The Hunter Partnership Alliance

ISSUE

In many industries, professional satisfaction is plummeting. We seem to be becoming a nation of disgruntled people. And in the face of this, there is much that can be done to be able to really have a successful and satisfying career and avoid burnout.

ABSTRACT

People can`t keep living in the hope that their jobs will provide them with the satisfaction and fulfillment that they want. Every job really does provide an extraordinary opportunity to have a life that you love. Here are the keys to having both a profitable and enjoyable work life:

1. Be clear about your vision for your work.

2. Be sure to have your work be about service.

3. Create an empowering culture for you and all those around you to work in.

4. Make a priority your relationships with the people you work with and for.

5. Maintain your integrity.

DISCUSSION

"My joy was boundless. I had learnt the true practice of law. I had learnt to find out the better side of human nature and to enter men`s hearts. I realized that the true function of a lawyer was to unite parties riven asunder. The lesson was so indelibly burnt into me that a large part of my time during the twenty years of my practice as a lawyer was occupied in bringing about private compromises of hundreds of cases. I lost nothing thereby -- not even money, certainly not my soul."
M. K. Gandhi

An article in the May 1992 issue of the California Lawyer starts out with the following disturbing paragraph, "For several years a steady stream of dispatches indicate that professional satisfaction is plummeting. We seem to be becoming a profession of disgruntled people. A recent fax poll in California Lawyer reveals that an astounding 70% of those responding would gladly begin a new career if they could. More telling -- and sadly -- 73% do not want their children to become lawyers."

While this article specifically discusses the legal profession, the comments seem to apply across the board. In just about every industry, there are significant numbers of people who seem dissatisfied with their work and/or their career.

It is our humble opinion that it is not only unnecessary but absolutely crazy living your life not loving what you do. Life is just too precious and short. In our work in organizations of all types, we sometimes feel that people think that this life is a dress rehearsal for the real life. It isn`t! This is it. We can`t keep living in hope that it will eventually turn out. It`s turned out, and this is what it looks like. And the truth of the matter is that every job really does provide an extraordinary opportunity to have a life that you love. But it is going to take something on your part to have it be that way. Here are the keys to being able to love your work.

1. Be clear about your vision for your work

The first key is to be clear about your vision for your work. Essential to any successful individual or organization is a powerful vision for their future. A powerful vision serves as a source of inspiration for you as well as for the employees of your company, unleashing everyone`s creativity, productivity and effectiveness. Without an inspiring vision, work quickly becomes exactly that, work, sapping people of their natural vitality and motivation and leaving them feeling disempowered and resigned. No individual and no organization can be effective under such circumstances.

History gives us many examples of what a powerful vision did for individuals. Abraham Lincoln was defeated for public office no less than 8 times from 1832 through 1858, but he never gave up and was elected president of the United States in 1860. There are many stories about how Thomas Edison failed to invent the electric light bulb over 10,000 times, but his vision was so strong he never gave up. He never looked at an unsuccessful attempt as a failure, it was just one more possibility he no longer needed to pursue.

A classic example of what a powerful vision did for an organization was what President Kennedy`s vision of landing a man on the moon did for NASA. The circumstances for NASA in the early sixties were certainly no better than those facing many of today`s organizations. At the time of Kennedy`s famous pronouncement, NASA did not have the money, the rocketry, the materials, the computer technology, the manpower, or anything else needed to accomplish his stated objective. Yet, his vision was so powerful and so compelling that it mobilized thousands of people into action, and on July 20, 1969, the mission was accomplished.

After 16 years of talking to thousands of people in business and teaching 2 semesters of law school, I am convinced that the absence of a powerful vision for their future is the single biggest reason for the high degree of dissatisfaction that people experience at work. Far too many individuals go into a profession because it looks like a good way to make a living, or to achieve some prestige, power or status, or simply because they don`t know what else to do with their lives. And while this isn`t bad or wrong, it does have deadening consequences.

So if you fall into this category, get to work creating a vision for yourself. Get the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and any other history books you can find and read these documents until your inspired. Then, write a vision statement for yourself and read it every day. Seen in the context of your vision, the day-to-day challenges of your job will look entirely different.

2. Be sure to have your work be about service

The second key is to have your work be about service. There are just too many people who simply don`t care enough about their customers or clients. There are too many people who focus on profitability rather than meaningful customer service. Every business offers a unique opportunity to be directly involved in the affairs of your customers and to make some difference in their lives. Customers are searching desperately for personalized attention from people who are concerned about them.

Although it doesn`t address the issue directly, Dale Carnegie`s book How to Win Friends and Influence People contains one of the best discussions of service available. Carnegie says that the average, self-interested person has mastered the art of being "interesting." These are the individuals at any party or social function who busy themselves trying to impress others with their intelligence, status, or good looks. Their motives are selfish and their attention is wholly on themselves. Unfortunately, everyone else knows this too. Likewise, your customers recognize any self-absorption on your part when it is demonstrated by you or your company, and again, that demonstration need be only a matter of "where you`re coming from."

Like all individuals, your customers desire your genuine interest in them, in their needs, and in their concerns. As Carnegie says, it is imperative that people in business master the art of being "interested" in others. But the interest must be genuine. A facade of concern, promoted by a procedural TQM program, cannot mask self-interest beneath it; this is one of the primary failures of most TQM programs. To succeed, companies and their employees must become seriously interested in serving other people and learn to care authentically about the needs and concerns of their customers.

3. Create an empowering culture for you and all those around you to work in

The next key is to be committed to creating an empowering culture for you and all those around you to work in. Whereas the vision sets forth the fundamental purpose of the company, the culture provides "the rules of the road." Every organization has a culture, but unfortunately, it is usually not one that is consciously and thoughtfully designed. In most companies, the culture permits idle gossiping, complaining, competition, a short term focus, and many other behaviors that disempower by pitting individuals against each other. If an organization is to survive and thrive, it is going to have to develop and implement a culture designed to inspire people and to forge people into a cohesive group. Everyone in the organization must be aligned on a common future and must operate according to the rules of the team. The culture must empower people to build relationships and promote communication.

In the 21st Century, those with the greatest commitment to quality and excellence are the ones that will have the greatest chance of survival. Essential to success will be a culture designed to promote this. An environment that eliminates gossip and complaints, resolves competitive tension, focuses individual achievement on the success of the entire company, and provides customers with more than they expect, will be absolutely imperative.

4. Make a priority your relationships with the people you work with and for

After the above has been established, the next key is to have your number one priority be your relationships with the people you work with and for. There is no amount of prestige, power and status that can make up for not having quality relationships with the people with whom you work. The 1980`s have been aptly called the decade of greed. Monetary goals and quotas became the guiding principles for many companies whose attention was riveted on the bottom line rather than on the quality of life for the participants in the company. Now we are paying a price for this emphasis. Relationships -- meaningful interactions with others -- is a critical factor to the experience of satisfaction in any undertaking.

A primary barrier to nurturing, effective relationships is the fact that for the most part, many people are completely disinterested in relationships. They are interested in themselves; they are interested in making money; they are interested in their own success; they are interested in their own survival; but they are not interested in relationships.

As a result, many people are not or do not appear to be very caring, very compassionate, or very friendly. People like this are typically arrogant and cynical. Unfortunately, this approach does work to some extent. Yet, does their apparent success provide them, their staffs, their associates, and their friends and families with joy, satisfaction, and a zest for living?

What makes all of this particularly disastrous is that relationship is the foundation for accomplishment, satisfaction, and positive results in life. Very little in life is done alone. Whenever individuals work together, in the background is the depth and quality of their relationship. Any accomplishment is a direct function of that depth and quality. Most people do not seem to understand or appreciate the importance of working on relationships with customers, partners, associates, staff, friends, or family.

What people must come to realize is that the existing paradigm of business as usual is bankrupt. Any continuance of the existing model will necessarily produce the same unsatisfactory, unfulfilling results as are currently produced. Only in abandoning the existing paradigm can the situation be rehabilitated.

Sound, nurturing relationships do not happen by accident. They require real commitment to others and a willingness to do the work of effective communication. Many people are going to have to reorient the focus of their jobs and their businesses, emphasizing others, and retrain themselves, their partners, associates, staffs and customers in the skills of effective speaking and listening. And while empowering relationships will not solve all the problems businesses face, having satisfied customers who actively refer their friends will go a long way to resolving people’s dissatisfaction with their work.

5. Maintain your integrity

The final key to being able to love your life is to maintain your integrity. This simply means to honor your word. Far too many people in business are willing to justify their lack of integrity on their busy schedule. It doesn`t work. Do what you say you will do by when you say you will do it, keep your promises, return all phone calls, etc. Many businesses now see customer satisfaction as the competitive advantage. All professions and all businesses can learn from this growing customer satisfaction movement.

SUMMARY

It really is your choice. You can either serve out your sentence, be in it for a buck or have a life you love, and you must choose. If you haven`t done it consciously, look at your life and you will see your choice. If you are not satisfied with your present choice, choose again.

About the Author:
Scott Hunter is a professional speaker, workshop leader, consultant and coach. He speaks on creating meaningful, quality relationships in the workplace to increase productivity, creativity, teamwork and profitability. He can be reached at scott@thpalliance.com. Visit his web site: www.thpalliance.com.