Trevor Howard tells us why he does like Mondays!
In my blog about leadership, I briefly spoke about having passion for your job and hiring passionate people. I was reminded once again this week about how important this is if you want to succeed. We have had a few resignations at our work place in the past few weeks and staff were once again confused as to why I wouldn’t be applying for a higher position, especially as it came with a better salary. The decision was a “no brainer” for me personally, as the role would involve a lot more hours dealing with machinery and maintenance issues and a lot less dealing with customers! Let me explain.
On leaving school it was drummed into me to get a trade so I had a better chance of being employed and whilst I did well in the construction industry, I wish someone had told me to find a job in something I had a passion for instead! Over the years I have come to realise how much I love keeping fit and talking to people, so I am now in an ideal place in my current role as a Health & Fitness Coordinator / Trainer. One of the challenges I love is to find out what my customers are passionate about and yesterday I had another great experience with this. A customer that is known more for his surly appearance at the gym proved yet again how you can’t judge a book by the cover. In a conversation with him I managed to find out about him being a mature student as well as teaching in History and Politics. His passion for the subject was infectious and we ended up having a great conversation. Today he was all smiles when he attended the gym and I thanked him for his insights and the stimulating conversation. Guess we’ll be seeing a lot more of this side of him now. I certainly wouldn’t be getting this from working with pool pumps and air conditioning! I think I’ll forego the extra cash and carry on doing what I love.
When you work in a role of something you are passionate about you start to look forward to Mondays and the rest of the week instead of wishing away most of it waiting for Friday. As most people work 40 hours or more a week, surely you are not only short changing your employers but more importantly yourself. Life is too short to be wasting it waiting for the weekends. If we put so much effort into finding a partner to love, why don’t more of us do the same with our jobs?
Not sure what it is you have a passion for? Talk to the team at ContactPDA. Over the years they have helped others to find a new direction or rekindle the passion for their current role. Not only that, but the all the staff are all very passionate in their own jobs. Here’s to Monday mornings.
by Trevor Howard, Health and Fitness Coordinator at Bayswater Waves, Perth.