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Forbes Coaches Council member Josh Allan Dykstra is the co-CEO of Forte. He's an author, consultant and speaker who helps leaders and entrepreneurs create amazing places to work.
We asked him three important questions. His answers are below:
What inspired you to become a coach?
Everything I do revolves around making work not suck. It's why I write, speak, consult and coach. Right now, an astonishing 80 percent of people are somehow disconnected, dispassionate, or disengaged from the thing they spend the majority of their life doing: their work. This isn't O.K, and it can't be allowed to continue.
What one piece of advice do you find yourself relying on most, and why?
I'm constantly reminding people to focus on strengths first. We all have a persistent voice in our head telling us that we have to obsess over our weaknesses, that we have to choose from a set of limited options and that work is supposed to be one of the worst parts of our lives. This is a devastating problem, as thinking this way never leads to greatness of any kind. On the other hand, a strengths approach shows us that we get an exponential return on investing in what energizes us most, that there are almost always more options than we initially thought and that our work can be one of the best parts of our lives.
What is the biggest hurdle your clients face, and what advice would you give others struggling with this issue?
Almost everyone I talk to struggles with the same thing: "How do I get everything done at work AND somehow maintain a rhythm with the rest of my life?" What's even worse is that the organizations we work for are frequently near the root of the struggle. The first thing to do is to start taking power back in your role: while there are many things outside your control, you likely have more autonomy than you think around how you get your work done. Start paying close attention to the activities that energizes you and what depletes your energy. Little by little, begin shifting your work towards what makes you feel alive. It's not a fast or sexy process, but it is quite amazing once you commit to it.
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