For the Love of the Job
This week one of the biggest news stories is about a six-year-old boy named Stanley who applied for a model designing job at LegoLand. The four-sentence handwritten application has been attracting international media attention.
The letter proclaims his love for Lego’s and states that he is “the man [for] the job because I have lots of experience. Love Stanley.” (Wright, 2017)
The short article reminded me that we too had a high degree of optimism and excitement when we applied for a job at Epes! Most likely, our loved ones were excited for us, too.
The article also brings to mind a cycle we go through; a cycle that quickly replaces excitement and optimism with something less. Here’s how the cycle progresses: we start a new job with a strong sense of purpose, the job can seem like a “calling.” All is great at first! Then, within a week or two we find our way; we begin to strive to be efficient and to master our job. Subtly, before we notice, we are calling this “our” job; the job is our possession. We see ourselves as the job’s master. We have already formulated a plan for ourselves and are focused on what we are going to do in our job. We are increasingly irritated by anything that stands in the way of us doing what we want to do in our job. The dialogue in our head is more about the problems, and less about the love of the job.
In less than a month we’ve moved from pursing and winning a job we love, to believing we are the owner and master of that job. No more warm-fuzies.
Ok. Ok. Ok. Maybe you have never fallen in to that cycle of thought. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe everyone reading this article talks about how much they love their job on a daily basis. (I’ve never personally heard you talk about it, but maybe you do when I am not around?) And, don’t get me wrong, striving to master job skills and taking ownership for problems are critical to individual and collective success.
But what Stanley’s job application reminds us is that it is the love for the job that makes us strive for skill mastery; it is the love for the job that makes us take accountability and ownership of problems which come our way.
It helps us to go back and remember when we felt like Stanley. To remember that we’re here because we love the job.
Stanley’s job application might be getting international attention in the news because it reminds us to stay excited and optimistic about the job at hand.
It reminds us to remember, despite the problems and hassles, this is the job we sought out; the job we won; the job we were awarded because we have the right skills and attitude.
Why is that important? Because work is hard. Transportation is wrought with unpredictable disruptions.
Maybe Stanley’s article is in the news because it reminds us that we too can create something cool in our jobs. It reminds us that we can bring the same level of determination and optimism to the job this week as we did our first week on the job.
If we’re going toil side by side, working through problems, we might as well have some fun and remember to love the job. And that is a newsworthy thought. Thanks for the reminder Stanley!
Mike Hammond / VP Driver Operations