FEATURE
'Tis the
Season: Finding Joy at Work
Enjoy
vb. 1: to take pleasure or satisfaction in 2: to have
for one’s benefit, use or lot. Syn: like, love,
relish, fancy, possess, own. adj: enjoyable n:
enjoyment The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 1974.
Two things happened to me lately that have
brought the word ‘enjoy’ to mind. The first was when I was
at my son’s Christmas concert, which was held in a  beautiful
church to fit all of the audience. On the walls there were
huge, vibrantly coloured banners specially hung for the
holidays, with Peace, Love and Joy stitched onto the
fabric in bold letters. These three words emblazoned
themselves on my mind and I was particularly taken with
the idea of being joyful, having joy and enjoying work. A
novel concept, I thought, particularly when the second
thing happened - I received three newsletters in a row
about how to battle stress at work. I wondered how it came
to be that the negative attributes of stress gets all the
press and the idea of joy at work gets none?
As I thought more about the concept of
‘enjoying work ‘ I wondered whether it is one of those
oxymoronic phrases like military intelligence or postal
efficiency? Is there enjoyment, pleasure, satisfaction or
benefit in work for people these days or are people too
taken up with stress to enjoy work? I decided to answer my
questions by asking a few people whether they enjoy their
work. I asked three acquaintances: David, Doreen and
Gillian (not their real names). All these people say that
they enjoy their work, yet I have observed incredible
stress and anxiety in their work lives. What do they do to
enjoy their work?
To provide a background, David is the
chief executive officer and president of a large medical
association. Doreen works in the membership services area
of a medium-sized association devoted to academic work.
Gillian is the executive director of a small charity that
organizes a local, annual festival of the arts.
Each of these people have an incredible
amount of stress in and out of their work lives. David was
hired for his financial skills and has applied these
admirably through many years of financially incompetent
volunteer Board directors. Doreen has an aging parent who
requires a lot of her attention. As membership director
she struggles with a bureaucracy that seems built to
destroy rather than support what she does. Gillian is an
artist who still isn’t sure how she became the senior
staff. Everyday is a struggle to use management skills
that are she is still learning. All three of these people
have particular family situations that require their
attention.
I was amazed at the answers that David,
Doreen and Gillian gave me and I learned gained some
lessons. David truly enjoys his work. His skills in
leadership are a match that took him several years to find
in his association. Though David was hired as the
association accountant his leadership skills quickly led
him to the CEO position. He believes that his reason for
working meets the needs of those he works with and for.
Since David is now no longer directly involved in the
financial management he attributes his success to the hard
work of letting go of the financial area to other staff.
When David speaks about the helping that he does for his
association directors and members his eyes actually shine!
It was difficult to believe that Doreen
would have any enjoyment in her life with the hardship
that she faces at work, and then at home, yet she claims
to have great enjoyment at work. Doreen says that she is
able to depersonalize the constant barrage of concerns and
problems directly from the members. While she sees no easy
way out of the particular organizational structure in
place until some personnel changes happen, she has found a
way to put these situations into a manageable perspective.
Then, when she leaves her daytime work, she gives many
hours to her parent. Doreen speaks to being part of
‘something bigger’ at work that every task fits into; and
she deals with her aging parent with a similar approach.
There is an inner aspect of work that Doreen has taken up
in which she seems able to see both the forest and the
trees; her dream and the details to get there. Doreen
admits that her vision of a wonderful retirement drives
her forward. Each task she does at work and at home fits
for her as a way to attain her dream.
Gillian gave the most surprising answers.
I could only imagine the constant demands on this young
artist to meet the needs of this busy little organization.
Gillian’s claim to enjoyment came from the belief system
she shared with the association as well as a particular
personal ability. Since Gillian is also an artist, every
part of the association business was fascinating to her.
She learned every thing in every way she could to be good
manager. The beliefs she shared about artists and the ways
to meet their needs through an annual festival kept her
personally connected and enjoying her work. Gillian’s
particular personal ability is that she sees the positive
in almost everything that happens. Being able to see the
silver lining in the organization’s inevitable clouds
means that Gillian enjoyed her work and as a bonus, the
directors and members she worked with told her how much
they enjoy Gillian!
I learned a few lessons about enjoying
work from David, Doreen and Gillian:
-
Make sure that your personal values and
beliefs match those of your work
-
Give up control when necessary
-
Be honest and open with your personal
traits and abilities at work
-
Find a bigger reason to work than the
work itself.
-
Salary, benefits, the speed of their
computer or the size of their office are not that
important
-
All of them would leave their work if
they did not enjoy it.
Buddhists refer to work as a ‘right
livelihood’. They believe that we should enjoy our work
so that it enhances our soul as well as our resume. Joy
at work is a precious gift in this season of gifts. Maybe
we all need to discover or rediscover the excitement, the
mystery, the wonder of our work. Enjoying work is a little
like being at a concert . . . the music is all around: we
just need to take it in.
****** Are there other reasons and ways
that you enjoy work? AXI welcomes your comments. Please
email
admin@axi.ca.
****** I used these books as references
and would recommend them for ideas about enjoying work:
No Compromises, Rhonda Owen-Smith; Don’t Sweat the
Small Stuff and Creating a Charmed Life, both
by Richard Carlson.
 Carol
Humphries is a
passionate advocate of policy-based governance having
used a policy-based approach to governance as a director and staff person at many
different levels and types of organizations. As a
consultant, Carol has helped international, national,
provincial and local organizations to embrace
a
policy-based approach
to
governance.
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