Excited by your work….the exception or the norm?

My daughter rang me yesterday bubbling over with excitement after an amazing interview for her first “proper” job… and today she was even more excited when they offered her the job.  It suddenly made me think about how infectious excitement is and equally how fragile it can be.

  • How much of the time are you excited by your work?
  • How often are your team excited by the thought of coming to work?
  • What is it that drives and feeds the excitement?

It got me thinking, can excitement be the norm or is it the exception driven by the thought of your first job, by a sense of achievement or the anticipation of doing something different.  Equally what is it that makes it so fragile – what turns an excited, engaged and energised person who can achieve so much into the person who is simply getting through the to do list and looking forward to not being at work.

Are those three words significant?

First – when we’re doing something for the first time it can be exciting but also scary (not always in equal measure!) but there is a sense of anticipation, a curiosity in the unknown. Think how young children are always exploring, frequently getting themselves into situations they’ve never been in before.. that is how they learn and grow

Achievement – what emotions did the word conjure up as you read it?  It often makes people smile as they remember something important to them, it can give you that glow of satisfaction of a good job done, it can be the reward for simply trying even if it didn’t quite turn out as planned

Different – you may be thinking surely “different” is the same as “first”.  I think different is much more about mindset, do you have the mindset that continually looks for growth, for doing things differently as well as doing different things.
How many firsts have you done this week?  What has given you a sense of achievement? What have you done differently…..

….and as a leader how have you supported your team to do things for the first time, what have you said to them to give them a sense of achievement, what has been your reaction when they’ve done or suggested doing something different?

Is excitement the exception or the norm in your world?  I hope it becomes the norm in my daughter’s world as she starts her journey in the world of work.

 

Caroline Hampson
Client Activity Manager

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