320: Asking This One Question to Your Colleagues May Redefine Your Career

Feeling stuck, tired, or unsure how long you can keep pushing through your role? In this episode of The Mid-Career GPS Podcast, John Neral shares one golden question that can help you rediscover purpose, evaluate fit, and make smarter decisions about your career: Why do you come back to work every day?

This simple yet powerful question uncovers what really drives you and what’s holding you back. John walks you through how to use it to gain clarity in your current role, prepare for a job change, or guide your next interview.

You’ll learn how to choose the right person for an honest conversation, set a clear intention, and listen deeply for what’s said and what’s not. Then, using John’s signature Four F Framework—Fit, Function, Finance, and Forward—you’ll translate those insights into action.

John also explores how this question can transform how you evaluate company culture during informational interviews or final-round panels. When the answers align, you gain confidence in your decision. When they don’t, you gain valuable insight about what’s missing.

This conversation helps you:

• Name the weight you might be feeling in your career right now
• Set up an intentional, trust-based conversation about work satisfaction
• Ask and reflect on the golden question with curiosity and courage
• Map your insights using Fit, Function, Finance, and Forward
• Apply what you learn to your interviews, offers, or current role
• Recognize how your motivations change—and that it’s okay

Whether you’re evaluating a new opportunity or trying to reignite momentum where you are, this question helps you create a clearer, more aligned career path.

🎯 Free Resource:
Download The Interview Confidence Roadmap for five make-or-break strategies to help you stand out in your next interview. Get your free copy at johnneral.com/resources.

Transcript

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Free Interview Guide Invitation

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey there. Before we get into today's episode, I'm curious. Are you currently interviewing for or planning to interview for a new job? If so, I know you want to show up at your best. And that means being confident and telling a clear and compelling story that ultimately leads to explaining why you're the best person for the job that hopefully leads to that job offer.

Naming The Workplace Strain

SPEAKER_00 0:29

If you're struggling with your interview preparation right now, I want you to go over and get my free guide. It is called the Interview Confidence Roadmap. And in this free guide, you will learn the five areas I know that will make or break success at your next job interview. Now to get the guide, simply visit my website, johnnarr.com forward slash resources, or check the show notes and let me help you crush your next interview. When you're struggling in your job, and I'm not talking about being able to do it. Look, we've talked on the podcast before that right now things feel a little heavy. And in that, some of you may be admittedly struggling with getting through your job or wondering how you're going to be able to get to the end of the year or how long you can stick it out in your current job. And see, that's understandable. And I also think it is the perfect time to engage your colleagues in an intentional conversation. But what do you say? What do you ask them?

Human Connection Over Hype

SPEAKER_00 1:50

So in this episode, I will share with you one of my favorite questions to ask colleagues you trust to help you get that little extra boost or motivation you need to build your mid-career GPS. Let's get started. I help mid-career professionals like you find a career they love or love the one they have using my proven four-step formula. If you did not get a chance to listen to last week's episode with Lindsay Mastis, I hope you'll go back and listen to it. It is episode 319. Lindsay and I had a wonderful conversation about AI and technology and how it's impacting the way we work and live. So if you're looking to get a little more background or information about AI, this is a great place to start, especially in terms of questions you might be facing on your job or questions you might be getting asked in an interview. But one thing Lindsay and I discussed was how important that human connection is. Despite everything happening with AI, I want you to think about the power of sitting down with someone and having a conversation. And better yet, showing up to have an intentional conversation. But you're probably wondering what that actually looks like. Well, here goes.

Set Up An Intentional Conversation

SPEAKER_00 3:29

Before you even have that conversation, you have to identify who you want to talk to. And I want to offer you that it needs to be someone you trust. This conversation isn't necessarily one you may have with your supervisor or manager or leader. It might be your work bestie or a colleague you've known that works at a different company. And then you have to decide when you're going to have that conversation. Are you doing it on-site if it's a if it's a colleague you're currently working with? Are you going off-site? Is it virtual? Are you meeting someone for lunch, dinner, drinks after work? But then I want you to identify the goal. What is it you want to learn? What is that thing you're going to get from that conversation that you will walk away with that may very well help change the way you are showing up to work every day? If you're job hugging right now, I want you to listen really closely to this because you may not be entirely thrilled or loving your job, but you also recognize the market might be a little tricky. Maybe you're just going through a difficult time at work. And while that is stressful, it is understandable, it may not be making you happy. Maybe you feel like you've been in this job long enough that you've you've kind of lost some of your mojo or your motivation, and you're simply wondering, am I ever going to get it back? So here is the question you're going to ask this person. Are you ready? All right, here we go. Here's the question.

The Golden Question Revealed

SPEAKER_00 5:20

Why do you come back to work every day? Let me say that again. Why do you come back to work every day? Now, the thing I like about this question is it's not a question such as why do you like your job or why do you like working here? It's why do you come back? In other words, what is it that makes you get up in the morning and go, oh yeah, I get to go to work. Think about it. Think about some of the reasons why you come back to work every day. And if you're not currently employed, think about why you came back to work every day in your last position. As I was preparing for this episode, it got me thinking about my own career path. When I was teaching middle school mathematics,

Reasons We Return To Work

SPEAKER_00 6:30

I came back to work every day because of the students. I knew there was a responsibility that I had that I was there to teach them. And I looked forward to that. Doesn't mean that every day was great and wonderful, because it wasn't. Right? But it was it was the thing about I came back because of them. When I got out of the classroom and I started moving into more supervisory or administrative roles, why did I come back to work every day? Some days it was because I believed in the work we were doing. And other days, quite honestly, it was because I needed the paycheck. That's fine. We ride this wave in our careers and especially at mid-career, where we go through the motions because we got bills to pay. It's as simple as that. But when you take a moment and you ask a trusted colleague, why do you come back to work each day? I want you to listen to what they say. I want you to listen to the energy they bring to the conversation. And I want you to be very curious and ask them a follow-up question about either what they said or what they didn't say. It's why this question is gold. This question

Listen Deeply And Probe

SPEAKER_00 8:00

opens up so many conversations where you have an opportunity, again, with someone you trust, to have this intentional conversation to know what's making them tick in their job. If you're currently doing informational interviews as you're exploring a career pivot or you are talking with people, maybe at a different company or a different industry, it's a great question to ask on the informational interview to see what they're saying about what they like about their job or their industry or the company where they work. And after you have had that conversation, I want you to take a few moments and capture some thoughts. What did you learn? What surprised you? And think about if any of those things that they mentioned

Use It In Informational Interviews

SPEAKER_00 8:58

resonate for you. Are those reasons why they come back to work every day, are they important for you? In my masterclass, the mid-career promotion blueprint, and promotion is either if you're looking to level up in your job, or promotion is even if you're simply trying to find that next job because you've been out of work for a while. I walk through four F's. And that masterclass is like you and I are sitting down and having a coaching session, but we're not doing it face to face, right? It is recorded. But that mid-career promotion blueprint is there for you to really assess those things that are important for you in your current future or next position. So when you ask somebody, why do you come back to work every day? You're going to take that information and you're going to process it. As I was preparing to record this episode, I thought to myself, well, why do I come back to work each day? And it actually brought me back to the same moment I had when I was in the classroom. It's not my students now, it's my clients. The clients that I've worked with, the clients I'm currently working with, and the clients I will work with. It's the people who may never hire me, but perhaps you listen to this podcast and you're like, you know what? This is what I need to get that boost in my career. And I like listening to John and I like what he's saying. And so I'm glad that he's there for me every week.

Reflect And Map To Your Four Fs

SPEAKER_00 10:41

Trust me, there have been times, 320 episodes in where I've thought, I don't know if I can do another podcast episode or not. But I do it. And I do it because of you. I do it because this is something I truly enjoy in my business, because it's how I serve people. Right? Why I come back to work every day is exactly that. However, you come into my orbit, the podcast, my newsletter, the masterclass, you hire me one-on-one, whatever that is, you're the reason why I come back to work every day. Now, look, let's just be honest, okay? If if we happen to hit the lottery and we hit the mega millions, um, there will be an exit strategy that will roll out. I probably will not say to you that I hit the lottery, but you will probably hear something like, um, the podcast is going to come to an end, or we're going to go to every other week. Um, you know, who knows? Maybe I'll still do it. I don't know, right? But it's that thing. The thing is, there are circumstances as to why we come back to work every day. What are those circumstances that light you up that are important for you, that are important for people you're talking with? What does all that really mean? When you look at those four F's, the fit, the function, the finance, and forward, how do what people say about

Why The Host Shows Up

SPEAKER_00 12:20

why they come back to work every day, where does that align with the things that are important for you? And look, I want to offer you one last tip here before I close. When you're having this conversation with people, don't think that you only can talk to people who absolutely love their job right now. You may get a ton of value by talking to people who are frustrated, are disgruntled, or maybe even burned out on their job. You may find something in all of that that may help inform your decisions as you figure out what's next and as you build your mid-career GPS. There are no right or wrong answers here. This is an opportunity to have that intentional conversation and engage and explore with people. And look, if you're interviewing for a job right now, if you're actively interviewing and you're in that second, third, or final round of an interview, and they say to you, What questions do you have for us? Wow. Imagine asking them, Why do you come back to work every day? I guarantee you there's a pretty good chance they've not been asked that question in that way. And then you get to listen. You get to listen to their answer. And if or when they make you a job offer, you get to take all the information you've gathered in that interview process and you get to choose. You get to choose whether or not you accept that job offer or not, because of what you learned and the questions you asked. All right. So again, that golden

Insights From Frustrated Colleagues

SPEAKER_00 14:20

question: why do you come back to work each day? And if you are, if you have someone in your life, be it a spouse, partner, boyfriend, girlfriend, ask them that question. See what they say. See what they say, see what lights them up in terms of their answer. It's just another way you keep building your mid-career GPS. So until next time, my friends, remember this. You will build your mid-career GPS one mile or one step at a time, and how you show up matters. Make it a great rest of your day. Thank you for listening to the MidCareer GPS Podcast. Make sure to follow on your favorite listening platform. And if you have a moment, I'd love to hear your comments on Apple Podcasts. Visit johnnarrell.com for more information about how I can help you build your mid-career GPS, or how I can help you and your organization with your next workshop or public speaking event. Don't forget to connect with me on LinkedIn and follow me on social at John Daryl Coaching. I look forward to being back with you next week. Until then, take care. And remember, how we show up matters.