kathleen forden

Lately I’ve been getting mixed signals from friends, peers and select family that admitting that you love what you are doing for a living and for whom you work for might not be such a good thing.  I’ve heard the term, “drinking the Kool-aid” on at least five occasions in the last couple of weeks whenever I start talking about work and how I feel about it.

Up until the last two weeks when I’ve had to deal with my own personal drama, I have loved walking into the office each morning.   I’m not a morning person by any means of the definition; but when I wake up in the morning I feel a surge of excitement and joy at the fact that I’m going to do something that I love doing.

I know it’s no longer fashionable to be loyal to your employer and that employers for a majority of US citizens might not be worthy of loyalty; however, I feel differently.  The folks who lead the organization I work for are honest, hard-working, caring individuals.  While there is always a barrier with most business relationships to keep work matters related to work and personal matters to personal; they try to offer more.

While I may not chose to cross those barriers due to my own beliefs; I am appreciative of the fact that they are willing to try and see all their employees as individuals and not just “employees”.  After working years for a large organization that on more occasions than I can count never saw their employees as anything other than “numbers”; I can’t tell you how much I appreciate working with the polar opposite.

Not only am I getting an opportunity to work on something bigger than myself, to learn daily and to work with some of the brightest minds I’ve encountered in 20 plus years; I feel committed to the cause of the company I work for.  Heck, I’m committed to the people I work for and with at this company.  I’m emotionally invested in our mutual success and actually care about them all.

So to me loving your job doesn’t mean that you see life with “tinted glasses” and a “glitter and puppies” perspective.  It also doesn’t mean that you like every moment of the duties you are responsible for daily.  What it means to me is that the great and good portions totally outweigh the negatives.

I chose to see that people are trying to evolve to be better people, leaders, managers and role models for all of us who work together.  Seeing folks take the extra moment to not be decisive solely on an emotional response is a big motivator for me and allows me to strive to be a better person, employee, and peer.  Watching folks learn and watching the “A – HA!” moments occur has been my drug lately, all the more enjoyable as I’m not sure everyone knows that they are sharing that moment.

Daily I have a resurge of hope for what my future will be with the team I am working with.  What I see daily is the growth and evolution of each person I work with.  As Randy Pausch said, “Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you expected.”  I see the people around me growing as individuals and I share their excitement.

It all of that means “I’m drinking the Kool-aid”, then I willing accept the statement as a positive one for me.  It’s not a cult or brainwashing that compels me to share my joy about my job.  It’s the folks around me who are striving to be better with me.