Understanding Career Motivations

Confidence and competence move in opposite directions far more often than people realise. Some people walk into high-stakes environments and immediately feel confident. They speak first, assume they have something important to say, and rarely stop to question whether they belong here. Others walk into the same room and spend the entire time wondering if they belong. Psychologists Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes studied imposter syndrome in 1978. They found that it appeared in high-achieving people, not struggling ones. People who had genuinely earned their position but couldn't justify it. So the discomfort you feel when you walk into rooms you don't think you deserve to, isn't a flaw in your thinking. It's evidence of it. You cannot feel like an imposter in a room that matches your comfort zone. The doubt comes from knowing enough to see the gap between where you are and what actual success looks like. Confidence is easy when you haven't gone far enough to see the real success. Doubt is what shows up when you have. #rajshamani #figuringout

Most people still misunderstand what actually motivates people. They think it’s more money, perks, or praise. But according to the research, what people really want is something else entirely: 1. Autonomy – the freedom to choose how we work 2. Mastery – the chance to improve at something meaningful 3. Purpose – the feeling that our work matters One study showed that when students were told they had to write an essay, their writing quality dropped. When they were given a choice, the writing improved. Why? Autonomy. It leads to higher quality outcomes. Another experiment found that people who were given a sense of purpose before a task (rather than just a financial incentive) persisted longer and performed better. Money can motivate in the short term. But if you want performance, creativity, and grit over the long term? Give people a reason to care, and the room to run.

I'm Not Yelling Chapter Three: Imposter Treatment Chapter Three reframes what is commonly labeled "imposter syndrome." Rather than locating the problem within individual confidence, this chapter examines the conditions that produce persistent self-doubt in high-performing professionals. Across organizations, uncertainty is not randomly distributed. It correlates with inconsistent feedback, shifting standards, and credibility rules that are applied unevenly. In these environments, doubt is not a psychological anomaly. It is a rational response to unstable evaluation systems. This chapter asks a different question: What happens when institutions generate doubt and then pathologize the individuals who experience it?

Most people have imposter syndrome backwards. They treat it like a stop sign when it's actually a green light. That knot in your stomach before the big presentation? That voice whispering "who am I to lead this project?" That feeling like everyone will discover you don't belong? That's not your weakness talking. That's your growth edge. 🔹 Why imposter syndrome is actually your success compass: → It only shows up when you're stretching beyond your current capacity → It means you care enough about the outcome to feel the real stakes → It signals you're taking on challenges that will expand who you become → It proves you have the self-awareness to see the gap you're about to close The people who never feel imposter syndrome? They've stopped taking meaningful risks. 🔹 How high performers use this signal: → When it hits, they ask "What capability is this pushing me to develop?" → They treat the discomfort as GPS data, not a red alert → They lean into preparation instead of backing away from opportunity → They remember: every expert was once a beginner who felt unqualified The moment you stop feeling like an imposter is often the moment you stop evolving. Your comfort zone isn't keeping you safe. It's keeping you small. What challenge is currently making you feel unqualified? Image credit: Rob Dance ♻️ Share if this resonates ➕ Follow (David Parsons) for more leadership insights 📬 Newsletter: bit.ly/43YQ8xR

Freshers: The Untapped Power Most Companies Overlook #Companies often prioritize #experience when hiring. But here’s a serious question: Is experience always the best indicator of potential? Not really. Some of the most energetic, creative, and adaptive people in any organization are those just starting out — #freshers. And yet, many of them are rejected at the very first step… Why? Because they lack experience. But here’s the truth: > Every expert was once a beginner. Every leader was once given their first #opportunity. So why not now? 🌟 Why Freshers Can Be Game-Changers: 🚀 Fresh Perspective & Innovation Unbound by “the way it’s always been,” they bring new ideas and fearless thinking. 💡 Fast Learners & Adaptable They’re quick to learn, open to feedback, and excited to #grow. 🔥 High Energy & Work Ethic They want to prove themselves — and often give 110% to do so. ✅ Trainable & Resilient With no rigid mindsets, they’re easier to coach and build into strong team players. 🧠 The Real Problem: Too many companies reject #candidates simply due to a lack of experience — forgetting that experience only comes when someone gives you a #chance. If no one hires freshers, Where will the next generation of #leaders come from? 💡 Great organizations invest in potential — not just resumes. Instead of asking: "How many years do they have?" Ask: "Do they have the drive, mindset, and willingness to grow?" Because when you bet on fresh talent, You don’t just hire an #employee — You build the future. 💬 Have you seen a fresher outperform expectations? Tag them. Celebrate them. Or share your experience below 👇 🔹 Follow me – Dev Raj Saini – I help jobseekers and professionals grow their personal brand on LinkedIn and attract real opportunities. LinkedIn

I stopped obsessing over publishing… and that’s when my research career took off. (Here’s what I discovered) Four years ago, I believed publishing was the only path to academic success. My inbox? Empty. My collaborations? Stagnant. My impact? Limited to footnotes in other people’s papers. Then, I did something radical: I shared my work outside journals. A blog post about the LCA work I did for a partner. A LinkedIn post breaking down techno-economic assessment and process design methods. A webinar sharing my research outputs. Crickets. For weeks. Until a founder DM’ed: "Liked the recording of your webinar. Can you do something like this for us to verify our TEA?" A week later, an academic mentor slid into my DMs: "Saw your recent work on carbon capture. Can we co-write a research bid?" I wasn't sure what to do. This wasn’t “real” academic work. I’d been pre-conditioned to share my work only in scholarly journals and conferences. But suddenly, my research was solving problems, not merely gathering dust. So I leaned in. I built a simple system:  1. Every paper made available as PDF with posts on problem, method, outputs  2. Conference slides became PDFs shared with key takeaways  3. Complex science converted into trade magazines and blog posts The response? A FTSE 250 energy company invited me to perform a market study for their new direct air capture business strategy. Learned societies invited me as a keynote speaker for their events. And yes, citations keep coming, but now tied to real-world impact. Here’s what academia won’t tell you: Visibility isn’t vanity. It’s the bridge between your work and the problems it can solve. You don’t need 100 papers to make a difference. You need the right people to see your work. Now? I teach researchers to build this bridge. Because your career shouldn’t hinge on how many journals you’ve cracked. It should hinge on how many minds you’ve changed. Start there. Let the papers follow. P.S. What is the most significant challenge that pre ents you getting your research seen by others? #science #scientist #research #publishing #phd #postdoctoral #professor #academia #highereducation

Career uncertainty among 15-year-olds is at crisis levels.   Across the OECD, 39% of teenagers are unclear about their career expectations – the proportion has doubled in less than a decade.   This is just one of the findings from the largest ever study on the job ambitions of students – some 700,000 students took part in 81 countries and economies – and the results are out today.   Other key findings include:   ▶️ Social background is a stronger predictor of students' ambition than academic ability ▶️ 21% of students plan on working in a job that requires a degree, but don’t plan on going to university ▶️ Career guidance is associated with better long-term employment outcomes, but students aren’t getting enough of it   Many of the issues raised should be of concern to countries. A way to deal with the issues is to ramp up career guidance.   We owe it to our students to help them navigate their education with a clear understanding of both the opportunities and realities of the world of work, to reduce the risk of misaligned ambitions, wasted human capital and poor employment outcomes later in life.   Read the report here: https://bit.ly/4dxpUWt

For so many of us, feeling good about ourselves depends on other people being happy with us. We scan the world for approval—chronic, frantic, searching for a nod of affirmation (“Good job!”) so we can finally exhale and feel worthy. But the good feelings fade. So we start searching again. And again. How exhausting. Why do we do this? Because, for many of us, worthiness was taught this way. We learned that being easy, agreeable, and pleasing was the ticket to love and belonging. But self-worth built on people-pleasing is never really self-worth. It’s outsourced, borrowed, and conditional. So, is there another way? Can we feel good about ourselves from within? Yes. And that person can be you. Here’s how to start: 1️⃣ Shift your self-talk – Instead of asking, “Did I make them happy?” try “Am I proud of how I showed up?” 2️⃣ End-of-day check-in – At the end of your day, ask yourself, “What is one thing that felt good at work today? Not because someone told me something, but because I just knew it felt good.” Moment by moment, you can build the kind of self-worth that’s yours to keep.

To every bright young mind choosing Product Design for your bachelor’s—here’s something I wish someone told me early on. First, why not to choose design: If you’re choosing design just to escape math, physics, or chemistry, pause. Design is not a refuge. It’s not a hideout from hard subjects—it is a confluence of many of them. You need mental models from everywhere—systems thinking from physics, logic from math, and material behavior from chemistry. Choose design because you want to include it all, not because you want to exclude the rest. “I can sketch well. I write poetry. I’ve always been into art.” That’s beautiful—but let’s be clear: design is not art. Art is expression. Design is problem-solving. Art takes you outside the box and keeps you there. It explores the edges. It challenges norms. But design? Design demands you return. To fit your wildest ideas inside constraints. Within timelines, budgets, technologies, and user needs. Design may borrow from the artist’s tools—but it serves a different purpose. Design is problem-solving. Problem-solving is different from expression. It’s about finding elegant solutions that work, not just ideas that feel personal. If your soul is purely artistic, design might feel like a cage. Artists often struggle here—because design is less about self-expression and more about user obsession. So why choose product design? Choose it if you love creative problem-solving. If you enjoy weaving multiple messy threads into elegant, composite solutions. If you notice the tiniest details and still zoom out to see the whole. If you’re drawn to making things better—and you’re open to being wrong on the way there. Choose it if you’re curious about people. Design needs empathy. Precision. Courage. And a constant feedback loop: signal amplification, noise reduction. You will thrive in product design through collaboration. A great peer group will sharpen your taste. A great teacher will change your trajectory. A strong network will help you navigate rough waters. So: find your people. Build your circle. Make space to think, reflect, and be. Creativity whispers—it doesn’t shout. You need stillness to hear it. Design is simple—but not easy. Because we’re designing for fellow human beings, there’s an inherent familiarity. That’s why I say: ABCD—Any Body Can Design. Underline can. If you’re dedicating the next four years to exploring and expanding that can, you already have my love, respect, and support. Welcome to the world of design. Welcome to the craft, the chaos, the clarity—and the community. Reach out anytime if you need guidance. I’m rooting for you. #designeducation

Today was the final day of my MBA class. Since recruiting season kicks off in January, I ended with advice on how to choose a career that is purposeful, fulfilling, and rewarding. The idea of pursuing a purpose rather than choosing a career based on salary may seem impractical (how can you pursue a purpose when you don't know what it is?) and unrealistic (you need to pay back student loans, and lucrative careers are often seen as non-purposeful). I aimed to introduce a practical framework to help you find what your purpose is, as well as explain how to pursue a career which is rewarding both intrinsically and financially. These ideas are discussed in depth in "Finding Purpose in Your Career", a Gresham College public lecture. It was part of my second series on "Business Skills for the 21st Century", to cover business skills that are important but rarely taught at business school, and make them available for free rather than in a book or a subscriber-only newsletter. Video replay available below and summary notes at https://lnkd.in/eHJQ3tup. https://lnkd.in/gvw2fUq