Scott Anthony Barlow, founder of Happen to Your Career and a leading expert on career happiness, discusses the hidden struggles of high performers. They often leave organizations seeking more meaningful work and greater flexibility. Barlow emphasizes the importance of proactive career conversations and helping employees define their roles. He highlights that, without autonomy, high achievers can become disengaged. Leaders must create supportive environments that empower teams and align personal purpose with organizational goals for better retention.
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insights INSIGHT
High Performers Stay Too Long
High performers often stay too long in roles they've outgrown, hindering their potential.
They hesitate to discuss their feelings with their managers, especially if they have a good relationship.
insights INSIGHT
Meaningful Work
High performers crave meaningful work and a direct connection to helping others.
They leave roles that lack this connection, even with good pay and perks.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Google Example
Employees at companies like Google sometimes lack a sense of meaning in their work.
Increasing clicks or similar metrics doesn't fulfill their need to help others.
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Scott Anthony Barlow: Happen to Your Career
Scott Anthony Barlow is the founder of Happen to Your Career. He’s been featured on CNBC, Yahoo, CareerBuilder, Fast Company, and Huffington Post and various colleges and universities as a top expert on career happiness. He's held executive roles in human resources, business development, and career coaching.
Scott is the host of the Happen to Your Career podcast, featuring the career stories of many successful professionals. He and his team have worked with over 25,000 people to help them stop settling, find their signature strengths, and start doing meaningful work they are enamored with.
Key Points
High performers leave organizations because:
Work is no longer meaningful. They’ve accomplished their goals and now they’re looking for much more meaningful work, projects and challenges.
Flexibility and autonomy are missing. The “when” and “how” people work is becoming incredibly important.
They have outgrown the role. They perceive that just because they’ve outgrown the role that there is no where else to go in the organization.
What leaders can do:
Help candidates find what’s meaningful for them.
Create opportunities to work when and how they want.
Help people create their own role.
Resources Mentioned
Finding the Career That Fits You (Scott’s FREE 8-Day Video Course)
The Ultimate Guide to Using Your Strengths to Get Hired
Related Episodes
How to Figure Out Your Career, with Scott Anthony Barlow (episode 259)
Three Steps to Great Career Conversations, with Russ Laraway (episode 370)
Effective Delegation of Authority, with Hassan Osman (episode 413)
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