Spring is in the air and it’s nearly time for our verge ‘junk’ pick up. Along with a few faint rays of sunshine, you can almost feel a frisson of excitement! Last year, neighbours snaffled great finds from each other. Close by, a young woman and her friend triumphantly carried home what they felt were VIP barriers to create a dramatic garden entrance. Another traded a piece of gym equipment which was in better condition than his own. My husband salvaged a very large piece of wood from down the street, which turned out to have been discarded from next door, and I must admit to being delighted to bag a matched set of red filing cabinets.

…which brings me to the subject of ‘best fit’ in people’s careers!

Heading up an organisation with some 350 permanent positions plus a large number of casuals, I was often fascinated to see someone who had been languishing or a downright irritant in one team become an asset to another.

Indeed, one of my best senior staff had been unpopular with his previous employer for speaking out too stridently. I found his views to be invaluable for testing new strategies, due to his searing intelligence and his constant search for improvements.

With the help of self-reflection and a better understanding of the different motivations and behaviours of others, often aided by Myers Briggs analysis and insights, some clients can overcome workplace obstacles and even discover they weren’t really very big challenges in the first place. It is clear from the beginning that others do have contributions to make, but not in their current workplace. In that case, leveraging their strengths, networks and personal interests to find a better fitting job may be the best answer.