FINDING A JOB YOU LOVE:

Transcription

1 FINDING A JOB YOU LOVE: myths and reality what business can learn from professional sport by nicolas nervi

2 contents p3 p4 p6 p8 p10 p12 p13 Introduction Myth 1: You don t have to like your job to be good at it Myth 2: Few people earn a good living from their passion Myth 3: Plain, old-fashioned hard work is all that matters Myth 4: Your boss does not care if you don t love what you re doing Conclusion About the author 2

3 what is it about It s rare to hear people get excited about work, isn t it? For the most part, we accept that lacking passion for our jobs is a normal part of people s lives. But is it? Lack of enthusiasm and passion for your work leads to poor performance, disengagement, turnover, resistance to change efforts, and a negative work culture. Passion (or lack of it) is - at its core - a business issue. If we re going to improve productivity, innovation and our take-up of ongoing, rapid change in our organizations, we must foster passion in our workplaces, and in every role we create. But how? Isn t a white-collar-job-that-excites an oxymoronic idea? nicolas nervi No, not necessarily. It s a privilege to find a job you love, that s for sure, but it s not impossible. And, finding ways to get more enjoyment out of what you re already doing is just as important after all, no job is perfect. Here, we explore the myths many of us are (perhaps unwittingly) following in our careers and in the way we lead our organizations, and we discuss some simple lessons from one of the world s elite athletes to help us all do more of what we love, and love more of what we do. 3

4 MYTH #1 You don t have to like your job to be good at it If you don t completely detest your job you should be pretty happy. After all, work is work, and you get paid to be there. And here in lies the first myth many of us believe about work: you can be good at your job even if you don t like it. Some people can sing, run a marathon, give an inspiring off-the-cuff presentation and calculate the square root of an imaginary number in under a minute. They re good at these things, and many of these talents could lead to a job. However, being good isn t enough. To be really, really great you need motivation, drive and passion. Passion drives us forward. It helps us pick ourselves up when we re down and inspires us to keep learning and getting better at what we do. Passion keeps you striving We feel driven when we love something. So, if you don t love it, you re going to find it hard to stay motivated for the next decade... or four. Yes, you can be ok at a job you don t love, but you can be even better at a job you do. So, there are two ways forward: either find a job you enjoy more, or find ways to be more passionate about the job you already have. 4

5 Work your will Doing something we love for work is a privilege, but as Swiss triathlete Mike Aigroz knows, it still takes a lot of hard work to get where we want to go. Nothing comes easy and as the saying goes, you get out of things what you put in. Mike Aigroz is a Swiss professional triathlete who competes in the Ironman long-distance race series. He spends 25 hours a week training to complete in the grueling 3.8 km swim, 180 km bike and 42 km run that the Ironman demands. He is the 2012 Vice European Champion, and finished 6 th at Ironman Hawaii in Failure is inevitable, it will come for sure. Consider the failures as positives you can learn from this is an art, but it will bring you success in life. MIKE AIGROZ 5

6 MYTH #2 Few people earn a good living from their passion Is a painter more talented than a property developer? And, is a beautiful painting worth more or less than an apartment with ocean views? Well, it depends on the painter and the painting, doesn t it? What we will pay for things depends on the value we perceive that they hold. And the same is true of our careers. We subconsciously (or consciously) weigh up the value of our compensation package with what we think our passion is worth to us. Welcome to the second myth that many of us believe about work: you can t earn a living doing what you love. How much money is enough? What figure would be enough to convince you to do something you re truly passionate about? You might make more money as a lawyer than you can as a swimmer, but will the compensation be worth it if you re not passionate about the law? The need to make ends meet is real and often pressing. But, there are points in our lives when we have choices and opportunities, and it s these points when we need to consider the true cost of not doing something we re passionate about (and good at). People do make money out of their passions. Some make a lot, some make a little, but it s hard to put a price on doing something you love. Be gracious and think laterally to find a market or purpose for your passion If you can t change careers, consider ways you can do more of the tasks you do like (and less of the ones you don t) or how you can deliver your skills and passions to other areas of your organization. When you do something you love, you can often find ways to turn it into a career. We can also focus on the parts of our jobs that we do love, and try to apply this to our current roles in new and innovative ways. Creating the job you really want to do is possible if you think of lateral ways to apply what you re passionate about in your workplace. For example, if you love working with others, find more ways to collaborate and show your organization how they can benefit from your skill and passion in this area. Can you lead more special project teams or committees? Can you run more workshops or meetings for colleagues? Think about what you re good at and enjoy, find a gap in your organization and then promote your skills as the answer find the intersection between your desires and needs and that of your organization. 6

7 Don t complain too much, don t always think grass is greener the other side, don t be too negative and critical with your situation be grateful for what you have. Failure to recognize your assets brings frustration and constant disappointment. MIKE AIGROZ 7

8 MYTH #3 Plain, old-fashioned hard work is all that matters In her book, The Top Five Regrets of Dying, author Bronnie Ware says the second most common regret is I wish I didn t work so hard. It s common to feel that we spend too much time doing things we have to do rather than the things we want to do, and for many of us, work fits into this category. The third myth that many of us believe about work is that: as long as you work hard, you ll be successful at what you do. Whichever way we look at it, working hard at something we love is always easier and more successful than working hard at something we don t. Even the most talented people have to work hard at their craft. Real success rarely comes easy. But, doubtless the effort will feel less like a chore if you love the process. Besides, you spend a lot of time at work and if it s not mostly enjoyable and satisfying, that s an awful lot of your life spent doing something you d rather not be. So, consider the difference between working hard and work that feels hard to do if you do something you re passionate about, it may just feel a little easier and worthwhile. There s a difference between hard work, and working hard 8

9 Try to have fun: enjoy the process, not just the reward When Mike Aigroz is preparing for an Ironman race, he is training every day and pushing his pain barrier to its limit. His key challenge is to try to see the positives right the way through the process to keep himself motivated, rather than just focusing on possible success at the end. There is a heavy cost to all the training whether it s injury or time away from friends and family, so you need to know the hard work along the way is something you enjoy as much as the possibility of winning or achieving your goals. Consider which parts of the process or task you really enjoy and focus more on those. Try to enjoy every single good moment in your life, never be jaded and don t forget the simple things that bring you joy and happiness. Live in the moment, feel the pleasure and see these experiences as vitamins boosting you, reinforcing you. MIKE AIGROZ 9

10 MYTH #4 Your boss does not care if you don t love what you re doing Organizations, HR departments and managers make huge investments to try to improve the performance of their employees. We talk a lot about engagement and alignment and strategy and performance indicators. Yet, when we re doing something we love, we re already engaged, aligned and performing at our best, even if we do need a little coaching and structure along the way. In many ways, success and great results are the consequence of the doing what we love. So, the final myth is: your boss doesn t care if you re dispassionate about your work. Our own research shows that fewer than half of the world s employees feel inspired by their manager to do their best work. And, almost four in every ten employees globally report that they are not committed or engaged with their current employer. Yet, what are we doing about it as individuals and organizations? For the most part, we re pretty busy accepting that lack of passion is a normal part of most people s lives. For the most part, we spent 40 or so hours every week getting on with doing the job whether we want to or not. And, both sides of this equation employer and employee are suffering as a result. Have respect and recognize the mutual interest in success So, if we really care about business performance, it s time to start talking about passion and why it s a critical part of our jobs and our organizational success. 10

11 Organizations and individuals have a vested interest in each other s success. If we respect this, we can find ways to benefit both by doing what we love. Sometimes, we need to provide open, honest feedback about what s going well and what s failing. If you re passionate about doing well and advancing the mutual interests of your organization and yourself, you ll be able to proactively seek and provide constructive feedback in a respectful way. Conflict is a sure-fire way to reduce our enjoyment at work, so the less we have of this, the better. We can t always control the action of others on this front, but we can always do better ourselves, and ultimately, it will pay off. Respect yourself, respect your competitors, respect the rules, respect your environment: respect is fundamental in this world, and it s fundamental to success. MIKE AIGROZ 11

12 SO... The business world can be a tough place to stay positive and passionate, and often it s up to us as individuals to make this happen. Organizations are often so busy pushing us through processes and adapting to change that we forget to have fun, promote passion and celebrate successes. We are often so busy doing that we stop realizing that our motivation for our work is two-fold: we should do what we love (as much as possible); and love what we do. We may not have 100% control over the first part, but we have a lot of control over the second point. Taking time to notice the good parts, celebrate our progress, ask for constructive feedback and accept that failure is part of learning are all behaviors that we can practice to fuel our passion for our work. We all have obligations; we all need money to live and it s not always possible to work in your perfect job doing only the stuff you love doing. In fact, everyone finds that there are aspects of their jobs that they don t love. However, there are ways to increase the time you spend doing the stuff you re good at and passionate about, as well as to increase the enjoyment you get out of the entire day. 12

13 ABOUT the author Nicolas Nervi is a Senior Marketing Manager at Kelly Services for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Throughout his 15-year career, Nicolas has promoted passion and enthusiasm at work, and continually demonstrates how these traits are the key to sustainable business performance and success. In addition, Nicolas is passionate about sports, and applies these same principles to his athletic performance. ABOUT KELLY Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: kelya, kelyb) is a leader in providing workforce solutions. Kelly offers a comprehensive array of outsourcing and consulting services as well as world-class staffing on a temporary, temporary-to-hire and direct-hire basis. Serving clients around the globe, Kelly provides employment to more than 550,000 employees annually. Revenue in 2011 was $5.6 billion. Visit kellyservices.com and connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, & Twitter. Download The Talent Project, a free ipad app by kelly Services.