Mantra for Job Success
So what constitutes ‘a perfect job’? Is it the opportunity to grow, showcase our strengths and potential or the one with the greatest salary ever and stock options thrown in for good measure? But the list doesn’t stop there. Once the job starts, the market needs to be right, the right opportunities need to come along, the targets need to be overachieved and there has to be scope of a work-life balance.
It’s not that people do not want to work for ‘a perfect job’. They will work really hard and are smart, but then the recognition also needs to keep pace. Even then one frequently hears people say that, “if I could, I would retire at 40 and relax on beach or play golf or read”.
Nowadays, organisations need to create an atmosphere which is physically, environmentally and emotionally nurturing so that the employees are motivated enough to bring out their best and work towards achieving the vision and growth of the company. But what about the employee’s style and approach? Why are some people labelled as team players, while others are called overaggressive or poor managers or lacking in vision, etc.? Do these traits change when a person changes his job? Sometimes they do, but more often than not, the traits surface in any job.
So, it just may be that securing a great job could be arranged by working on our own mind and our inner self. To start with, we can ask ourselves, why are we even in this job? Was it just the fact that the offer came along or that the pay was good? Or was it because this job was a part of the long-term vision? Is the job very mechanical or are you passionate about what is being created?
To be truly happy in the workplace, we need to spend time on understanding ourselves and aligning our actions with our own vision
Last year, an article in Forbes commented ed on a worldwide Gallup Survey on how many employees are happy in their jobs. Not surprisingly, only 13 per cent voted that they were completed engaged and driven by their jobs. A 63 per cent of those surveyed voted oted that there were not drastically unhappy with their jobs, but managed by putting in very little energy, and the other 24 per cent voted that they actively hated their ir jobs.
To be truly happy and satisfied in the workplace, we need to spend time on understanding ourselves and aligning our actions with our own purpose and vision. To understand and then accept oneself requires uires a lot of honesty, but without that, no external provisions will give us happiness. For example, if an employee is battling with his own sense of inadequacy of not being good enough, or not finding value in his job, can he deliver excellence in a job or inspire his subordinates to overachieve? Instead, frustrations will percolate to all levels and no one is going to love their job in that office. On the other hand, a person totally engaged in creating innovation or achieving his vision, can inspire people even in a tool shed.
In no way would I like to diminish the importance and necessity of money and providing for our families as important factors of a job. But, if even for a moment, we permit ourselves to align our passions with the job (content or style of work), maybe we can find our ‘perfect job’.
‘Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life’ - Confucius