People who want to retire so they can sit under a coconut tree watching the grass grow baffle me. We were created for meaningful work, and one of life’s greatest pleasures is the satisfaction of a job well done.
And yet, there are millions of people who don’t like their job. There are over 600,000 ways to make a living in this country, yet job satisfaction surveys tell us that more than 50 percent of the working population claim to dislike their job. Something’s wrong with this picture!
I’ve discovered that loving the job you have, or finding a job you can love, is dependent on three things. I call these the “ABC’s of Loving Your Job.”
Associates – Work with people you enjoy
For years, my INJOY friends have heard me brag on people like Dan Reiland, Tim Elmore, and Dick Peterson. It has been my privilege to work alongside these men, and many other wonderful people for years. For me, going to work is like going to a party – all my best friends will be there!
I realize that not everyone is surrounded with my kind of staff. The good news is you can develop one. When I talk to leaders about hiring people, I advise them to hire first for affinity, second for character, third for specific skills. If you bring on someone you like whom you can trust, you can teach him or her whatever skills they need for the job.
Regarding your existing staff, don’t forget that people skills can be learned as well. If you are willing to make the investment, you can cultivate the right kind of people skills in them, helping them become the kind of people that everyone wants to be around.
Belief – Trust that your work is worthwhile and making a vital difference
Legendary Indy 500 racecar driver Andy Granatelli said once, “When you are making a success of something, it’s not work. It’s a way of life. You enjoy yourself because you are making your contribution to the world.”
Bob Buford has written that many people spend the first half of their career pursuing success. When success alone is found to be lacking, they give the second half to the pursuit of significance, which is far more satisfying.
If your job is not making a difference in this world, by all means, get out there and find something else. But in many situations, you’ll find a sense of making a difference through your work if you simply look for it.
Challenge – Find a job big enough to keep you growing for the rest of your life
Like too small of shoes pinch the feet, too small of a job pinches a leader’s spirit. Cole Porter used to sing, “I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences. I can’t look at hobbles and I can’t stand fences. Don’t fence me in.”
If the job you have now offers no opportunity to grow, decide to grow anyway. Invest in your own personal development, sharpening leadership skills, interpersonal skills, and technical skills.
What you’ll discover is that your organization will find a place for a person who has made a priority out of growth. And if they don’t the competition will! And keep this in mind when you consider your top performers. Are you providing room for your top performers to grow? If you don’t someone else will.
Finding joy in your work, or evaluating a lack of joy, can be found by considering associates, beliefs, and challenges.
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John Maxwell grew up in the 1950s in the small Midwestern city of Circleville, Ohio. John's earliest childhood memory is of knowing that he would someday be a pastor. He professed faith in Christ at the age of three, and reaffirmed that commitment when he was 13. At age 17, John began preparing for the ministry. He attended Circleville Bible College, earning his bachelor's degree in 1969. In June of that same year, he married his sweetheart, Margaret, and moved to tiny Hillham, Indiana, where he began his first pastorate.
While serving in his second church, Maxwell began to study the correlation between leadership effectiveness and ministry effectiveness. On July 4, 1976, while preaching at a service commemorating America's bicentennial, John sensed that God was calling him into a ministry to pastors. Within days after that event, pastors began to contact him, asking for his assistance in nurturing their churches. Over the next four years, on an informal basis, John helped scores of fellow pastors. Then, in 1980, he was asked to become Executive Director of Evangelism for the Wesleyan denomination.
Though his time at Wesleyan headquarters was productive, John soon realized that his deeper desire was to help pastors from numerous denominations. He knew that desire would be unfulfilled if he were to stay at denominational headquarters. As a result, in 1981 John accepted the call to return to the pastorate, this time at Skyline Wesleyan Church in the San Diego, California area. But he did so with the church's blessing to pursue his vision. The Skyline congregation allowed him to continue mentoring and assisting pastors even as he led them to new levels.
In 1985, as he continued to equip and encourage other pastors, John took the next crucial step in leadership development. He founded a new company called INJOY and created the INJOY Life Club, featuring a monthly tape for leaders. The fledging operation, established in the corner of a garage, was soon bursting at the seams. The INJOY Life Club tapes were received with great enthusiasm, and the number of subscriptions quickly increased from hundreds to thousands. Simultaneously, the demand for other resources and seminars exploded. Pastors from coast to coast were responding, and their desire for help was even greater than John had anticipated.
As the years passed, INJOY began demanding more and more of John's time. In 1995, he resigned from his position as senior pastor at Skyline following a very fruitful 14-year tenure. The church had tripled in size and its lay ministry involvement had increased ten-fold. Dr. Maxwell is in great demand today as a speaker. Through his bestselling books, audio and video resources, and major conferences, he communicates directly with more than one million people every year. He is frequently asked to speak for organizations such as Promise Keepers and Focus on the Family, but his greatest joy and desire is to help pastors become better leaders.
Because the need for leadership development knows no borders, John established EQUIP, a non-profit organization which trains leaders in urban communities, academic institutions, and within international organizations. EQUIP is also spearheading a movement which has enlisted more than one million pastoral prayer partners who covenant to pray specifically for those who shepherd God's flock.
John continues to seek new opportunities to help churches and church leaders. He knows that one thing is constant: the only hope for the world is salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ, who gives life abundantly.
