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How to Keep the PASSION in Your Career
by Dr.
John Hogan,
April 30, 2010
Passion - It is not a word that most of us think about when we used adjectives to describe our work. Yet, work is where we spend approximately 25% or more of our time each week (if we work full time) There are many employee engagement surveys and measurement tools in use these days, but I am going to offer a simpler approach. If your boss asked you to design the ingredients for the perfect workplace to guarantee job satisfaction and ongoing enthusiasm, what would you include? Now do not read ahead, but think about this for a moment and imagine at least three things you would include in this Utopian environment. Auren Uris in his 101 of the Greatest Ideas in Management, included some of these suggestions
I first wrote on this topic for the Birmingham Alabama, BUSINESS FIRST weekly business newspaper. I recently found an old comic strip story, in Sally Forth, where the 11-year-old daughter is asking her working mother for help in completing a school assignment. The question is on careers and the mother is asked if her job is “fun.” The mother responds that “fun” is not quite the right word for it. “Are you sure that is what it says?” she asks. The daughter spells F-U-N and the mother continues, “If work were fun, people would say ‘I’m going to fun’, rather than ‘I’m going to work.’ ” The daughter answers she is confused; the mother puts everything into perspective by telling the daughter to “just put down that I usually like my job.” Many of us do “usually like our job,” yet we really don’t quite have the enthusiasm we probably thought we would have had when we committed ourselves to our chosen career awhile back. Is this because we do not have the personal commitment, or is it for other reasons? Have we let the less than ideal situation of our everyday job experience sour our disposition? Nordstrom department stores, which originated in Seattle seems
to have
overcome this attitude problem. Their approach is simple and so easy to
understand that is baffling why business leaders in general do not
follow
their lead. The Nordstrom way of conducting business is summed up
in this classified as that was reprinted in A PASSION FOR EXCELLENCE by
Tom Peters and Nancy Austin:
I was the opening general manager at a luxury all suites hotel and used this format to set the tone pf our hiring blitz, which was at the worst time of year. We received outstanding applications and hired some great people – people who merely wanted to be appreciated and respected; people who wanted to have a voice, and be part of a team. This sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Now, A PASSION FOR EXCELLENCE was published more than 20 years ago and I was curious what an internet search in 2010 would say about Nordstrom people and passion. Here are a few of the hits from the first page of Google search: • Nordstrom Jobs & Employment - FlipDog Job SearchI was duly impressed by the range of comments and superlatives used by many different organizations in their assessment of the Nordstrom management philosophy commitment to each other after that 20-year period. There is no easy answer in keeping the “passion” in one’s career, but below are a series of ideas that might work for you in keeping your inner spirit alive, regardless of your position in the company:
What is the state of your PASSION today?
KEYS TO SUCCESS is the umbrella title for my new 2010 programs, hospitality services and columns. This year’s writings will focus on a wide variety of topics for hotel owners, managers and professionals including both my "HOW TO" articles and HOSPITALITY CONVERSATIONS. My segments Lessons from the Field, Hotel Common Sense and Principles for Success will be featured at appropriate times in the year as well. Feel free to share an idea for a column at [email protected] anytime or contact me regarding consulting, customized workshops, speaking engagements …………. And remember – we all need a regular dose of common sense. Autographed copies of LESSONS FROM THE FIELD – a COMMON SENSE APPROACH TO EFFECTIVE HOTEL SALES are available from THE ROOMS CHRONICLE www.roomschronicle.com, www.smartbizzonline.com and other industry sources. All rights reserved by John Hogan and this column may be included in an upcoming book on hotel management. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of this publication John Hogan is a successful hospitality executive, educator, author and consultant and is a frequent keynote speaker and seminar leader at many hospitality industry events. http://www.linkedin.com/in/drjohnhoganchache. |
Contact:
Dr. John Hogan, CHA MHS CHE
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Also See: | When Your Hotel Becomes the News! Effectively Interacting with the Media / Dr John Hogan / April 2010 |
An Open Letter to Hospitality Students in their Junior Year / John Hogan / April 2010 | |
Where Is Your Desk? - In the Lobby… Where it's Been Since 1991 / John Hogan & Richard Harris / March 2010 | |
Keys to Success - A Fresh Look at the 4 Ps of Marketing or An Unlikely Salute to Collin Raye / Dr John Hogan / March 2010 | |
Hospitality Conversations: Property Improvement Plans or PIPS / Dr John Hogan / March 2010 | |
Managing the Intricate Challenge of Today's Hospitality Leadership / Dr John Hogan / March 2010 | |
Hospitality Conversations: Selling Your Hotel In a Sluggish Economy / Dr. John Hogan / February 2010 |
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