MentorCoach is proud to announce a new, cutting-edge master class.
Led by Bryan J. Dik, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology at Colorado State University
Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of jobZology™
Soon to be Available
by Recording
8 hours of CEUs and ICF CCEUs
8 hours Toward Coach Certification
A Conversation with Bryan Dik, PhD On This Class
Bryan Dik, PhD is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on the science and practice of making work a calling. He is Associate Professor of Psychology at Colorado State University.
Hear Bryan talk about this class! (15 mins). Bryan’s full bio is here.
1. About This Class:
Many people want more from their work than the paycheck it provides–they want a sense of calling. Within career development, a calling is a sense of purpose or direction that leads a person toward a personally fulfilling and/or socially useful engagement within one’s work, sometimes referencing God or the transcendent, sometimes an inner passion or giftedness.
Yet so many people feel miserable in their jobs. Gallup reports that more than 70% of American workers are disengaged at work, a percentage that has changed very little in more than a decade.
Furthermore, stable careers are a thing of the past. Adults now hold an average of 11 jobs by the time they turn 44 years old–and the median number of years people have worked for their current employer is just 4.4 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).
These numbers tell a story in which uninspired work and constant career change is the norm, with people at all career stages asking themselves questions like “How can I find more meaning in my work?” and “What path should I take now?”
Whether you are a coach, therapist, consultant, educator, or other helping professional, at some point more than two-thirds of your future clients will be in need of serious help in their work lives, even if they come in desiring help with other problems. There is a tremendous advantage for you and for your clients, if you know what to do.
The research overwhelmingly documents the value for you and your clients of finding meaning and purpose in work. For example:
But how do we help people find these extraordinary benefits? The good news is there are now research-based, clinically tested strategies to help people discern and live out their callings by understanding their gifts, identifying or creating new opportunities, and even transforming their current job into a calling.
In this class, Dr. Bryan Dik will explore the historical context and cutting-edge research on work as a calling. And he will show us how to help people get more out of work and life by:
2. The Eight Weeks:
Week 1: What is a Calling, and What Difference Does it Make? Explore differences in how calling is defined, and learn about its impact on people who experience it.
Week 2: A Brief History of What Work Means to People. Take a tour of diverse work meanings throughout history, and how these meanings translate into work orientations that people hold today.
Week 3: The Science and Art of Discerning a Calling. Try out some hands-on strategies for helping people explore their work personalities and identify pathways for purpose.
Week 4: Cultivating Callings in Education. Discover learning and teaching strategies that help students discern and live out their callings.
Week 5: Meaning at Work (with Dr. Michael Steger). Learn what the science of meaning in life teaches us about finding meaning in our work.
Week 6: Make Your (Current) Job a Calling. Practice work adjustment and job crafting, and transform your current job into a calling.
Week 7: The Dark Side of Calling. Confront the perils and pitfalls that sometimes accompany a sense of calling, from career tunnel vision to rationalized workaholism to exploitation by unscrupulous employers.
Week 8: Callings in Life. Explore how a sense of calling can function as an organizing life principle, because people are called to far more than work.
3. What You Will Get Out of This Course:
You will learn why the notion that work can be a calling, a centuries-old idea, has made a resurgence within popular culture and is among the most rapidly growing research topics within positive and vocational psychology today, with roughly 10x more studies on calling published within the last decade than in all of history before that.
You will gain an up-to-date and thorough expertise in the science and practice of calling and vocation, expertise that will give you an edge when seeking new business and new clients who are struggling with work-related concerns.
You will apply new strategies and exercises for discerning a calling by exploring your gifts and identifying or creating new opportunities to express them in the world of work.
You will explore the boundaries of work as a calling in light of new scientific evidence, and you will consider both its tremendous positive potential and also its challenges and vulnerabilities.
You will dig deeper than books and articles allow, practicing new ways to find purpose and meaning in your work and life, and in the lives of others.
4. Who Should Attend?
This course is for coaches, therapists, consultants, educators, business professionals, leaders, change agents, managers, mentors, entrepreneurs, and all those who seek evidence-based paths toward greater health and happiness in work and life, whether for themselves or for those with whom they live and work.
5. Readings and Resources
The course will use one primary text– Make Your Job a Calling by Bryan Dik and Ryan Duffy. In addition, Bryan will post relevant research articles and videos on the class’ password-protected website as the class progresses. There will also be some optional readings from Purpose and Meaning in the Workplace, co-edited by Bryan Dik, Zinta Byrne, and Michael Steger. Finally and most unique and exciting, those participating in the class will complete the jobZology VIP (values, interests, and personality) assessments and become familiar with how jobZology resources can be used with clients.
Praise for Bryan’s Books
“Full of practical insights and actionable research findings, Make Your Job a Calling: How the Psychology of Vocation Can Change Your Life at Work guides readers – in all kinds of jobs – through a thoughtful and research-based path to transform their relationship with work. Dik and Duffy have powerfully captured the dynamics of meaning in work in ways that underscore the importance of meaningful work in any job.”
—Amy Wrzesniewski, associate professor of Organizational Behavior, Yale School of Management
“In this time of economic uncertainty and rapidly changing patterns of work, the search for a meaningful vocation is foremost among major life concerns. Make Your Job a Calling offers an excellent guide to historical and psychological wisdom on how work can be made meaningful. Bryan Dik and Ryan Duffy have written a useful and timely book that should interest all workers today.”
—William Damon, professor, Stanford University, and author of The Path to Purpose: How Young People find their Calling in Life.
“Make Your Job a Calling comes at a most opportune time! As the career development field and its varied professionals re-invent their roles and strategies, demands for career service grows exponentially. Redirecting attention to “calling” offers a critical link to helping clients design their life. As work has changed so are career interventions. Make Your Job a Calling forges new ground, offers needed hope and advances the field significantly.”
—Rich Feller, Ph.D., president, National Career Development Association
“Finding meaning in one’s work is a key to finding meaning in life. Yet all too often, work is experienced as pointless and trivial. In this unusually well-thought-out and well-organized collection, the editors present the major theories and research that pertain to finding meaning in work-and they do so in an extremely user-friendly way. Anyone who is interested in improving work experience will find this volume and indispensable reference.”
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Management; and Founding Co-Director, Quality of Life Research Center, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA
“Purpose and Meaning in the Workplace is the definitive resource for understanding the forces that shape our work lives. This academic tour de force offers rich insights on jobs, careers, and callings from leading experts in psychological and organizational scholarship.”
—Adam M. Grant, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Management, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
“Both scholarly and readable, this volume provides a much-needed bridge to practice. Some of the best minds in the management field come together here to produce a cohesive collection of cutting-edge theories, perspectives, and tools related to meaningful work. With its emphasis on coaching, career development, and application, this book is as relevant as it is well-researched. It’s a big step forward.”
—Jeff Thompson, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Romney Institute of Public Management, Brigham Young University
6. For Graduates of Mike Steger’s Master Class on Meaning in Life
VERSUS 
Last spring Mike Steger taught an exceptional master class for us. People loved it. It was entitled: It Matters: The Science and Practice of a Meaningful Life.
For graduates of Mike’s class, there is a logical question: “Is Bryan’s class different from Mike’s?”
In fact the two classes are very different, perfectly complementing each other. Bryan and Mike are colleagues and friends. Here’s what Bryan, himself, said about this question.
Of course the classes are different; these are different areas of research and practice. They overlap a tiny bit, but not much.
Like Mike’s though, mine will be fun, informative, practical, and hopefully open new pathways and applications within practice and education. And Mike will make a cameo appearance–but will not duplicate what he shared before.
7. About jobZology:
Founded by Bryan Dik and another Colorado State University psychologist as well as two business entrepreneurs with backgrounds in engineering, management and business development, jobZology is a “people analytics company” designed to help employers match talent to jobs and culture, to find meaningful jobs for individuals, and to better enable educators to “graduate” students into jobs that fit. The company has strong scientific roots in research and development, and has provisionally patented and trademarked their systems and online tools.
Underlying jobZology’s mission and design is the belief that a company’s success, sustainability and growth are tied directly to how people feel about their jobs–and how meaningful and satisfying those jobs are to them. So matching talent with jobs and company culture becomes critical. For employers, jobZology products scientifically predict how job candidates and employees will fit into jobs and fit with company culture, going above and beyond the existing methods that are currently used to match people to job descriptions to provide a predictive score of how they will fit. That score relates to things like satisfaction, commitment, loyalty and engagement and even performance expectations.
The jobZology™ software provides automated solutions for exploring career pathways so that job seekers find truly satisfying positions–with the best fit. Information from the analytics can be used in counseling existing college students towards a meaningful career choices that will motivate them to graduate. JobZology’s automated solutions have been also designed for colleges and educational institutions to engage prospective students and stay in touch with alumni. In addition, the company offers people analytics, engagement surveys, and measures of culture to fit business needs and provides custom services such as industrial organizational coaching and consulting.
8. What People Say About Bryan as a Teacher
“I really loved Bryan’s teaching style and sense of humor. He made the class fun and engaging.”
“I would like to say that I have been in college on and off for nine years and this was the best class and instructor I have ever had.”
“This course…has been my favorite so far. This experience was mostly due to the enthusiasm and concern that the teacher showed towards making the class fun, fair and challenging. Bryan did a great job creating a fun learning atmosphere and I really enjoyed this class.”
“Bryan was very enthusiastic about teaching this course, and knowledgeable about the subject. It was organized very efficiently. He was also very respectful of student opinions and interested in what we had to say. I really enjoyed this course and would definitely recommend it to others.”
“This was one of the more useful and enjoyable classes I’ve taken. I appreciated that open and objective approach that you took with this course. You seemed to dive into the material in a way that challenges students to search for meaningful answers, and that aspect was great.”
“This class was great and opened up many new questions and ways to answer [them]. The teacher was great.”
“This course has inspired me to seriously consider doing work in this field! Great class!”
“Your passion for the subject really shines through and makes it easy for students to engage.”
“Bryan is one of the finest professors I’ve studied under. He encourages academic success and creativity, never dogmatically teaching. He should always teach, it is his calling.”
9. Private Class Webpage
We’ll be using a password-protected class website that will be your home on the web for this class. In advance of each session, we’ll post Bryan’s power points in multiple formats, relevant articles, videos and blog entries. Then by Friday evening, we’ll post the recording from that week’s class as well.
In addition, there will be a private listserv for the class that will allow students to make comments and post questions during and between classes.
Real-time Questions During Class. Students will submit questions to Bryan real-time via email during the class. When he pauses for questions, Ben will read the submitted questions to him.
Every class is recorded. By the day after each session, you’ll be able to listen to the class recording online or to download a digital recording of the class to your computer and MP3 player (eg your iPod).
Thus, when you have a conflict with a particular class, you’ll have the recording, PowerPoints, and readings, and you won’t miss a thing. For the Authentic Happiness Coaching™ Program, some students had ongoing conflicts and listened to the entire class by recording. We anticipate that a number of Bryan’s students in this class–for example, those living in Australia and New Zealand–may decide to experience the class entirely by recording, still emailing in questions to him between classes. (And they’ll even be able to earn ICF CCEUs (Resource Development).
10. Class Time and Schedule
11. Open to All
There are no prerequisites for this class. It is open to all, both within the MentorCoach Community and without.
12. Tuition
$395 by Recording
13. Coach Certification
This class provides eight hours toward MentorCoach Certification as an elective for students meeting the class attendance requirement (See #16 below.) It can also provide 8 hours toward ICF Certification via an Accredited Coach Training Program such as MentorCoach or via the ICF Portfolio Approach.
14. ICF Coach Continuing Education
Live Class Attendance. This class is approved for 8 CCEs (ICF Core Competencies) from the International Coach Federation for students meeting the class attendance requirement (see #16 below). There is no fee for ICF CCEs.
Listening by Recording. For students who will be listening to Bryan’s classes by recording, this class is approved for 8 CCEs (ICF Resource Development) from the International Coach Federation for students meeting the class attendance requirement for listening by recording (see #16 below).
15. CEs
This class is approved for eight hours of CEs for social workers (NASW) and Marriage and Family Therapists in California (BBS). The CE administration fee is $75.
To receive credit for CEs, students must pay the CE fee and be present for 6.5 classes.
Note: The CE fee applies only if you are a licensed mental health professional in the US and need CEs from one of the organizations listed above. Otherwise, when you register, indicate that you do not need to pay the CE fee by choosing the “Base Unit Price with NO CE’s” registration option.
16. Attendance Requirements
Every class is recorded. You may listen to some or all of the classes by recording at your leisure.
However, to receive credit for CEs, ICF CCEUs (Core Competencies), credit toward MentorCoach Certification, or to receive a Certificate of Completion, you must be present for 6.5 of the 8 classes. (How do you receive attendance credit for half of a class? By being present only at the beginning or end of a class.)
Listening to the class by recording does not count toward the attendance requirement for receiving CEs, credit toward MentorCoach Certification, ICF CCEs (Core Coaching Competencies), or a Class Certificate of Completion.
However, you can earn eight hours of ICF CCEs (Resource Development) by listening to all eight sessions. (See #17 below.)
Listening by Recording
Every class is recorded. Some students may listen to some or all of the classes by recording at their leisure, sometimes emailing in questions to Bryan between classes. We applaud and support this practice. We know one well-known Australian professor who used to end his week listening to the recordings of Chris Peterson’s lectures on Friday evenings, drinking white wine and reclining in his hot tub.
Note: Listening to all seven sessions of the class by recording DOES qualify the student to receive 8 hours of ICF CCEUs (Resource Development). For students who will be listening to Bryan’s classes by recording, this class is pending approval for 8 hours of ICF CCEUs (ICF Resource Development) from the International Coach Federation. To qualify for these ICF CCEUs, students must listen to all recordings and submit all class attendance codes within a week after the final class. They may also be asked to pass an open-book exam over the course content.
17. Refund Policy
You may withdraw your registration at any time before the beginning of the second one hour class and receive a full refund. You are responsible for the full tuition amount if you do not withdraw before the beginning of the second class.
Bryan Dik, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Psychology at Colorado State University. He earned his B.A. in Psychology from Calvin College in 1998 and his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology with specialized training in Vocational Psychology from the University of Minnesota in 2005. His research is primarily in the area of career development, especially perceptions of work as a calling, the role of faith in career decision-making and planning, career counseling interventions, and measurement of vocational interests.
Bryan has published or currently has in press more than 70 professional articles, and has served on the editorial boards of seven research journals, including Journal of Counseling Psychology, Journal of Vocational Behavior, and Journal of Career Assessment. He is the recipient of the 2010 Early Career Professional Award from the Society for Vocational Psychology. He is co-author of Make Your Job a Calling: How the Psychology of Vocation can Change Your Life at Work (2012, Templeton Press) and is co-editor of two other books, Psychology of Religion and Workplace Spirituality (2012, Information Age) and Purpose and Meaning in the Workplace (2013, APA Books). Bryan teaches courses at CSU in the areas of vocational psychology, personality psychology, and the psychology of religion, and also supervises the career assessment and counseling activities of Ph.D. students in Counseling Psychology.
In addition to his academic and counseling work and frequent speaking engagements, Bryan is a co-founder and Chief Science Officer at jobZology, a company based in Fort Collins. He lives in this Colorado university town with his wife Amy and their four young sons.