What to do When You Hate Your Job.

I love what I do!  I hope you don’t hate your job, but you don’t have to love it to be successful. However, if you don’t love your “job”, maybe the next few ideas will help you.  If you already love your job, this blog post might provide a way to deal with those moments or days, when you don’t. 

I am going to share a true story from a couple weeks ago that inspired me to write this blog post, and why I think it matters to you no matter if you lead a company, a team or yourself. 

Helix’s core purpose is to elevate the sales profession with our actions, mindset and collaboration. I am granted the privilege of doing this every day with clients who are business owners, sales managers, and salespeople. Every day is not joyful and full of rainbows and puppies because I am doing what I want. Let’s be honest, some days suck even when you are living your dream! 

It’s not what you look at that matters; it’s what you see. 

Henry David Thoreau

Many of you know that I am a cigar guy.  My profile pic on LinkedIn and my podcast all indicate an infinity for cigars. When I travel, I find a local cigar shop, and try to spend an hour or two there.  I meet interesting people, and get to decompress.  A recent business trip to St. Louis is a great example – LIT Cigar Lounge. I met two gentlemen who had come directly from work. They were there for a little celebration.  

Ralph, a dapper man in his 60s, and Ed, a more blue collar look in his late 40s.  They sat down next to me, and I soon learned from Ralph they were celebrating Ed’s 10th year in a row being voted “Employee of the Year” by co-workers.  I was intrigued. When I asked Ed what the secret to loving his job so much was to win the award for so many years. His answer was surprising. 

 

 

Ed shared, “I don’t love my job.”  Ralph, the owner of the company at which Ed worked, just smiled.  I was confused, until Ed explained.  

You see Walter, I love who is waiting for me at home.  I have passion for my family.  The time I am away from them has to mean something; so if i must be away from my family then I am going to do my best at whatever I am doing, and make the time worth being gone.  

I asked Ralph how he felt about this. Ed is an inspiration to everyone at the company including me.  Sure, he comes in early, and is always willing to help out the team, but it is what drives him that is inspirational to us.  Ralph shared a few stories about Ed mentoring other young men at the company who have risen through the ranks.  Ralph was proud of the inspiration Ed was to everyone he engaged. 

I have thought a lot about the time I spent with Ed and Ralph since that evening.  There are several lessons learned.  Gratitude for what we have.  If you are reading this on a mobile phone, or computer you have many things to be grateful for; focus on those instead of the guy who cut you off in traffic or the rude customer on the phone. 

I struggled with gratitude for a long time. It took a tragic event for me to wake up and see all that I had. I am not talking about the glass half full mischengos, but I was actually taking things for granite in my life…many things. That changed, and it allows me to see things from a different lens.  

The other thing is passion. Business owners have passion because their company is like a child; albeit a child that never grows up and always wants money. 🙂 Passion is about understanding your why. Gratitude opens us up, and being open to see and feel the good stuff allows more to flow to us.

Mark Twain wrote the 2 most important days in your life are the day you were born, and the day you discovered why.  The job is the job, knowing why you do the job and your why will drive you to the things you deserve because they will have meaning. 

You need passion for something bigger than yourself.  You don’t necessarily have to have passion for the thing you are doing…just the WHY.  Ed helped me collace two ideas that I thought stood against each other.  

First, do the job that you have the best way you can, regardless of the job.  This was a thing instilled upon me as a kid, but I took it to mean hard work for the sake of hard work.  That isn’t it. You do the best job you can because it helps you with your WHY.  It helps you get to the next level and or create a sense of accomplishment.  

In Ed’s case, the WHY was his family.  It could be a burning desire to have something that is not within your grasp right now.  How do you leverage what you have to get to the next rung of your why? 

The other idea is that the Millennial generation, and many of the generations after want to be part of something bigger than themselves.  Extrinsic motivators that worked on Baby Boomers, are not the main driver of the next leaders.  Their Why is more important.  They will do the work, if they believe in the cause or understand how it benefits a wider group.  As a leader we need to understand it isn’t just about hard work.  It is about aligning people with a vision and helping them see how everyone benefits.

Business owners and salespeople Understand your WHY.  Do your best to understand the WHY of your team and your customers.  Consider your vision for the company, and be passionate about it when hiring your employees, and trying to explain a new initiative, meet them where they are and sell the vision.  

Salespeople really listen to your prospects; try to understand what is motivating them to make a change or not change.  What are their challenges?  They don’t care about your product.  Your prospects care about the outcomes.  

The concepts require empathy.  Sometimes it is hard, and people make a mess.  Remember, sometimes we just need to go have a cigar, meet some interesting people, and gain perspective!