It took me a long time to realize that I was not the only “story guru” in the professional organization of which I serve on the executive board, the Career Management Alliance. Story also figures prominently in the practice of Alliance member George Dutch. Unlike the way previous Q&A subjects Rob Sullivan and Judy Rosemarin deploy storytelling in the job search, though, George analyzes written stories from his clients then writes reports that help them fashion a new work identity that they then use to make radical or significant career transitions. I’m delighted to bring you this Q&A with George, which will run over the next five days.
Bio: George is the founder and president of JobJoy, a career transition company. As a certified career professional with almost 20 years experience working one-on-one with 3000+ clients, he specializes in Personal Story Analysis and Creative Positioning to help his clients find their right work. His blog, vlog, and podcasts all focus on storytelling the details of successful transitions. He is the author of a series of books, including JobJoy: Finding Your Right Work Through the Power of Your Personal Story, now available as an eBook for $15.
Q&A with George Dutch: Question 1:
Q: You write in your book Find Your Right Work, “Writing your life story helps you understand your own life in terms of the forces that have defined and changed you over the years. The facts, people and events of your life have formed a seamless web of meaning that help you to answer the questions, “Who am I?” and “What am I trying to accomplish with my life?” How did you come to realize that having clients and readers write their life stories could accomplish these and more insights?
A: The world of work is a hard taskmaster. At some point in a life story, reality breaks everyone. Even though we live in one of the most affluent places in the world in one of the most affluent times in history, the No. 1 workplace disability in North America is depression (according to the World Health Organization). I think narrative counseling is inextricably tied to this sad phenomenon. When we construct a story for ourselves, we construct a thread that we follow daily. If individuals lose the thread of their story and how it relates to the bigger Story that shapes our worldview, our deepest values, our culture … then we put our lives in danger at many
levels.
For example, our personal sense of identity might disintegrate and leave us with empty, haunting questions: Who am I? Where am I? Why am I? What’s
the point? Even worse, to believe we have no story is to acknowledge that
our existence is meaningless. This is an unbearable idea. When stories take
such a drastically dark turn, we may find ourselves terrifyingly alone,
spiritually blind, psychologically or physically broken. But it’s not just
us as individuals who suffer; the rest of society is deprived of our
contribution.
Fortunately, our personal stories have the power to help us heal from the inevitable trials and tragedies of life. It certainly helped me, and that’s when I came to realize how journaling, autobiography, morning pages, and
other writing exercises could provide deep insights to the unconscious
patterns of strength and weaknesses that operate below the radar screen of
life. Certain activities and events in our lives — during childhood, teen
years, and in each decade of adulthood — are particularly enjoyable and
consistently satisfying. These are things we choose to do because we
discover them as satisfying; or, we choose to do them in our discretionary
time because they energize rather than drain us. So, I give my clients a
simple format around which to organize those stories so that they can be
easily analyzed for their key success factors. Like mining for gold, the
format helps to separate the ore from the gold to get to the relevant
material in an efficient and effective manner.