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Struggling to Make it Count in a Broken Workplace

Struggling to Make it Count in a Broken Workplace


In 2015 I found BG5 as a result of not being able to find the answers to burn out and being uninspired in my work life.  I was tired of suffering.  At the time, I was managing four Business Development Executives and part of my coaching was this: “You’ll spend 70% of your life awake at work, away from the people you love the most – it HAS to count. MAKE IT COUNT!”  Yet, I was the one struggling to make it count.

My first step was to get an assessment from one of the BG5 Business Institute’s Certified Consultants.  What I learned in that analysis with Karen Sherwood literally changed my life.  For the first time, someone was able to show me something unique that was specific to me.  With a raised awareness of who I really was – versus who I was being and knowing specifically what to do about it, I began applying it in my work life.  The results came quick and they keep coming!

After seeing how effective this was, I knew one thing, I wanted more and I wanted this for others!  So I signed up for the  BG5 Foundations training and then the BG5 Certification Courses.  It’s going VERY well.

I am in the first semester of the BG5 Certification Courses.  I am happy to tell you that I have finally found a way to help others make it count in a way that is meaningful for them uniquely.

Recently, I came across this staggering statistic from a Gallop World Poll which validates that I am not the only one suffering to make it count.  Take a look, I think you too will be surprised!

This is from an article by Jim Clifton on the Gallup Website entitled “The World’s Broken Workplace.”

“Only 15% of the world’s one billion full-time workers are engaged at work.  It is significantly better in the U.S., at around 30% engaged, but this still means that roughly 70% of American workers aren’t engaged.  It would change the world if we did better.

What the whole world wants is a good job, and we are failing to deliver it — particularly to millennials.  This means human development is failing, too.  Most millennials are coming to work with great enthusiasm, but the old management practices — forms, gaps and annual reviews — grinds the life out of them.”

“To demonstrate the historical seriousness, stress and clinical burnout and subsequent suicide rates in Japan have caused the government to intervene.  The current practice of management is now destroying their culture — a staggering 94% of Japanese workers are not engaged at work.”

“To summarize Gallup’s analytics from 160 countries on the global workplace, our conclusion is that organizations should change from having command-and-control managers to high-performance coaches.

The change will immediately save massive costs by wiping out the wasteful practice of filling out forms and checking management boxes.

Why “high-performance coaches”?  Because millennials demand development over satisfaction.  They demand ongoing conversations over annual reviews. They demand strengths-based discussions over weakness-based “gap” discussions that produce zero results.”

These are staggering statistics aren’t they?  You would think with all of the information, training and “expertise” on this planet that the numbers ought to be reversed!  Yet, that is far from the case.  It is empirically true that what is being done is highly ineffective.  So what’s the solution? Engagement will increase when each worker is recognized for their own unique gifts, talents and strengths.  When the individual can express the fullness of who they are in the work setting without destroying themselves just to fit in.  When a manager knows the essence of each person’s career design, what their purpose is and what environment enhances their ability to be successful – they can shift their leadership style from “command-and-control” directives to one of “high-performance coaching.” Since we are moving towards an age where the individual is more prominent, managers would be well advised to stop reading management books and replace that knowledge with what the market is asking for.  From experience, I can tell you that the knowledge that is available to everyone through a BG5 assessment or doing the BG5 Consultant training directly addresses the causes for the symptoms that are seen in the above quotes.


 Rob Thomas is a Talent Consultant in the area of IT.  He advises Oracle software customers with 6 years of total experience in this role.  Most of his professional life has been in the role of sales. Rob has sold everything from Yoga Teacher training to Life Insurance to Consulting.  As an entrepreneur, he has owned two successful businesses – an independent Lawsuit Loan brokerage and an Insurance Agency for Farmers Insurance. Prior to that he was a VP of Production for a firm providing services to the legal industry.  In his 12 years in the restaurant business – he trained over 1000 people including Managers, opened 14 restaurants and gained experience in every position involved in running a successful restaurant.  BG5 Career Consultant in Training.