If you’ve ever seen a single episode of Mad Men, it’s safe to say that the “business” world isn’t necessarily the place where the word “excited” pops into your mind but from my experience, it’s the one thing that can change the entire dynamic of a team, office, and company.
There have been so many instances where I was so in love with a project that I was working on but didn’t feel like it was appropriate to outwardly show how madly in love with my work I was. We need to change that. Every manager should want every single one of their employees to be brimming with pride and joy for the work that they are doing.
I wanted to pull my co-workers into a conference and have a mini-pep rally, I wanted them to have the same level of passion and excitement that I did, but it didn’t feel right. I held back and maintained my professional business etiquette that was “to be expected”. BORING. BORING. BORING. Life went on and we got the job done but it was stressful, it wasn’t fun.
We are going to spend the majority of our lives at work. We should love being there and love the work that we are doing.
Around my sixth year in my professional career, I decided that I couldn’t just keep working on quick turn projects without some level of excitement. When we got our next project that I was madly passionate about I pulled my whole team into the conference room and briefed them. I held my mini pep rally. I conveyed to them how excited I was about the project, gave them all the details and then we spent some time talking about ideas and just let ourselves feel the joy of working on the project. Let me say that again WE LET OURSELVES FEEL THE JOY THAT CAME WITH WORKING ON THE PROJECT. We didn’t just look at the end goal and weren’t only focused on the end goal. There were also snacks, lots of snacks.
That was the first time one of the projects I worked on was featured in Path to Purchase magazine, and I honestly believe that it’s because we didn’t treat it like a job.
Passion makes all the difference.
Just because you are a professional, just because you are an adult, doesn’t mean that you can’t get excited.
I WANT YOU TO GET EXCITED. I want you to get up in the morning and want to run to work. I want your work life to be equally as important to you as your home life (or at least somewhat comparable).
Passion has a purpose in the workplace, it has a place in EVERY workplace. It deserves to be there.
It doesn’t matter if you have a desk job, own your own company, waitress or work at a factory. There are ways to make every day exciting. If you aren’t passionate about anything you are doing in the career you are in, I will ask you to ask yourself if maybe it’s time to find a career that better fits what you are passionate about. I understand that some people can’t just change careers because they are supporting their family but perhaps there is something that would make you happier than where you are now.
Allow yourself to take a few minutes with everything you work on and feel out what gets you the most excited about the work and then focus on that. Even if it’s only for 30 minutes a day – focus on what gets you the most excited.
There will also be tedious, boring tasks that need to get done, but if you can find ways to focus the majority of your time on the big stuff, the outcome will be magical.
Go on now… EXCITED!