A lingering cliché is that of the weary worker coming home after a long day at “the plant” and kicking the dog. All those long-suffering Ralph Kramdens shouting “To the moon, Alice” at their (also long-suffering) wives. And the executive who wants his wife to meet him at the door with a martini and then keep the kids quiet and out of the way until he’s had a chance to relax and read the paper. Did all of our parents hate their jobs? Did our grandparents stay in jobs for 40 years only to receive that gold watch at the end of a life full of “thank God it’s Friday’s?”
Was it after the downsizing of the 80’s that we realized that if we cannot rely on an employer to always be there then we’d better not let our jobs define us? So now we have a generation of workers who do not hesitate to change jobs for any number of reasons. Don’t get along with your boss? See ya. Sink in the bathroom stopped up again? ‘Bye. One wonders if our current high unemployment means workers will stay in hated jobs again.
Then again, some people love their jobs. Love them. Can you imagine? Recent studies show job satisfaction dropping like a rock, but a popular management parable claims loving your job is possible, and helping you fall in love with your job is the responsibility of your supervisor.
The Radical Leap, by Steve Farber, is one of those little management books, like the One Minute Manager and Who Moved My Cheese, that provides lessons in the form of parables. My ear worn copy of this story about a wise surfer (seriously) is still close at hand, long after I stopped caring about my cheese and I listed reading it among the 12 suggestions for employer/supervisors wanting to improve the workplace in my December 29 blog.
The message here is that a true leader will inspire his or her employees to achieve success for themselves and the business by cultivating love: “Love of what future we create together, love of what principles we live out, love of what people I have around me, what they want for their lives, what customers I have and might have in the future if I am smarter, faster, and more creative in serving their needs. Love for the impact we have on their lives and the world as a whole, for what our business really is and what we really do at work every day.”
How’s’ that for an audacious attitude? The wise surfer says that love creates the boundless energy necessary to inspire the courage needed to overcome the fear that can cripple us. Michael Gunther, of San Luis Obispo-based Collaboration addressed the importance of attitude in the Tolosa Press a few weeks ago. We know it is going to take something special for our businesses to thrive this year, so we might as well try love.
What do you think?
As a huge fan of Steve Farber and his other book, Greater Than Yourself, I do believe it is possible to both love your job and be the kind of leader it takes to help your employees love their jobs. It is without question that work life has changed, and the first people to let you know about it is this new generation of professionals. They KNOW what they want, they want to make a difference, add value, find success in the collective. It is our job to listen. What was does not exist, what is and what can be are the lessons we bring to the future, a future filled with human relationship building and growing businesses that care.
ReplyDeleteSounds like an interesting book to read. I'll have to keep that in mind.
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of a book I just finished reading called, "This Hungry Spirit" by C.Clinton Sidle.
I have just become student of leadership and there is one thing I know for sure – the better you know yourself and are grounded in your greater spirit, the more likely you are not only to be happy and successful but also wanting to do good in the world. This book is unique in making that claim – no other book explores the powerful combination happiness, leadership, and positive contribution.