The Freak Factory - David Rendall

Jobs for control freaks

Yesterday I wrote about why it was good to be a control freak. Then I found another great blog post at Business Pundit offering ten great jobs for control freaks. The primary arguments of the freak factor are that there is nothing wrong with you and that apparent weaknesses can actually be strengths when you find the right fit. I tried to illustrate this by finding jobs for the lame team members in the FedEx Kinko's commercial.

So, if you are a control freak, don't despair, just seek out one of these career opportunities.

1. Air Traffic Controller - "If they're not a control freak, people may die." 
2. Military Officer
3. Chef
4. Surgeon - Another example of how being a control freak saves lives.
5. Business Consultant
6. Pilot
7. Professional Organizer - "a priceless manifestation of control-freakish tendencies."
8. CEO
9. Accountant - That's why the job title is "controller."
10. Architect

This list reminds me of a great tip for finding the right fit. Just take the term that people use to criticize you and look for jobs that use the same term.

"Control" is a key element of controller and air traffic controller.

Are you too "critical?" Maybe you should be a critic.

Do you over-analyze things? Maybe you should be an analyst.

It's good to be a control freak

There are all sorts of freaks out there but we tend to hear a lot about control freaks. Cheryl Cran over at the Brazen Careerist blog thinks that it is good to be a control freak. She offers five reasons.

1. Control freaks have self-discipline.
2. Control freaks get things done.
3. Control freaks take responsibility for their success.
4. Control freaks are decisive.
5. Control freaks provide direction and guidance.

Cran ends with these words of encouragement. "If someone calls you a control freak, don’t freak out. Instead . . . stand proud!"

I couldn't have said it better myself.

I owe a hat tip to Jessica Stillman at BNET1 for synthesizing Cran's message. I'm about to blog about one of her other blog posts in a few minutes. Great stuff.

The Freak Factor can save your life

A recent Men's Health article discussed why wealthy people are often healthier than their financially challenged counterparts. It includes a number of suggestions for achieving health, even if you don't have the wealth.

#5. Find A Job That Fits

Marc Cullen, M.D., a professor of medicine at Yale University, explains that "the amount of stress you feel from your job has a lot to do with whether the job fits you -- that is, whether it matches your personality and style and other demands of your life. . . If you come home at the end of the day feeling angry, alientated, and exhausted, maybe you need more than a new job; you need a new line of work. 'The biggest problems are with a misfit.' If you're a misfit, fix it -- or you'll die trying."

Notice that he didn't say to change your personality or your style. He said to change your line of work. Find the right situation. Find a better fit.

Be Somebody

What they say
What they know
What they think won't ever bring me down
This life is mine and I am my own

I'm trying to be somebody
I'm not trying to be somebody else
This life is mine I lead
Don't you know me?

- 3 Doors Down, Be Somebody

Separated at Birth? Carville and Dalhausser

I seem to have a special gift for noticing similarities in people's appearances. My wife frequently disagrees but I persist in asking, "doesn't that person look just like . . . ?"

So, I'm starting a new feature on the blog to show off my skills and test them with people that I'm not married to. Let's start with an Olympics meets the Presidential Election edition.

I couldn't help it. I was watching Men's Beach Volleyball and Phil Dalhausser was looking a lot like James Carville. What do you think? Can you even tell me which one is which? OK, the one without the shirt kind of gives it away.

Update: It looks like I was right about this one. Sports Illustrated just published an article called Olympic Ringers and pointed out the similarity between these two and others. Unfortunately, the online version of the article didn't include pictures. Guess who looks like Captain Kangaroo.

This political website saw the possible genetic links between Dalhausser and Carville as well.

Seminar Freak

Let me ask you a question. What's your problem? I'm serious. What do you wish you could change about yourself? What is the complaint that you hear the most from those closest to you, your friends, co-workers, and family members? Are you too loud or too quiet, too hyperactive or too sedentary, too organized or too messy? You get the idea.

So, what should you do? Most people think that they should find and fix their weaknesses. Unfortunately, this just leads to frustration and failure. Your weaknesses are actually the best clue to your strengths. Furthermore, building your strengths, not fixing your weaknesses, is your best strategy for success.

This seminar is designed to encourage you to become more of who you are, not to turn you into someone else. It's about becoming more different and more unique, not more average and more mediocre. You will learn how to:

1. Discover your distinctive strengths and weaknesses
2. Frame your unique characteristics in a positive way
3. Find situations that highlight your positive qualities
4. Maximize your self-control
5. Implement permanent procrastination
6. Flaunt your weaknesses

You can watch a free preview of the new Freak Factor seminar here.

Get 25% off the CD or DVD at Createspace with coupon code UUHEHPLU

If you'd like, you can also pay full price for the CD or DVD at Amazon.com

For easy reference, links to all my resources are on the left side of my blog.

Be Yourself

"To be yourself is all that you can do." - Audioslave, Be Yourself

Ferrazzi wants you to focus

More from Keith Ferrazzi

"Know yourself and your talents. I had no chance competing with the science geeks at ICI. In developing an expertise that highlighted my strengths, I was able to overcome my weaknesses. The trick is not to work obsessively on the skills and talents you lack but to focus and cultivate your strengths so that your weaknesses matter less."

Ferrazzi wants you to be ferreakky

From Keith Ferrazzi in his book Never Eat Alone

"Be distinct or be extinct." 

"The best brands, like the most interesting people, have a distinct message."

"The notion that everyone can be everything to everybody at all time is completely off the mark. . . When it comes to making an impression, differentiation is the name of the game. Confound expectation. Shake it up. How? There's one guaranteed way to stand out in the professional world. Be yourself."

Movin' on up

Yesterday, I posted a quote from Laurence Peter, creator of the Peter Principle, which states that "every employee tends to rise to their level of incompetence." In other words, we move up in organizations until we find ourselves unable to do the work that is required.

I think this is true and that there is a simple explanation. People who are successful get promoted. Unfortunately, the positions that they are promoted into often require different strengths than those they possess. As they move up, they gradually move farther away from the situations that made them successful, the situations that fit their unique characteristics.

The best example is the salesperson who becomes the sales manager. The strengths, and corresponding weaknesses, of a great salesperson aren't necessarily suited to effective management.

What is the lesson? We need to be more concerned about finding the right fit than about moving up. Moving up usually means moving out of our sweet spot and might actually undermine our long-term success.