Page 187 - How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win
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THE WHY OF WORK


        accomplishment versus connection versus empowerment),
        but there is a high payoff for leaders who find out what gives
        an employee passion for the job: Is this salesman energized
        by making a difficult sell or raking in low-hanging fruit?
        Does this medical researcher care more about curing dia-
        betes or chronic pain? Does this computer programmer get
        excited about really complex technical problems or really
        useful applications? In any work setting, individuals who
        find their work energizing are more engaged and more
        likely to be productive. Tests of work passion include the
        extent to which an employee wakes up excited about coming
        to work rather than dreading work, the extent to which an
        employee talks about work with a sense of possibilities rather
        than limitations, and the extent to which an employee gives
        discretionary energy to the task at hand.

        Enjoyable

        Intrinsically motivating work is enjoyable.  Enjoyable does
        not mean liking all of the work all of the time. Every job
        has aspects that become routine, tiring, or draining. But big
        chunks of the work will be inherently satisfying. Dave likes to
        create words and images to make complex ideas simple and
        memorable. One day he was listening to a group of about
        10 senior HR executives talk about their challenges. Dave
        noticed that many of the executives described their work
        using frameworks and vocabulary Dave and his colleagues
        had developed. He had a private moment of enjoyment in
        seeing his ideas have impact, even though no one attributed
        them to him or knew where they came from.
          When leaders help channel employees into work that is
        easy, energizing, and enjoyable for them, their sense of abun-
        dance increases.


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