Work & Life

"I can't wait to wake up and get to work!" Those are the words we
hear from the great leaders who have found their love in life -
whether it is in business, public, community or simply their life's
love and ambition to do a certain thing. They just can't get enough
of it, because their work is not work to them, but pure joy.

I with students at a meeting recently listening to a senior executive
share his life-long learnings and experiences in leadership. He, too,
shared with the students the same statement about wanting to get up in
the morning and go to work. One of the bright students (they were all
very bright), a college Freshman, asked him: "How do we find that
sort of job for ourselves?" Every student in the room straightened
with the question, as it was obviously a critical one for those who
were looking for their career path.

The executive said to her: "That's a profound question.
Unfortunately, I don't have an answer for you." But he didn't let it
drop with that response. He said that although he didn't have an
answer to her question, he had a question that would help her find the
answer: "What job would you do that you wouldn't ask to be paid for?"
Reflecting on the question, great leaders understand the simplicity
of the key to a successful career - find something that gives value
and purpose to one's life, something that matters and into which one
throws oneself completely.

George C. Hubbs, author, wrote: "Work is an inanimate thing and can be
made lively and interesting only by injecting yourself into it. Your
job is only as big as you are." It is the person and their passion
who brings meaning, joy and excitement to work. Ask yourself this
week: "What job would I do that I wouldn't ask to be paid for?" Let
your week be filled with great purpose and great passion for those
things that bring value to your life. And have fun doing it.