October 5, 2024 • 32 mins
Are you a nurse feeling stuck, unfulfilled, or unsure about your next career move? Do you crave a purposeful and fulfilling career path? If so, this episode is your compass to navigate the exciting journey of self-discovery and unlock your full potential.
Key Points:
- Self-awareness isn't just a buzzword – it's the secret ingredient to a fulfilling nursing career.
- Forget the linear path; your career is an adventure waiting to be explored!
- Seven Powerful Self-Awareness Tools:
- SWOT Analysis: Uncover your hidden strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to chart your career course.
- CliftonStrengths: Discover your superpowers and leverage them to create a career you love.
- Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI): Decode your personality and find the perfect work environment and team dynamics for you.
- 16 Personalities: Dive deeper into your personality and unlock your hidden potential for career satisfaction.
- Emotional Intelligence Assessment: Master your emotions and become an influential and inspiring leader.
- Enneagram: Uncover your core motivations, conquer your fears, and develop a leadership style that empowers others.
- DISC Assessment: Crack the code of your behavior patterns and become a collaborative superstar.
- 360 Degree Feedback: Gain valuable insights from those around you and unlock your blind spots for continuous growth.
Choosing Your Self-Discovery Toolkit:
- Select the tools that resonate with your career aspirations.
- Finding your overall direction? Explore SWOT Analysis, CliftonStrengths, MBTI, and 16 Personalities.
- Ready to step into leadership? Dive into Emotional Intelligence, Enneagram, DISC Assessment, and 360 Degree Feedback.
Call to Action:
- Feeling stuck? Start with a SWOT analysis and gain clarity today.
- Join the email list for a free guide on the top 5 career-boosting strategies.
- Don't miss out on the upcoming offer designed to skyrocket your career journey!
Remember: Self-awareness is your superpower. Continuously explore, learn, and grow to create a nursing career that lights your fire. Tune in now and unlock your full potential!
Extra Podcasts Mentioned in this episode:
My Clifton-Strengths Finders Review: Discovering Strengths: How this Nurse Educator Uses Her Talents to Succeed
A walkthrough of how to use the SWOT Analysis: Tired of Searching for the Right Nursing Job? Use these 2 Strategic Tips To Find Your Best Fit As a Nurse With a Master's Degree or Doctorate Degree
Want to continue the conversation? Send me a text right here.
Ready to take the next step in your nursing career with confidence?
The Nursing Growth Starter Guide gives you proven strategies to move past uncertainty and advance with clarity.
Grab your free guide today! Click Here
Join me for a **1:1 Nurse Career Clarity Coaching Call**—a 1:1 coaching session where we’ll get you unstuck and find clarity to make the next move in your career.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back.
Today I have the privilege ofsharing a few self-awareness
tools.
Now, if you've been listeningto the podcast for a while, you
know I speak a lot to the SWOTanalysis.
It stands for Strengths,weaknesses, opportunities and
(00:24):
Threats, weaknesses,opportunities and threats, and I
believe that that is a verypractical way to really work
through where you are from aself-awareness standpoint and
where your career sits, and itgives you insight into what
direction you should take next.
(00:44):
And so that's something that Italk about.
That is free for you to do.
It's easy for you to sit downand do.
I will link podcast episodes tothis podcast episode in the
show notes that go back to howto use a SWOT analysis for
(01:05):
building self-awareness andtaking the next step in your
career.
Self-awareness is the key toadvancing your career forward
with a purpose and not justadvancing your career forward
with just a job, but reallyhelping you to build out your
(01:26):
career path.
And one thing that I will sayto you because I've done about
three or four major pivots in mycareer One if you're really
intentional about your career,it's not linear, it's not just
one straight shot of here'swhere I'm going, because
(01:47):
sometimes, even if you get tothat once you get to that place
of, okay, I'm here and now what,you still get to a now what?
Because you live longer, youexperience more things, you see
more things.
You're like oh, I didn'trealize I liked that.
Oh, I didn't realize I likedspeaking.
Oh, I didn't realize I likedanalysis.
(02:09):
Oh, I didn't realize that Iliked being in the community.
These are things that we learnas we grow and get experience in
our career.
In our career, self-awarenesshelps you focus in.
(02:29):
It is the key to reallydeveloping a career that is
purposeful, and so I talk aboutone of the easiest ways a
beginner level to be able to dojust a quick awareness, a quick
assessment of where am I andwhere do I want to go.
However, there are severalself-awareness tools that many
(02:50):
of you have heard of them, andI'm going to go through seven of
those tools that you can use inorder to develop your career,
to help you to really find apath in your career, to help you
to really find a path in yourcareer.
Are you feeling stuck in yourcurrent clinical environment?
(03:11):
Do you want to make a change inyour nursing career, but not
sure what to do next, exhausted,burnt out and maybe even ready
for different leadership.
I'm Bonnie Meadows, a boardcertified clinical nurse,
specialist, influential leader,career coach and well-being
coach.
Being in the nursing andhealthcare profession since 2004
(03:33):
, I have felt stuck and unsureabout what was next for me.
I wanted to be fulfilled in mypurpose, to have a voice at the
table and to be a resource forothers.
I kept telling myself I wantedmore, but didn't have the
direction I needed, until Ifound clarity and career growth
strategies for experiencednurses like me.
(03:55):
In this podcast, you will findsimple, tactical steps that
allow you to gain the clarityyou need, solutions for how to
grow Even without supportiveleadership, and guidelines for
setting boundaries at work, sothat you can grow purposefully
In your career as a nurse With agraduate degree who makes a
(04:15):
huge impact in the profession.
So get ready To trade yourscrubs for yoga pants, pop in
those earbuds and let's chat.
You will always come back togetting a level of
self-awareness.
So what happens in our careers?
We gain a level ofself-awareness, we decide the
(04:38):
career path we want, we get ajob that lines up with that path
, we're working, learning thingsand we're gaining experience
and we're gaining skills, andthen we're at a point where we
want to move.
Sometimes we're ready,sometimes not, but even so,
every time you feel the need fora shift or a pivot, that's when
(05:02):
it's time to circle back tothat self-awareness tool and
just say, okay, I realize it istime for me to move.
Where is my next step?
What is my next step?
Where do I go from here?
And that's really how you getto that point of using that tool
over and over again to reallyhelp to set the pace for what it
(05:28):
is that you want to do in yourcareer and it can give you.
It can also help you to set along-term vision versus it being
a short-term vision of what doI want just for right now versus
what do I want a few years fromnow?
Where do I see my career going?
(05:50):
Okay, so I'm going to go aheadand jump into it.
Okay, the first strengthsfinders, clifton's strengths
finders, and so the focus ofstrengths finders is to really
identify your core strengths, isto more so shift to focus on
your strengths and not focus onyour weaknesses, and that's one
(06:11):
of the things that I talk abouta lot.
Our bread and butter is foundin really finding out our core
strengths, that core skill setthat we know we do well, because
that's what we market as nurses.
That's where we find our value,that's where we find our joy,
(06:35):
those, as they would say, corecompetencies that just are
embedded in us and that's whatwe love to work in.
When you find your corestrengths, then that's the work
that you need to be focused in,and not weaknesses.
I want you to identify yourweaknesses for two reasons.
One, it's important tounderstand where your weaknesses
(06:55):
are so that no one else iscalling it out and saying, oh
well, you do this and thenyou're in denial the whole time
when you know that is yourweakness.
That happened to me.
I personality tests continue totell me I'm not detail-oriented.
I'm like I'm a cardiac surgeryICU nurse.
How could I not bedetail-oriented?
Eventually I realized I was notdetail-oriented.
(07:19):
What I found out is the testwas right I am not
detail-oriented.
I don't like the nitty-grittydetails.
When I need to bedetail-oriented, I will be.
I am very big picture, but Ilove structure.
I'll look at the big pictureoverall and then I start to
(07:41):
whittle down to the level ofdetail, but it takes me a while.
Clinically it's not a struggle.
I've learned so much and I'vegained so much knowledge to
where it's easier for me towhittle down to the problem,
especially if it's a cardiacsurgery patient.
I don't know it all, but I knowenough and I have enough
pathophysiology to pretty muchfigure out anything.
(08:04):
These days.
I like that big picturestructure.
This was even a sign, and Ididn't know it.
I would walk into work, get myassignment from the nurse and
somebody needs to do a meme onthis.
Nurse Blake has probably done ameme on it, or whatever the
case may be.
(08:24):
But the different types ofbedside shift report or the
different types of nursereporters, of course there's the
storyteller.
There's the one who gives youall the details, like they give
you a story but they don't giveyou no details about the patient
.
Then there's the one who givesyou all the details but nothing
about where are we going withthis patient.
(08:45):
And then there are those whoare clear and concise.
They go through every systemand then they tell you where to
go.
I was that nurse.
I'm like what is?
When I went in, my goal waswhat is my big goal?
Where are we progressing thispatient?
What is the goal for thispatient?
Once I understood the goal wasfor the patient.
Then I knew what my job was.
(09:12):
Forget the task, I'm going todo the task.
I'm going to do those thingsbecause they're much needed for
the patient, but meunderstanding what the big goal
was for that patient, is it tomove them closer to discharge,
preparing for surgery?
Have we found something and nowwe're looking for something
else?
Do they need to have a bowelmovement, like, what is the goal
?
That's by strength, not?
(09:34):
Oh, they had two bowelmovements today, and then what?
So does that mean they could gohome tomorrow?
That's what I need to know.
That is how I figured out.
Yes, that is my weakness.
So Strength Finders helps nurses, helps anyone, but as
experienced nurses, it helps usto identify our top strengths
(09:58):
and leverage them in roles.
I'm going to have links in theshow notes and to my email list.
I did a podcast interview witha coach who talks about the same
types of things that I talkabout as far as discovering your
calling, but hers is verygeneral.
Mine is very specific toexperienced nurses.
(10:19):
She is a strengthssFinderscoach.
I did an assessment, identifiedmy top five and I will let you
know what they are, and then shewalked through the assessment
with me to just kind of say hey,here's what this means and
here's what you should thinkabout.
So my top five.
(10:40):
The first one is relator.
I enjoy or it says you enjoyclose relationships with others.
You find deep satisfaction inworking hard with friends to
achieve a goal.
Very true, nurses are myfriends.
Belief is my number two strength.
You have certain core valuesthat are un friends.
(11:04):
Belief is my number twostrength.
You have certain core valuesthat are unchanging.
Out of these values emerges adefined purpose for your life.
So that goes back to my basisof Christianity and my love for
God, christ, and always wantingto be in God's will in the work
that I do.
That's just what that'sconnected to.
So the number three isconnectedness.
(11:25):
You have faith in the linksamong all things.
You believe there are fewcoincidences and that almost
every event has a meaning.
Almost every event has ameaning.
Now some people can take thatto think that I'm a conspiracy
theorist or I am always justtrying to.
(11:49):
I just always make connections.
There's no conspiracy about it.
I'm always trying to find alink into why something has
happened.
That's just my criticalthinking to me.
To me, that is just criticalthinking.
Like you just got to connectthe dots.
I'm a dot connector but also aconnector of people.
(12:09):
I help people connect with eachother.
I love to do that.
Number four is learner Love tolearn.
You have a great desire tolearn and want to continuously
improve the process of learningrather than the outcome excites
you.
That is very true.
I absolutely love to learn,getting to the goal.
(12:32):
Once you get there, it's kindof like okay, well then, what
next?
That's how I feel.
I'm constantly wanting to dosomething new, wanting to learn.
If I've hit that goal severaltimes, I'm ready to move on and
learn something else.
That's just who I am.
And number five individuation.
And it says you are intriguedwith the unique qualities of
(12:54):
each person.
You have a gift for figuringout how different people can
work together productively.
That is where the coachingpiece comes in and that is why
nurses began to come to me andask for advice about their
careers Because they understoodthat I connect dots well,
(13:17):
because they understood that Iconnect dots well and they
understood that I had a gift forfiguring things out.
When I coach people, I dig intotheir unique qualities that
they can use in health care andthe nursing profession to grow
the profession and to growthemselves and to grow the
(13:38):
profession and to growthemselves and to grow
personally, like it's not justabout your career but it's about
your professional growth andyour personal growth.
They go together, and so that'spretty much what my top five
strengths are.
That is the CliftonStrengths.
If you are interested in thatone, that's a great one to take.
(14:02):
If you want more information onwhat that looks like in getting
an assessment, I'll have thepodcast where I got my
assessment reviewed linked inthe show notes.
Okay, next, this is the next,probably most popular one, and
it's the Myers-Briggs typeindicator.
(14:22):
So that is a focus onpersonality types and
preferences, and I was doing alittle bit more research on
yesterday and didn't realize andfor us as nurses, we had to
have a little bit of psychologyin our nursing program.
We all do If we were payingattention, we have to remember
(14:46):
Carl Jung, and so thispersonality, this self-awareness
tool, is actually based on CarlJung's personality types and
his theory, and so it helps usby giving insight on how our
personality affects workpreferences, team dynamics and
(15:09):
leadership styles.
The Myers-Briggs type indicatorhelps us, as nurses, to
understand which workenvironments or roles suit us
best.
So in my profile forMyers-Briggs Type Indicator back
(15:31):
in 2011,.
My type came out to be ESTJ.
So what does that mean?
E stands for extroversion, sstands for sensing, t stands for
thinking and J stands forjudging.
(15:53):
Here are the other options.
Introversion is the opposite ofextroversion.
Intuition is the opposite ofsensing.
Feeling is the opposite ofthinking.
I am a thinker.
Perceiving is the opposite ofjudging.
(16:13):
So that's really just to giveyou a taste of the test.
It can give you an idea of howyou work and the ways in which
you work, and so then it givesyou this huge breakdown.
The Myers-Briggs type indicatoris definitely one of those
(16:34):
tests where you need like.
It'll give you a very detailedinterpretive report.
I took this my first semester inmy master's program for nursing
leadership.
It gave me a good understandingof how I worked.
Now, 11, 12, 14.
Years later, I have a betterunderstanding.
(16:57):
I see who I am in that test,although I don't know if I moved
from extroversion tointroversion over the years.
In looking at the test, it willtell you where you land.
Are you more of you know?
Are you a lot of extroversion?
Are you a little ofextroversion?
And I land in the slightcategory.
(17:21):
So I am slightly moreextroverted than I am
introverted.
Let's just say that, and thatmakes sense.
I would encourage you to lookinto that type.
The next tool I'm going to talkabout is the 16 personalities
(17:43):
test.
16 personalities is a freeself-awareness tool.
16 personalities uses theMyers-Briggs type and the big
five personalities and the bigfive personalities test.
It combines the two.
I did a lookup, did someresearch on well, what makes
(18:15):
them, because I remember takingit and it gave me a Myers-Briggs
type of answer.
Myers-briggs type indicator isbased strictly on the Carl
Jung's theory.
It's formal and it focuses onpsychological preferences.
The 16 personalities is more ofa modern hybrid tool that
incorporates the big five traits.
It's more of a user-friendlyand provides broader insights
into personality.
(18:36):
It's a more holistic approachand the big five personality
traits include openness,conscientiousness, extroversion,
agreeableness and neuroticism.
So it kind of gives you a morebroader psychological scope.
So the 16 personalitiesprovides insights into more than
(19:00):
just your career, but it cangive you insight on different
areas of your life.
So if you, as a nurse, wantsomething more broader that not
only focuses on your careeraspect but your personality type
in relationships, yourpersonality type in the
community or whatever the casemay be this.
(19:22):
The 16 personalities is awell-rounded tool for
self-awareness, and so the 16personalities says that I am a
mediator.
So it gives me the name of-Aand I took this in 2022.
That's when I took thisparticular exam, or test.
(19:46):
It says mediators are poetic,kind and altruistic people,
always eager to help a goodcause.
They approach life withthoughtfulness and imagination,
guided by their principalversion of humanism.
So it put me in the introvertedcategory.
That's why I was like well,maybe as I got older, maybe I
(20:07):
just got a little bit moreintroverted.
It gives me the label ofintuitive I am more feeling than
thinking.
I am more prospective thanjudging.
This is compared to it a fewyears ago and I am assertive.
So the I is for both theintroverted and intuitive.
(20:34):
The N is nature, and in nature Ihave more a value emotional
expression and sensitivity,prioritizing empathy and social
harmony and cooperation.
The P is prospecting You'relikely, very adaptable,
easygoing and flexible adaptable, easygoing and flexible.
And then the A is assertive.
So I'm 56% assertive, likely,self-assured, even-tempered and
(21:00):
resistant to stress.
I live by, I can't be bothered,and you can tell when I'm
bothered.
So use that particular test tojust really help you to get a
grasp on how you can use that todevelop your career.
Because the 16 personalities ithelps nurses to reflect on your
(21:25):
strengths, preferences, workstyles just like the
Myers-Briggs test, it definitelyhelps you in determining your
career path.
And then it helps you more toalign with your natural
inclinations.
So it brings in just a littlebit more to really help you
identify and match it with yourprofessional skills but also
(21:46):
align with your personalpreferences, which that those
two together really help toincrease your career
satisfaction.
And that's where you find thatjoy in work, when you can find a
job that matches yourprofessional skills and your
personal preferences.
That's it, and it can be done.
(22:07):
It can be done.
All right, let's move on to thenext one, the emotional
intelligence assessment.
I took that one earlier thisyear.
That one is about understandingand managing emotions.
It enhances your interpersonalskills and your leadership
potential, which is verycritical.
(22:29):
So if you're one of thosepeople who wants to grow in
leadership, this is a very goodtool to use because, honestly,
it just helps you to figure outhow to manage people and not
like manage people.
But when you're managing people, you're managing a ball of
emotions.
You're navigating.
Emotions is what you're doing.
(22:49):
Everyone's human and, dependingon how you say something and
how you lead people, is going tohelp them to grow or it's not
going to help them to grow.
The emotional intelligenceassessment shows you how
developing emotionalintelligence can lead to a more
effective communication and jobsatisfaction.
(23:11):
So if you're wanting to grow inleadership and help grow people
, the emotional intelligenceassessment is a good assessment.
And that one, I've found,measures your self-awareness
also.
So it measures how you areemotionally in tune with
(23:31):
yourself, how you areemotionally in tune with other
people and are emotionally intune with other people.
And then it measures, like twoother things.
All right, the Enneagrampersonality test.
This is test number four I'vetaken.
Obviously, I like to know aboutmyself.
The Enneagram you've probablyheard of more lately than in the
past, and this is understandingyour core motivators and fears.
(23:55):
So you take a test and it willgive you a number, and then that
particular number pretty muchpulls out what is your core
motivator.
So I am a three, which is anachiever.
Wing two, which is someone wholikes to help people, and so for
(24:15):
us as nurses, it just givesinsight into personality
dynamics and core emotionaldrivers.
I believe this one is a paidtest, but it helps you
understand what motivates you,what roadblocks you need to
avoid, what's going to hold youback with your personality.
So, although it might be greatthat I am an achiever oh yeah,
(24:40):
she's motivated, she's going todo but guess what my roadblock
is?
I do too much, I'm trying toachieve so much over plan.
I have too many goals.
I have to figure out how topull back, and so that's how the
Enneagram can guide you inunderstanding your behaviors
(25:03):
under stress and your leadershipstyle.
So Enneagram and emotionalintelligence assessment, those
are two great ones forleadership.
I would say the Myers-Briggs 16personalities and their
strengths finders.
They are good for overallcareer direction.
(25:28):
The emotional intelligenceassessment and the Enneagram
personality test is more so onceyou're in the work.
How do I operate in this work,who am I and how do I help lead?
(25:49):
So before, but I just wanted tomake you aware of them.
One is a 360-degree feedback.
I actually did that assessmentfor someone else, so this
particular one is when you'rereceiving feedback from
colleagues, supervisors andpeers.
I wish more leaders would dothis at least, like once every
three years.
(26:09):
It's very important to getfeedback so that you're not
living in a bubble, thinkingthat you're this greatness and
you're not.
I am always afraid thatsomeone's going to tell me
something that I think I'm greatat and I'm not.
This is why I stay on top ofself-awareness, because I don't
(26:32):
want anybody to tell me who I am.
This helps you keep yourblinders on If you're really
wanting to excel.
This helps you to put yourblinders.
Helps to take your blindersaway to really understand how
can I do this work better.
It provides a well-rounded viewof your professional strengths
and areas for improvement.
(26:52):
View of your professionalstrengths and areas for
improvement.
You can use this test to growyour career, because you're now
taking an assessment of here'swhere I am and here's how I can
improve, even if you're wantingto improve in the work that you
want to do.
You might be an ambitious nurseand you like where you are, but
you're trying to figure out howcan I be better.
(27:14):
This is the exam for that, soyou're able to discuss honest
feedback and it can offer younew perspectives and guide your
career development.
So this is not necessarilyabout career advancement, but
how can I develop in my career?
How can I improve my skill setso that I am then prepared for
(27:38):
my next move.
I might be good where I amright now, but I want to be
prepared for my next move.
And then the last one I'm goingto talk about is the DISC
assessment, and it is mainlyfocused on behavioral tendencies
in a work environment.
There are a lot of DISC coacheswho help to coach you through
(28:01):
this particular assessment, butit helps us, as nurses,
understand behavior patterns andwork more effectively in teams,
which we do a lot of, in teamswhich we do a lot of.
So this tool will pretty muchhelp you in identifying your
leadership potential and how doyou improve collaboration.
So if you're wanting to be in arole such as quality or a nurse
(28:25):
practitioner, this is a goodtest for you to do to help you
to understand how do you leadother nurses and patients
Soapbox, I believe there are notenough nurse practitioners who
think of themselves as leaders.
You're not only leading thepatient, you're leading the
(28:49):
nursing team or, honestly, theentire team the respiratory
therapist, the physicaltherapist, the case manager.
They are looking to you forleadership in the care of this
patient.
You may look at it as, oh, I'mjust going to see this patient
manager, care and this and theother, but your value is you are
(29:10):
a leader in health care,helping to lead the care and
coordination of this patient,and so you need a DISC
assessment to understand yourbehavior patterns, how to work
more effectively with teammates,help them move succinctly for
(29:30):
the patient.
It helps you understand howyou're leading the patient.
Even patients need leadership.
So that's it.
That's a wrap for the seventools that we have.
Regarding development of yourself-awareness, it starts with
(29:51):
self-assessment tools.
Your self-awareness it startswith self-assessment tools.
Pick the most relevant toolbased on your career situation.
Whether you're seeking aleadership role, needing
work-life balance or wantingmore autonomy.
Those tools can help you tofigure that out.
I would say, especially the 16personalities.
(30:12):
If you're just really tornbetween growing versus advancing
, growth can mean two differentthings.
If you're torn between do Itake this higher level position
over here or do I take thislateral position over here, I
get skills in both, but whichone is going to be better for my
(30:34):
life?
To me, 16 personalities isreally holistic in helping you
to understand one how you wantto grow and how does that impact
how you are personally and whatyou feel and where you are
personally to get that truecareer satisfaction.
And, like I said, if you're atthe baseline and you really want
(30:57):
to just get a jump start onsomething, the SWOT analysis
will help you with reallygaining some career clarity and
assess where you are and whatactions you need to take.
It's not going to give you allthe answers, but it'll help you
walk through the right questionsIf you need help with analysis.
(31:20):
Swot analysis is something thatI use as a tool, as a free tool
, in order to help you withunderstanding who you are as a
person, how you can work towardsdeveloping your career path,
and so if you're wanting moreinformation about it, click the
(31:41):
link in the show notes and joinmy email list.
I have a free guide on the topfive things that you need to
grow your career.
Jump on my Ambitious NurseInsiders list.
I give you more informationabout the SWOT analysis, and
then I have a new offer that iscoming up that will help you
further with that SWOT analysisand helping you to develop and
(32:03):
determine your career path.
If you're feeling stuck rightnow, until next time, see you
(32:28):
later.
Podcast.
It brings me so much joy and somuch encouragement to know this
podcast is helping you.
Now go get the career you wantand not the one you settle for,
and I'll meet you back here nextThursday for another episode.
See you soon.
Welcome back.
Today I have the privilege ofsharing a few self-awareness
tools.
Now, if you've been listeningto the podcast for a while, you
know I speak a lot to the SWOTanalysis.
It stands for Strengths,weaknesses, opportunities and
(00:24):
Threats, weaknesses,opportunities and threats, and I
believe that that is a verypractical way to really work
through where you are from aself-awareness standpoint and
where your career sits, and itgives you insight into what
direction you should take next.
(00:44):
And so that's something that Italk about.
That is free for you to do.
It's easy for you to sit downand do.
I will link podcast episodes tothis podcast episode in the
show notes that go back to howto use a SWOT analysis for
(01:05):
building self-awareness andtaking the next step in your
career.
Self-awareness is the key toadvancing your career forward
with a purpose and not justadvancing your career forward
with just a job, but reallyhelping you to build out your
(01:26):
career path.
And one thing that I will sayto you because I've done about
three or four major pivots in mycareer One if you're really
intentional about your career,it's not linear, it's not just
one straight shot of here'swhere I'm going, because
(01:47):
sometimes, even if you get tothat once you get to that place
of, okay, I'm here and now what,you still get to a now what?
Because you live longer, youexperience more things, you see
more things.
You're like oh, I didn'trealize I liked that.
Oh, I didn't realize I likedspeaking.
Oh, I didn't realize I likedanalysis.
(02:09):
Oh, I didn't realize that Iliked being in the community.
These are things that we learnas we grow and get experience in
our career.
In our career, self-awarenesshelps you focus in.
(02:29):
It is the key to reallydeveloping a career that is
purposeful, and so I talk aboutone of the easiest ways a
beginner level to be able to dojust a quick awareness, a quick
assessment of where am I andwhere do I want to go.
However, there are severalself-awareness tools that many
(02:50):
of you have heard of them, andI'm going to go through seven of
those tools that you can use inorder to develop your career,
to help you to really find apath in your career, to help you
to really find a path in yourcareer.
Are you feeling stuck in yourcurrent clinical environment?
(03:11):
Do you want to make a change inyour nursing career, but not
sure what to do next, exhausted,burnt out and maybe even ready
for different leadership.
I'm Bonnie Meadows, a boardcertified clinical nurse,
specialist, influential leader,career coach and well-being
coach.
Being in the nursing andhealthcare profession since 2004
(03:33):
, I have felt stuck and unsureabout what was next for me.
I wanted to be fulfilled in mypurpose, to have a voice at the
table and to be a resource forothers.
I kept telling myself I wantedmore, but didn't have the
direction I needed, until Ifound clarity and career growth
strategies for experiencednurses like me.
(03:55):
In this podcast, you will findsimple, tactical steps that
allow you to gain the clarityyou need, solutions for how to
grow Even without supportiveleadership, and guidelines for
setting boundaries at work, sothat you can grow purposefully
In your career as a nurse With agraduate degree who makes a
(04:15):
huge impact in the profession.
So get ready To trade yourscrubs for yoga pants, pop in
those earbuds and let's chat.
You will always come back togetting a level of
self-awareness.
So what happens in our careers?
We gain a level ofself-awareness, we decide the
(04:38):
career path we want, we get ajob that lines up with that path
, we're working, learning thingsand we're gaining experience
and we're gaining skills, andthen we're at a point where we
want to move.
Sometimes we're ready,sometimes not, but even so,
every time you feel the need fora shift or a pivot, that's when
(05:02):
it's time to circle back tothat self-awareness tool and
just say, okay, I realize it istime for me to move.
Where is my next step?
What is my next step?
Where do I go from here?
And that's really how you getto that point of using that tool
over and over again to reallyhelp to set the pace for what it
(05:28):
is that you want to do in yourcareer and it can give you.
It can also help you to set along-term vision versus it being
a short-term vision of what doI want just for right now versus
what do I want a few years fromnow?
Where do I see my career going?
(05:50):
Okay, so I'm going to go aheadand jump into it.
Okay, the first strengthsfinders, clifton's strengths
finders, and so the focus ofstrengths finders is to really
identify your core strengths, isto more so shift to focus on
your strengths and not focus onyour weaknesses, and that's one
(06:11):
of the things that I talk abouta lot.
Our bread and butter is foundin really finding out our core
strengths, that core skill setthat we know we do well, because
that's what we market as nurses.
That's where we find our value,that's where we find our joy,
(06:35):
those, as they would say, corecompetencies that just are
embedded in us and that's whatwe love to work in.
When you find your corestrengths, then that's the work
that you need to be focused in,and not weaknesses.
I want you to identify yourweaknesses for two reasons.
One, it's important tounderstand where your weaknesses
(06:55):
are so that no one else iscalling it out and saying, oh
well, you do this and thenyou're in denial the whole time
when you know that is yourweakness.
That happened to me.
I personality tests continue totell me I'm not detail-oriented.
I'm like I'm a cardiac surgeryICU nurse.
How could I not bedetail-oriented?
Eventually I realized I was notdetail-oriented.
(07:19):
What I found out is the testwas right I am not
detail-oriented.
I don't like the nitty-grittydetails.
When I need to bedetail-oriented, I will be.
I am very big picture, but Ilove structure.
I'll look at the big pictureoverall and then I start to
(07:41):
whittle down to the level ofdetail, but it takes me a while.
Clinically it's not a struggle.
I've learned so much and I'vegained so much knowledge to
where it's easier for me towhittle down to the problem,
especially if it's a cardiacsurgery patient.
I don't know it all, but I knowenough and I have enough
pathophysiology to pretty muchfigure out anything.
(08:04):
These days.
I like that big picturestructure.
This was even a sign, and Ididn't know it.
I would walk into work, get myassignment from the nurse and
somebody needs to do a meme onthis.
Nurse Blake has probably done ameme on it, or whatever the
case may be.
(08:24):
But the different types ofbedside shift report or the
different types of nursereporters, of course there's the
storyteller.
There's the one who gives youall the details, like they give
you a story but they don't giveyou no details about the patient
.
Then there's the one who givesyou all the details but nothing
about where are we going withthis patient.
(08:45):
And then there are those whoare clear and concise.
They go through every systemand then they tell you where to
go.
I was that nurse.
I'm like what is?
When I went in, my goal waswhat is my big goal?
Where are we progressing thispatient?
What is the goal for thispatient?
Once I understood the goal wasfor the patient.
Then I knew what my job was.
(09:12):
Forget the task, I'm going todo the task.
I'm going to do those thingsbecause they're much needed for
the patient, but meunderstanding what the big goal
was for that patient, is it tomove them closer to discharge,
preparing for surgery?
Have we found something and nowwe're looking for something
else?
Do they need to have a bowelmovement, like, what is the goal
?
That's by strength, not?
(09:34):
Oh, they had two bowelmovements today, and then what?
So does that mean they could gohome tomorrow?
That's what I need to know.
That is how I figured out.
Yes, that is my weakness.
So Strength Finders helps nurses, helps anyone, but as
experienced nurses, it helps usto identify our top strengths
(09:58):
and leverage them in roles.
I'm going to have links in theshow notes and to my email list.
I did a podcast interview witha coach who talks about the same
types of things that I talkabout as far as discovering your
calling, but hers is verygeneral.
Mine is very specific toexperienced nurses.
(10:19):
She is a strengthssFinderscoach.
I did an assessment, identifiedmy top five and I will let you
know what they are, and then shewalked through the assessment
with me to just kind of say hey,here's what this means and
here's what you should thinkabout.
So my top five.
(10:40):
The first one is relator.
I enjoy or it says you enjoyclose relationships with others.
You find deep satisfaction inworking hard with friends to
achieve a goal.
Very true, nurses are myfriends.
Belief is my number two strength.
You have certain core valuesthat are un friends.
(11:04):
Belief is my number twostrength.
You have certain core valuesthat are unchanging.
Out of these values emerges adefined purpose for your life.
So that goes back to my basisof Christianity and my love for
God, christ, and always wantingto be in God's will in the work
that I do.
That's just what that'sconnected to.
So the number three isconnectedness.
(11:25):
You have faith in the linksamong all things.
You believe there are fewcoincidences and that almost
every event has a meaning.
Almost every event has ameaning.
Now some people can take thatto think that I'm a conspiracy
theorist or I am always justtrying to.
(11:49):
I just always make connections.
There's no conspiracy about it.
I'm always trying to find alink into why something has
happened.
That's just my criticalthinking to me.
To me, that is just criticalthinking.
Like you just got to connectthe dots.
I'm a dot connector but also aconnector of people.
(12:09):
I help people connect with eachother.
I love to do that.
Number four is learner Love tolearn.
You have a great desire tolearn and want to continuously
improve the process of learningrather than the outcome excites
you.
That is very true.
I absolutely love to learn,getting to the goal.
(12:32):
Once you get there, it's kindof like okay, well then, what
next?
That's how I feel.
I'm constantly wanting to dosomething new, wanting to learn.
If I've hit that goal severaltimes, I'm ready to move on and
learn something else.
That's just who I am.
And number five individuation.
And it says you are intriguedwith the unique qualities of
(12:54):
each person.
You have a gift for figuringout how different people can
work together productively.
That is where the coachingpiece comes in and that is why
nurses began to come to me andask for advice about their
careers Because they understoodthat I connect dots well,
(13:17):
because they understood that Iconnect dots well and they
understood that I had a gift forfiguring things out.
When I coach people, I dig intotheir unique qualities that
they can use in health care andthe nursing profession to grow
the profession and to growthemselves and to grow the
(13:38):
profession and to growthemselves and to grow
personally, like it's not justabout your career but it's about
your professional growth andyour personal growth.
They go together, and so that'spretty much what my top five
strengths are.
That is the CliftonStrengths.
If you are interested in thatone, that's a great one to take.
(14:02):
If you want more information onwhat that looks like in getting
an assessment, I'll have thepodcast where I got my
assessment reviewed linked inthe show notes.
Okay, next, this is the next,probably most popular one, and
it's the Myers-Briggs typeindicator.
(14:22):
So that is a focus onpersonality types and
preferences, and I was doing alittle bit more research on
yesterday and didn't realize andfor us as nurses, we had to
have a little bit of psychologyin our nursing program.
We all do If we were payingattention, we have to remember
(14:46):
Carl Jung, and so thispersonality, this self-awareness
tool, is actually based on CarlJung's personality types and
his theory, and so it helps usby giving insight on how our
personality affects workpreferences, team dynamics and
(15:09):
leadership styles.
The Myers-Briggs type indicatorhelps us, as nurses, to
understand which workenvironments or roles suit us
best.
So in my profile forMyers-Briggs Type Indicator back
(15:31):
in 2011,.
My type came out to be ESTJ.
So what does that mean?
E stands for extroversion, sstands for sensing, t stands for
thinking and J stands forjudging.
(15:53):
Here are the other options.
Introversion is the opposite ofextroversion.
Intuition is the opposite ofsensing.
Feeling is the opposite ofthinking.
I am a thinker.
Perceiving is the opposite ofjudging.
(16:13):
So that's really just to giveyou a taste of the test.
It can give you an idea of howyou work and the ways in which
you work, and so then it givesyou this huge breakdown.
The Myers-Briggs type indicatoris definitely one of those
(16:34):
tests where you need like.
It'll give you a very detailedinterpretive report.
I took this my first semester inmy master's program for nursing
leadership.
It gave me a good understandingof how I worked.
Now, 11, 12, 14.
Years later, I have a betterunderstanding.
(16:57):
I see who I am in that test,although I don't know if I moved
from extroversion tointroversion over the years.
In looking at the test, it willtell you where you land.
Are you more of you know?
Are you a lot of extroversion?
Are you a little ofextroversion?
And I land in the slightcategory.
(17:21):
So I am slightly moreextroverted than I am
introverted.
Let's just say that, and thatmakes sense.
I would encourage you to lookinto that type.
The next tool I'm going to talkabout is the 16 personalities
(17:43):
test.
16 personalities is a freeself-awareness tool.
16 personalities uses theMyers-Briggs type and the big
five personalities and the bigfive personalities test.
It combines the two.
I did a lookup, did someresearch on well, what makes
(18:15):
them, because I remember takingit and it gave me a Myers-Briggs
type of answer.
Myers-briggs type indicator isbased strictly on the Carl
Jung's theory.
It's formal and it focuses onpsychological preferences.
The 16 personalities is more ofa modern hybrid tool that
incorporates the big five traits.
It's more of a user-friendlyand provides broader insights
into personality.
(18:36):
It's a more holistic approachand the big five personality
traits include openness,conscientiousness, extroversion,
agreeableness and neuroticism.
So it kind of gives you a morebroader psychological scope.
So the 16 personalitiesprovides insights into more than
(19:00):
just your career, but it cangive you insight on different
areas of your life.
So if you, as a nurse, wantsomething more broader that not
only focuses on your careeraspect but your personality type
in relationships, yourpersonality type in the
community or whatever the casemay be this.
(19:22):
The 16 personalities is awell-rounded tool for
self-awareness, and so the 16personalities says that I am a
mediator.
So it gives me the name of-Aand I took this in 2022.
That's when I took thisparticular exam, or test.
(19:46):
It says mediators are poetic,kind and altruistic people,
always eager to help a goodcause.
They approach life withthoughtfulness and imagination,
guided by their principalversion of humanism.
So it put me in the introvertedcategory.
That's why I was like well,maybe as I got older, maybe I
(20:07):
just got a little bit moreintroverted.
It gives me the label ofintuitive I am more feeling than
thinking.
I am more prospective thanjudging.
This is compared to it a fewyears ago and I am assertive.
So the I is for both theintroverted and intuitive.
(20:34):
The N is nature, and in nature Ihave more a value emotional
expression and sensitivity,prioritizing empathy and social
harmony and cooperation.
The P is prospecting You'relikely, very adaptable,
easygoing and flexible adaptable, easygoing and flexible.
And then the A is assertive.
So I'm 56% assertive, likely,self-assured, even-tempered and
(21:00):
resistant to stress.
I live by, I can't be bothered,and you can tell when I'm
bothered.
So use that particular test tojust really help you to get a
grasp on how you can use that todevelop your career.
Because the 16 personalities ithelps nurses to reflect on your
(21:25):
strengths, preferences, workstyles just like the
Myers-Briggs test, it definitelyhelps you in determining your
career path.
And then it helps you more toalign with your natural
inclinations.
So it brings in just a littlebit more to really help you
identify and match it with yourprofessional skills but also
(21:46):
align with your personalpreferences, which that those
two together really help toincrease your career
satisfaction.
And that's where you find thatjoy in work, when you can find a
job that matches yourprofessional skills and your
personal preferences.
That's it, and it can be done.
(22:07):
It can be done.
All right, let's move on to thenext one, the emotional
intelligence assessment.
I took that one earlier thisyear.
That one is about understandingand managing emotions.
It enhances your interpersonalskills and your leadership
potential, which is verycritical.
(22:29):
So if you're one of thosepeople who wants to grow in
leadership, this is a very goodtool to use because, honestly,
it just helps you to figure outhow to manage people and not
like manage people.
But when you're managing people, you're managing a ball of
emotions.
You're navigating.
Emotions is what you're doing.
(22:49):
Everyone's human and, dependingon how you say something and
how you lead people, is going tohelp them to grow or it's not
going to help them to grow.
The emotional intelligenceassessment shows you how
developing emotionalintelligence can lead to a more
effective communication and jobsatisfaction.
(23:11):
So if you're wanting to grow inleadership and help grow people
, the emotional intelligenceassessment is a good assessment.
And that one, I've found,measures your self-awareness
also.
So it measures how you areemotionally in tune with
(23:31):
yourself, how you areemotionally in tune with other
people and are emotionally intune with other people.
And then it measures, like twoother things.
All right, the Enneagrampersonality test.
This is test number four I'vetaken.
Obviously, I like to know aboutmyself.
The Enneagram you've probablyheard of more lately than in the
past, and this is understandingyour core motivators and fears.
(23:55):
So you take a test and it willgive you a number, and then that
particular number pretty muchpulls out what is your core
motivator.
So I am a three, which is anachiever.
Wing two, which is someone wholikes to help people, and so for
(24:15):
us as nurses, it just givesinsight into personality
dynamics and core emotionaldrivers.
I believe this one is a paidtest, but it helps you
understand what motivates you,what roadblocks you need to
avoid, what's going to hold youback with your personality.
So, although it might be greatthat I am an achiever oh yeah,
(24:40):
she's motivated, she's going todo but guess what my roadblock
is?
I do too much, I'm trying toachieve so much over plan.
I have too many goals.
I have to figure out how topull back, and so that's how the
Enneagram can guide you inunderstanding your behaviors
(25:03):
under stress and your leadershipstyle.
So Enneagram and emotionalintelligence assessment, those
are two great ones forleadership.
I would say the Myers-Briggs 16personalities and their
strengths finders.
They are good for overallcareer direction.
(25:28):
The emotional intelligenceassessment and the Enneagram
personality test is more so onceyou're in the work.
How do I operate in this work,who am I and how do I help lead?
(25:49):
So before, but I just wanted tomake you aware of them.
One is a 360-degree feedback.
I actually did that assessmentfor someone else, so this
particular one is when you'rereceiving feedback from
colleagues, supervisors andpeers.
I wish more leaders would dothis at least, like once every
three years.
(26:09):
It's very important to getfeedback so that you're not
living in a bubble, thinkingthat you're this greatness and
you're not.
I am always afraid thatsomeone's going to tell me
something that I think I'm greatat and I'm not.
This is why I stay on top ofself-awareness, because I don't
(26:32):
want anybody to tell me who I am.
This helps you keep yourblinders on If you're really
wanting to excel.
This helps you to put yourblinders.
Helps to take your blindersaway to really understand how
can I do this work better.
It provides a well-rounded viewof your professional strengths
and areas for improvement.
(26:52):
View of your professionalstrengths and areas for
improvement.
You can use this test to growyour career, because you're now
taking an assessment of here'swhere I am and here's how I can
improve, even if you're wantingto improve in the work that you
want to do.
You might be an ambitious nurseand you like where you are, but
you're trying to figure out howcan I be better.
(27:14):
This is the exam for that, soyou're able to discuss honest
feedback and it can offer younew perspectives and guide your
career development.
So this is not necessarilyabout career advancement, but
how can I develop in my career?
How can I improve my skill setso that I am then prepared for
(27:38):
my next move.
I might be good where I amright now, but I want to be
prepared for my next move.
And then the last one I'm goingto talk about is the DISC
assessment, and it is mainlyfocused on behavioral tendencies
in a work environment.
There are a lot of DISC coacheswho help to coach you through
(28:01):
this particular assessment, butit helps us, as nurses,
understand behavior patterns andwork more effectively in teams,
which we do a lot of, in teamswhich we do a lot of.
So this tool will pretty muchhelp you in identifying your
leadership potential and how doyou improve collaboration.
So if you're wanting to be in arole such as quality or a nurse
(28:25):
practitioner, this is a goodtest for you to do to help you
to understand how do you leadother nurses and patients
Soapbox, I believe there are notenough nurse practitioners who
think of themselves as leaders.
You're not only leading thepatient, you're leading the
(28:49):
nursing team or, honestly, theentire team the respiratory
therapist, the physicaltherapist, the case manager.
They are looking to you forleadership in the care of this
patient.
You may look at it as, oh, I'mjust going to see this patient
manager, care and this and theother, but your value is you are
(29:10):
a leader in health care,helping to lead the care and
coordination of this patient,and so you need a DISC
assessment to understand yourbehavior patterns, how to work
more effectively with teammates,help them move succinctly for
(29:30):
the patient.
It helps you understand howyou're leading the patient.
Even patients need leadership.
So that's it.
That's a wrap for the seventools that we have.
Regarding development of yourself-awareness, it starts with
(29:51):
self-assessment tools.
Your self-awareness it startswith self-assessment tools.
Pick the most relevant toolbased on your career situation.
Whether you're seeking aleadership role, needing
work-life balance or wantingmore autonomy.
Those tools can help you tofigure that out.
I would say, especially the 16personalities.
(30:12):
If you're just really tornbetween growing versus advancing
, growth can mean two differentthings.
If you're torn between do Itake this higher level position
over here or do I take thislateral position over here, I
get skills in both, but whichone is going to be better for my
(30:34):
life?
To me, 16 personalities isreally holistic in helping you
to understand one how you wantto grow and how does that impact
how you are personally and whatyou feel and where you are
personally to get that truecareer satisfaction.
And, like I said, if you're atthe baseline and you really want
(30:57):
to just get a jump start onsomething, the SWOT analysis
will help you with reallygaining some career clarity and
assess where you are and whatactions you need to take.
It's not going to give you allthe answers, but it'll help you
walk through the right questionsIf you need help with analysis.
(31:20):
Swot analysis is something thatI use as a tool, as a free tool
, in order to help you withunderstanding who you are as a
person, how you can work towardsdeveloping your career path,
and so if you're wanting moreinformation about it, click the
(31:41):
link in the show notes and joinmy email list.
I have a free guide on the topfive things that you need to
grow your career.
Jump on my Ambitious NurseInsiders list.
I give you more informationabout the SWOT analysis, and
then I have a new offer that iscoming up that will help you
further with that SWOT analysisand helping you to develop and
(32:03):
determine your career path.
If you're feeling stuck rightnow, until next time, see you
(32:28):
later.
Podcast.
It brings me so much joy and somuch encouragement to know this
podcast is helping you.
Now go get the career you wantand not the one you settle for,
and I'll meet you back here nextThursday for another episode.
See you soon.
Popular Podcasts
Are You A Charlotte?
In 1997, actress Kristin Davis’ life was forever changed when she took on the role of Charlotte York in Sex and the City. As we watched Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte navigate relationships in NYC, the show helped push once unacceptable conversation topics out of the shadows and altered the narrative around women and sex. We all saw ourselves in them as they searched for fulfillment in life, sex and friendships. Now, Kristin Davis wants to connect with you, the fans, and share untold stories and all the behind the scenes. Together, with Kristin and special guests, what will begin with Sex and the City will evolve into talks about themes that are still so relevant today. "Are you a Charlotte?" is much more than just rewatching this beloved show, it brings the past and the present together as we talk with heart, humor and of course some optimism.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com