COMMENTS
I completely agree, you need to love what you do and be passionate in what you believe in to feel a sense of accomplishment and enjoy work. My question is, how do help your employees feel the same way? Or if they don't do you need to be concerned?
Very interesting and thought provoking
Jessica, you raise a very interesting point. I believe it is a question of a combination of three steps.
The First Step is Communication.
When we communicate our values and principles and the why we do what we do with our staff they get a better sense of who we are.
The Second Step is Demonstration.
We need to demonstrate and live what we profess as our values and principles and the why we do what we do with our staff.
The Third Step is Action.
Our staff has to see us in action, in the line of fire and demonstrating that which we profess.
Example:
The First Step in Communication: On the back of our business cards there is the following statement. “To Partner with Our Clients in the Achievement of Their Vision, Corporate Goals and Business Objectives.”
The Second Step in Demonstration: Sheri, our office manager is going to a wedding Friday. Sheri asked if she could leave early on Thursday. I said of course. I reminded Sheri that our mantra is “To Partner with Our Clients in the Achievement of Their Vision, Corporate Goals and Business Objectives.” Sheri knows I do not keep track of when she comes in or leaves or if she takes a smoke break or not because we also have a partnership relationship. I told Sheri the next time she needs time off to just say, “Al, I need to leave early today,” and that would be enough.
The Third Step Action: We have a client in the Boston area that needed to hire an administrative assistant. Because of his heavy workload he had difficulty scheduling time to write the ad or to meet with us. We asked the client to send us the musts and shoulds of the position and we would write the ad for him. We also expressed a desire to be of value and to support his efforts. We wrote the ad, scheduled an appointment with this gentleman, and plan to help him with the selection process.
We have a small office with a small staff. Everyone has access to everyone and everyone knows what happened. As they say, “If you talk the talk, you got to walk the talk”.