My first meeting with an executive coach was nothing like I had expected. On my drive up that Tuesday morning, I had imagined a stiff suit and tie. ...

During this 60-minute conference call we discussed the points below plus fielded your specific questions.

Practical strategies to increase happiness and meaning at work:

- Clarify your goals or “ministry”…what is your purpose in the world?
- Eliminate all conversations that involve how smart/stupid you/others are
- Remember: happiness is only moderately coordinated with money
- Balance what you give to your work with what your work brings to you

Practical strategies to increase happiness and meaning at home:

- Measure your MOJO for a week (download scorecard here)
- How much do you bring work dissatisfactions home?
- You have only two choices: change YOU or change IT; much of what increases our MOJO comes from changing our own attitudes and identity
- How much are you a slave to inertia? Make mindful choices about how to spend your time.

How to boost employee engagement without another expensive corporate program:

- Each person is different: what creates MOJO for one may disengage another
- Challenge your employees: what can you do yourself to increase your MOJO?
- Ask yourself: how can I make the best use of the time I have to spend?
- How often do you pause before speaking to make sure what you are about to say is in the best interest of you and others?

Dr. Marshall Goldsmith is a world authority in helping successful people achieves positive, lasting change in behavior. In this exciting session, Dr. Goldsmith will share the results of new research involving ten major corporations in the field of employee engagement. While historic work on engagement has focus on what the company can do to engage employees, Marshall will focus on teaching the employees how to engage themselves. He will show how the regular use of ‘active questions’ can lead to increased happiness, meaning and engagement.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
1. Learn why the major variable in employee engagement is the employee – not the company.
2. Learn the results of new research on engagement, happiness, meaning and relationships involving ten major corporations.
3. Be able to use a proven process to build engagement that can be applied to individuals, teams and organizations.

It's not every day I get a chance to speak with management author Marshall Goldsmith, nor is it often that I can get the unvarnished views of executive talent management from such a learned business builder.

Seizing the opportunity, and asking Goldsmith to draw some executive interviewing best practices from the lessons uncovered in his new book, MOJO: How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back If You Lose It, I wasn't disappointed.

Goldsmith suggested that corporate talent officers and executive recruiters try to get to the bottom of the executive psyche and motivators for a career change by asking, 'What was most meaningful about your past work? What made you most happy in your career? And what kind of work and responsibility would be most meaningful in your next role?'

The author says experienced interviewers can typically pick up on the enthusiasm that lights up candidates' eyes when they talk about the life- and career-changing experiences they've had during their careers. In this particular instance, body language and vocal tone reveal a tremendous amount that may effectively predict whether a candidate will feel fulfilled, excel and stay in a new leadership position long enough to have the desired business impact.

Conversely, Goldsmith generalizes, anyone who lays a bum rap at the feet of former employers and managers is harming himself or herself with what he termed a "death knell in the interview." If people can't get over past career disappointments and spend precious interview time looking to the future, they may have difficulty accepting what is and may, in the future, criticize your organization if they don't get the right career satisfaction.