Our Professional and Personal Lives are Blending

Sharing information is a personal value of mine. I hope that by sharing information that people reading it or hearing it will come up with solutions or new approaches or innovation of some sort that will improve how we all are doing things.

This week, I was hit over the head by some information and it forced me to think about the advice I've been giving job seekers. Previously, I've held the belief that a job seeker needs to fit into the employer mold. Well, kind of. The job seeker needs to give the employer what they are looking for and my recommendation has always been to keep your personal stuff, personal.

However, personal and professional seems to blur a lot lately. Sometimes it is difficult to draw the line. Is the fact that I am a mother relevant to my future employer? No, not unless my new employer is an advocate of families or mothers. But it is a crime to let people know I am a mother? I used to believe the answer was almost yes. If you are confused, I am too.

Social media or change in societal norms is changing my outlook. What I mean is, you see and hear people sharing both their professional and personal stuff on social media. Is that wrong? The old me says yes, the new me says, I don't know.

Chris Brogan is in the forefront of social media. If you take one look at his blog, you will see the blending going on. He merges professional and personal. Please, go read Chris Brogan. I think it is partially fair to say that this merging/blending of the two is how we start building trust. Trust is key to building relationships.

What really got me thinking was this post my friend (Mike Lally) forwarded to me. It is an interview with Seth Godin by J.T. O'Donnell. Seth is a great thinker. Here are some of the topics Godin brings up:

You’ve Been Brain-Washed & Seduced…It’s Time to Fight Back!
Why Career Labeling Stinks & What to Do About It
Older Generations: Safe Doesn’t Cut It Anymore
Get Fearless, Get Reckless

So what this post is really about is understanding how and maybe why things are different today. We all want to succeed, but we need to understand that perhaps the rules are changing. Perhaps our definition of success needs to be re-evaluated. Perhaps our goals are no longer realistic in today's world.

We can't change the world, we can adapt.