The Beauty of Ideal Career Alignment

I had an extraordinary experience recently. I saw with my own two eyes a rare and beautiful condition almost unheard of in today’s marketplace: a person who seemed to be working in the exact right job for their skills, gifts, personality, and calling. Let me share what happened so you can see what I mean.

The other day I traveled to a customer’s facility to meet with some quality engineers regarding an issue. As I walked to the front entrance, a woman with a kind smile opened the door for me. I introduced myself, thinking she was one of the people I was there to meet. She wasn’t, but she said that they were expecting me and she ushered me into the lobby. We walked over to the receptionist desk where she got me signed in and gave me a visitors badge. While I was signing in, she asked me how my day was going and if I had any trouble finding the place. She was just making small talk, but her tone was sincere.

I’ve visited hundreds of manufacturing companies over the years and this kind of welcoming reception was not typical. Usually, I’m greeted by a person at the front desk who seems annoyed that I’m interrupting their day (even though that’s their job). They point at the sign-in book and then place a quick, emotionless call to the person I’m there to meet. Then I’ll wait, awkwardly, in the lobby until that person is able to come to get me.

Not this time.

Once I had signed in, the friendly receptionist said, “Follow me!” and led me from the lobby into the main office area. “Do you need to stop in the bathroom?” she asked as we passed by them. I didn’t. We turned and made our way through the break area. “Would you like some coffee? Tea? Water? Or how about a snack?” she asked. “We have a wide variety of things.”

“No thanks,” I replied.

We walked into another area and stopped just outside of an empty conference room. “Hmmm,” she said as she turned on the lights and motioned for me to step inside. “You wait right here. Make yourself comfortable and I’ll go get everyone.” Within a minute she had gathered the engineers I was scheduled to meet. She looked at me and said, “Ok  Gary, if there’s anything else you need, just let me know!” She smiled and left.

Wow!

I don’t know how to communicate how unusual (in a fantastic way) that kind of behavior from a receptionist is; and how pleasant it was for me as a visitor to that company. Even though I was actually there to resolve a problem, by the time I met with the engineering team I was in a great mood, encouraged by the royal reception I had received. I hadn’t been treated as an unwelcome outsider or a mere supplier. No, I was shown the utmost respect.

The meeting with the engineers went well (we established a plan to get everything resolved quickly), but as I walked back to my truck, the only thing on my mind was the uniquely positive experience I had with that receptionist.

All the way back to the shop I wondered what it was that I had just experienced. One thing I knew for sure was, if I was a business owner, that woman is exactly who I would want working the front desk! Her genuine love and respect for people and her desire to help them couldn’t help but shine through. In her role as receptionist she didn’t have to feign a smile and pretend to be friendly. She just had to be herself (how she’s ‘wired’, if you will) and the desired outcome just happened.

I believe this is what happens when someone works in a job that is a great fit for who they are; one that is a near-perfect match for their skills, talents, gifts, personality, and calling. They have what I’ll call, Ideal Career Alignment.

And this alignment is not only great for them - for they surely have a high job satisfaction - but it also produces a ton of benefit to the company they work for and it is a tangible blessing to those who work with them and those who are served by them.

We’ve all seen the opposite condition (which unfortunately is not rare), where someone is completely mis-aligned in their career. This is the customer service clerk who hates dealing with people, the school teacher who doesn’t like kids, the cook who has no passion for good food, the architect with no appreciation for beauty, and the outside salesman who is a chronic introvert. Not only are these people ineffective in their roles, they are often miserable and they end up making everyone around them miserable too.

The more I think about ideal career alignment, the more questions I have: Why do we settle for mis-alignment? What would our workplaces be like if most everyone was aligned correctly with how they are wired? What would our experience be if everywhere we went we were dealing with people who were ideally-suited for the roles they were in?

It sounds beautiful to me!

Ok, I want to hear from you on this topic! In the comments, let me know about a time when you experienced the benefit of Ideal Career Alignment. What did it look like? How did it feel?

Also, if you feel that you personally have ideal career alignment right now, I’d love to hear about it.