Black In Business

The thing shocking about being an adult is how little free time you have. In the states we spend an incredible amount of time earning a living. Let’s do the math. The average adult sleeps 6 hours a night. Work, and related aspects there of; commute, getting ready, etc, takes 10 hours a day. That leaves 8 hours of so called free time. Many business owners and business people work 12 hours plus per day.
I recently heard 70% of people hate their jobs. That could mean they hate 35% of their day. I have had positions where I hated the work, sometimes the boss, sometime the hours of work. I was young and needed the money. Most of the jobs were summer jobs or part time. I was raised in a very blue collar environment, and most of the adults I was around had very little positive to say about their work except it paid the bills.
As an adult I have been a strong majority of my career one of the 30% of happy workers. Do you love your work? Why? What would cause you to love it more? Before you say money, consider this; money is way down the list of why people leave jobs. Here are some other considerations. Poor boss or leader, lacking tools needed to do job well, lack of empowerment, and little or no recognition.
I am thinking about this stuff because I was reminded of why some people love their work. As a recruiter, I speak with business people all day on the phone. I speak with employers and people looking for a new job.
The CEO of a 50 million dollar business in health care I spoke with use to report directly to me for a period of several years. He is a very talented and compassionate person. He smiles a lot, is very bright and is a people person He is fun to be around! The senior VP of sales for this company is another former staff member of mine. He is quieter than his boss but shares many of the same traits, nice smile, compassionate and a great leader.
The CEO told me a compelling story about his vision for this company and a promise he made to his grandmother. The vision is to place information in the hands of a family doctor so a serious and potential deadly disease can be treated by the trusted doctor. Often times the vision of leadership contributes to how well the team feels about their work. This team had a vision that was important, easy to remember and everyone knew their role.
As a part of my looking for some business for my firm, I needed to speak with the regional director of the West Coast sales. I speak with business people all day. Nothing prepared me for the energy that leaped off the phone when I spoke to the sales manager. He was enthusiastic, happy, and professional and spoke glowing about his company. It was like he won the super bowl and was headed to Disney World. It reminded me of my career and the tremendous energy and fun we all had for a period of close to 20 years.
In 18 months of doing this, this was a stand out call in terms of the energy exhibited by the sales director.
Here is why;
1A clear vision
2 great leaders
3 the team is treated with respect
4 very little ego
5 great recognition
6 excellent support from leadership
7 The company does what they say they will
8 Inspiring leadership, the senior VP of sales leaves a group message every day at 4:30 am for the whole team by voice mail.
9 They are winning
10 They are having fun and making money.
It sounds simple, right? Why do so many not do these things. Energy and excitement are contagious, if you want to love your work, look for a place where the employees have it.

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