How I am Evaluating Happiness at Work These Days

September is hands down my favorite month of the year. I even named my first daughter after the month where the light shifts, the air chills, and if you are lucky, the leaves start to change color. The start of something new hangs heavy in September. A new school year starts up for my girls and my wife, who is a professor, while I use this time for both reflection and excitement. Reflection on the summer, on the past year, and excitement as I begin exploring what the next 12 months could bring.

September also aligns with annual reviews here at LinkedIn, a process that for me is just a formalized check-in for conversations I have been having with my team throughout the rest of the year. This year, more than years past, I have been having more intensive career conversations with not only my team but lots of other folks as well and thought it would be valuable to lay out a framework that I have developed over the years to help myself evaluate career happiness. My goal here is to share my own experiences as well as learn how others approach this subject.

While everyone is going to define happiness and fulfillment in different ways, I have found that when the following 5 pillars are in alignment, I am most happy and fulfilled in my career.

1. Mission Driven Organization - I am part of an organization that is contributing to changing the world in a way that is aligned to my core values
2. Good People: I work with people that I respect, inspire me, and I enjoy being around
3. Impactful Work: - I am spending the majority of my time on large, impactful initiatives that are furthering the mission of the organization
4. Consistently Learning - I am slightly out of my element, forcing me to learn, take risks, and adapt
5. Work-life Happiness - My work-life ecosystem is in balance with my current life priorities

Each year, usually in September, I rank these 5 pillars on a scale from 1-5, with 5 being closest to the definitions outlined above and 1 not fulfilling the definitions at all. I have found that I am most happy when each pillar has a 4 or a 5 while unhappiness starts to creep in when any pillar starts to dip below 3.

Below is how I think about each pillar along with some examples of what could be done if certain pillars start to become out of balance.

Mission Driven Organization

I am part of an organization that is contributing to changing the world in a way that is aligned to my core values

Working for an organization that I respect and is pushing the world to change in the way I agree with and feel proud to be a part of is the overarching umbrella for the rest of the pillars on this list. It is hard for me to get up in the morning when I don’t care about the work I am going to go do for the day. Being clear with what my core values are as a person helps align myself with organizations that make me feel proud to get up and go to work everyday.

If score is low -

1. Feel confident in your own core values. Brené Brown has a great introduction to values here
2. Make a list of organizations that you would feel proud to work for and may align to those values
3. Set up LinkedIn job alerts for those companies, privately signal interest for your dream gigs so recruiters can see you first, and/or let recruiters or the world know you are “open for work”.
4. Understand if starting your own organization is something you want to take on, or, if feasibility and your ambition align, buckle up and try to rebuild the mission of your current organization.

Good People

I work with people I respect and enjoy being around

I have heard time and time again that people leave jobs not because of the work but because of the people around them. This can also be true for why someone may want to stay at a job. When the majority of my waking hours are spent with my work colleagues, it is important to make sure I respect those around me (i.e., they dream big, they get shit done, they are not jerks, etc.) and I enjoy their company (i.e., they are fun, etc.).

If score is low -

1. Look for opportunities to build a stronger culture within your immediate team.
2. Defining team values is a good first step, followed by finding consistent ways to build connection and trust (off-sites, social gatherings, etc).
3. If you don’t respect or have fun with the majority of the people you work with, it may be time to look for a new team or organization.

Impactful Work

I am spending the majority of my time on large, impactful initiatives that are furthering the mission of the organization

Working for a great company surrounded by great people often isn’t enough to keep me happy in my career if the work I am doing isn’t being recognized or isn’t contributing to furthering the mission of the organization. My work needs to be impactful and actually needs to be contributing to making the organization stronger. Helping to set strategy, learning how to manage a team, solving a problem that few others can solve, or leading large groups of people towards a shared objective. These are just a few examples of ideas to make work more impactful.

If score is low:

1. Find ways to do your current job faster or more efficiently so you have bandwidth to take on more strategic projects. I have always approached my job as “how can I put myself out of work?”. While this may seem scary at first, you soon realize that if you succeed, bigger and more impactful projects tend to follow.
2. If the other 4 pillars are high, look elsewhere within the organization to collaborate on items you find interesting or look for other open positions on internal teams that are working on more impactful projects.
3. If your work continues to be mundane while trying the above and your team or managers won’t help you grow, it may be time to look for a new role.

Consistently Learning

I am slightly out of my element forcing me to learn and adapt

To me, boredom is a nemeses to happiness. The same thing over and over again is not something that jives with my personality. While my wife can eat the same yogurt and granola every morning for breakfast, I have to constantly try new recipes and combinations to keep things interesting. Same thing goes for my career. I need to be working on something new and often times I need be pushed out of my comfort zone to force this when I become complacent. Luckily, the digital marketing space is constantly changing which forces me to adapt. I have also benefited from having strong leaders and managers who have pushed me to think bigger or to try new things.

If score is low:

1. Take stock of what skills you think you may need or want to grow in your career.
2. Set aside time to hone those skills through platforms like LinkedIn Learning, YouTube, or industry events.
3. Take on stretch assignments that put you outside your comfort zone.
4. If the other 4 pillars are high, begin conversations with other teams within your organization to help you understand what other opportunities might exist to grow your skillsets .
5. Apply to internal roles.
6. If you are ready to move to another organization, take what you have learned and go apply that skill to a new industry or company.

Work-life Happiness

My work-life ecosystem is in balance with my current life priorities

Currently, my priorities in life, in order are

• My mental and physical health
• My family’s health and wellness
• Quality time with my friends
• Dedication to mastering my work and/or passions
• Everything else

Therefore, if work begins to eat into my other priorities, my happiness suffers. Lots of people talk about work-life balance, work-life integration, etc., all of which look at this pillar in slightly different ways. For me, I just want to make sure there is ample time in my day/week/month for each of my priorities.

Setting clear boundaries, establishing clear priorities mapped to bandwidth, and helping to cultivate a healthy work-life culture within a team or organization are all paramount to this pillar staying high.

If score is low:

1. Understand if this is an organizational cultural imbalance or a personal imbalance due to not setting clear boundaries or taking on too much at once.
2. If it is a cultural imbalance, look for opportunities to share your experience and recommend ideas to help create a change rectify. Modeling work-life balance within a team, especially if you are in a higher-level position, is really powerful for starting this shift. If it falls on deaf ears, it may be time to look at another organization.
3. If it is a personal imbalance, think through ways to set clear boundaries (i.e., make a commitment to not email in the evening, move meetings that interfere with child pick-up/drop-off, your therapy session, your yoga class, etc).
4. If you have too much on your plate, work with your team or manager to set clear priorities and get good at saying no.

Other Thoughts

Some people have asked me where salary/compensation comes into play in this framework. For that I have a couple thoughts:

1. A mentor once told me that if you are constantly chasing title or salary, you will never be happy. Instead, if you focus on finding ways to grow and learn, trying your best, and providing value to your organization, the salary and recognition will find you. While I do feel privileged to currently work for a company like LinkedIn who takes great care of its employees, this advice has yet to let me down.
2. Salary could be bucketed into work-life happiness. A question to ask oneself, is your salary allowing you to achieve the priorities in your life that make you happy and meet your needs. If not, there could be opportunity to invest and grow in your current role or seek new roles or organizations to get you there.
3. If salaries at your organization are not transparent and equitable and/or you have concerns about the equity of your salary, there could be a clear opportunity for you to inspire change or look for another organizations that align with your values.

Closing

In closing, I hope this framework sparks some ideas for how you evaluate your current career happiness trajectory. I also know that it may not be comprehensible for everyone but my goal is to start a conversation and learn from others. What else would you add? Are there additional pillars that make you happy at work?