S13 E11 The Joy Factor: How to Build Your Dream Career from the Inside Out | Lisa Roger, CIO

Welcome back! I am joined by author, award winning business executive (Capital CIO ORBIE Winner, National Corp. InspireCIO Finalist), and transformational CIO of Dewberry, Lisa Roger.  

With over 28 years of experience in various industries, roles, and organizations, Lisa has held executive IT positions in companies servicing healthcare, retail, telecommunications, and state and local organizations. 

Due to her success, she has recently wrote and published a book, “The Joy Factor: Escaping Job Disappointment and Finding Your Dream Career,” that shares her fascinating journey to finding the ‘joy factor’ in her life with the intention of coaching others to find their own joy.  

Here are some of the top takeaways you’ll receive from this episode:  

• How to professionally brand yourself and avoid imposter syndrome 

• Investing in leadership within your organization 

• Joy is an ‘inside out’ game first and not ‘outside in’ 

• Working with millennials: how to avoid change fatigue, quiet quitting, etc. 

• How to find your joy, confront your destiny, and add value 

• Board awareness and succession planning 

• The importance of networking and building relationships

 

As a CIO and Business IT Leader here are More wins you will get by listening: 

5:18 Bill- “When did you discover what your real superpower is and your real strengths?” 

6:00 Lisa- “What I really realized was how I could bring people together, how I could problem solve for a mission, keep people focused on it, do team building in critical moments where tensions are high and get results.” 

6:21 Lisa- “Building teams and going into dysfunctional organizations and making them functional. Restoring pride is one of the things I love doing.” 

7:16 Bill- “What is the genesis of your book, The Joy Factor? What actually started you thinking about writing it?” 

7:44 Lisa- “It was my nieces and nephews who are millennials. They were entering the workforce and felt this deep sense of being unsatisfied and being disappointed and not being able to make that difference.” 

8:08 Lisa- “I went through the same journey and if there was some way I could accelerate them to a place where their joy factor is way bigger now and they could have control. How can we systematically do that?” 

9:08 Bill- “Do you find that that’s an issue with hiring millennials within your company and other companies as well?” 

9:24 Lisa- “Indeed. I look at the great resignation and quiet quitting. People are trying to find their own way so they can have control back, whether that’s the hours of the day or how you work. Today’s influences transcends millennials now.” 

10:09 Lisa- “How could you add value in the organization that you’re at right now that is going to bring you joy?” 

10:31 Bill- “The whole message of the book is an inside out. The joy starts with the individual.” 

11:06 Lisa- “Joy does come within your own happiness. It’s a mindset. You can only control you.” 

11:47 Lisa- “Don’t assume what is in other people’s brains. Assume good. Apply yourself in ways that are fulfilling who you are.” 

12:45 Lisa- “I found journaling to be an excellent tool. Articulate in black and white what changes and life events are happening. Let’s write everything down and start there.” 

13:31 Lisa- “Let’s systematically move things over from a negative to the positive column and reframe our mind and look for opportunities that are going to be giving you more exposure to that joy.” 

14:20 Lisa- “The last negative thing you’re exposed to often has the most power in your brain. But if you force yourself to write down the most wonderful things that happened to you in a day, really dissect it. What were you doing? Why did it bring you joy? Were you coaching? Problem solving? Were you just listening? Be very mindful and specific about what brought you joy.” 

17:25 Bill- “In your book, what do you mean by the acceleration of joy?” 

17:32 Lisa- “It’s how do you get to that place where your joy factor is overwhelming the not so good factor. How do you get there quicker?” 

17:41 Lisa- “The most powerful thing you can do it let people know. If you don’t tell people what your aspirations are, how can they help you get there?” 

19:21 Lisa- “Look at how you’re branding yourself, not only from a professional perspective but to your resume, your LinkedIn profile, etc. You have got to let people know what you want to do.” 

23:20 Lisa- “We have a national crisis which is baby boomers retiring. The next generation is very small. Then the millennials who are much bigger but are quiet quitting, working hybrid, in the gig economy. They’re not necessarily going through the same leadership journey that previous generations went through.” 

24:32 Lisa- “It is all about just defining our leadership companies within the organization, what opportunities can we bring to people, what are we doing for succession planning, etc.” 

26:44 Lisa- “If we invest in everyone from a leadership perspective, then we’re all going to benefit.” 

27: 43 Bill- “What percentage of your time each week is really dedicated each month to efforts around that particular leadership journey?” 

32:12 Bill- “What differentiates the new people coming into the organizations versus the ones that don’t make it through?” 

32:54 Lisa- “The ability to have dialogue around change management and communication culture. Are they going to add value in a way that makes them happy?” 

35:06 Lisa- “I think the biggest opportunity lost is creating healthy relationships where they’re at and creating powerful networks.” 

35:41 Lisa- “Being the CIO is one of the most unique positions where you get to touch every piece of the organization.” 

40:15 Lisa- “There is some fear when it comes to the change that’s happening in the world. Be grounded in your own self-worth. Be purposeful, have the right mindset, and you’ll feel a sense of control that will give you the leverage to do the right things.” 

 

Resources 

Lisa Roger’s LinkedIn 

“The Joy Factor: Escaping Job Disappointment and Finding Your Dream Career” 

Women in Business Initiative- George Mason University