Marcus has spent decades studying what makes people exceptional at work, and his answer starts somewhere most of us never look: what we love.
Why I wanted Marcus on the show:
Marcus has helped change how millions of people understand what they're good at and what they should do about it. I wanted him on the show to explore a question at the heart of this show: how do you build a career around the things that make you feel most like yourself? His perspective will make you reconsider what you call a strength, what you expect from a manager, and how much of your working life you spend trying to fix yourself.
About Marcus:
He's a researcher, author, and entrepreneur who has spent his career studying people at their best. A co-creator of StrengthsFinder and a New York Times bestselling author whose books have sold more than five million copies, he spent 17 years at Gallup before building his own company.
He's now the founder of LoveThat, where he's focused on helping people get better at designing experiences that others love, and his new book, Design Love In, is available now wherever books are sold.
In this episode, you'll hear:
- the conversation at his family's dining table at 16 that set the course of his life, and why he sees a career as a scavenger hunt for love, not a climb
- how Gallup figured out what the best nurses, salespeople, and managers have in common, including the one interview answer every great nurse gives
- the story behind StrengthsFinder, and why a strength is an activity that strengthens you, not just something you're good at
- "red threads," and why you only need about 20% of your work to be things you love
- why most HR tools work against good work, and what Lionel Messi's left foot teaches us about building great teams
- a simple exercise for finding your own strengths: spend a week in love with your job
- the one ingredient every business needs, and his research-backed definition of good work
Learn more about LoveThat here: http://www.lovethat.com
Learn more about Marcus' work at: http://www.buckinghaminstitute.com
Read the Granola notes from this episode and chat with them here.
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About the good work talk show
"the good work talk show" is a deeply honest exploration of work and how it can be a tool for discovering and becoming your best self. hosted by mallory contois, each episode is a conversation with someone whose career you may have admired from afar, without knowing the full picture.
Get every episode in your inbox with mallory's notes and takeaways: watchgoodwork.com
Find audio-only versions of every episode wherever you listen to podcasts.
Subscribe to "good work" on Substack: readgoodwork.com
Follow the good work talk show on instagram: @watchgoodwork
Follow mallory on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mallorycontois
Season 01 is presented by Granola. Get 3 months free at Granola.ai/goodwork
Produced by Joseph M. Olender
Directed by Adam Chavez
Edited by Aaron Bratcher
Graphics by Saltwater Agency
Theme music: "The Other Side" by The Deep West. used with permission. © ℗ 2021 The Deep West. Listen on Spotify.
