Quester traits be learned?

We are all born with these traits. We learn to walk, we fall, we pick ourselves up and go again. Observe any small child and you will see them visibly engaged and intensely involved in whatever they are doing. This is what Questers do. Mind you, we need a supportive environment, but our natural tendency is to be involved in what we choose to do.

To nurture these Quester traits throughout development, we need at least one person such as a parent, teacher or other significant adult to give us support, feedback, and autonomy. In addition, we need challenge so we get a sense of accomplishment and confidence. This is called competence motivation, which I talk about in my book.

What was your first encounter with people whom you call Questers?

One of the questions I asked for my PhD research was: Why do some people voluntarily change jobs and others not? How do people who voluntarily change jobs differ from those who don't? Are voluntary career changes related to the life cycle transitions, as theorized by Daniel Levinson and colleagues?

In my academic writing, I called them ‘changers’ and ‘non changers,' but when I wrote Dare to Change, I brainstormed possible terms with a few friends. We came up with the more appropriate 'Questers and Traditionalists.'

Nobody is a true Quester or a Traditionalist. Many of us have traits of both.

Do Questers differ from generation to generation?

No. Questers have been around for ages. Throughout history, people who've made major contributions to humankind were Questers.

It’s certainly easier to be a Quester now. As a matter of fact, people will have to adapt Quester qualities in order to prevail in the new millennium.

You tell us some interesting stories about Questers in your book. What are a few compelling ones?

One of my favorite Questers is Galileo Galilee. This Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer and philosopher played a major role in the scientific revolution. Considered a revolutionary in his time, Galileo proved the earth revolved around the sun instead of the other way around.

Other famous Questers are Bill Gates and Dr. Barbara McClintock.

Many entrepreneurs are Questers. Two attorneys I know who practiced law in a big Eastern city left their thriving law practice to start a garbage recycling business. Many people, 60 and older are retiring from conventional jobs and considering a whole new set of options. I’ve met people who in their 50s return to school to study medicine. One gentleman returned to school at 70 to become a minister. Prior to this he had been a successful senior executive for an international organization. Many are starting new ventures at 90 or older.

Just recently I met a couple who came to Canada from Europe. The gentleman, Dr. Ivan Kropyvntskyy, a neurosurgeon approaching 40, decided after considerable soul searching not to take lucrative offers to practice neurosurgery. Instead, he chose to follow his passion: preventative health, and launched a web site called www.wellnessaid.com.

Questers and the Contemporary Career

Employees in the 21st Century need strong, creative minds, the ability to think for themselves, make wise decisions, and work as a team. Most important, they need to know how to learn. Over a decade ago, Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus found the key personal quality needed for running successful organizations was personal learning. This is particularly important today.

Part II of this interview will focus on Questers and the Contemporary Career.