Do What You LOVE What You Do

“What do the most talented employees need from their workplace?”

A topic such as this need focus. It needs clarity, energy, and passion.

Compiling two massive research studies by the Gallup Organization, First, Break All of the Rules examines why so many traditional notions, training sessions and workplace practices are counterproductive in business today.

When handed the book, I envisioned my attention span only lasting 10-15 minutes, with the thought of my eyes growing dreary on a book of theory – It was quite the opposite. A page-turner in its own right, I was captivated by the authors’ sense of pace, of drama, of humor and their disconcerting ability to communicate discoveries in the area of employee opinion and employee talent.

The voices of one million employees and eighty thousand managers can be heard in Buckingham and Coffman’s product. So if I wasn’t dimming the lights to head to bed, what did I take away in less than 200 words?

You must be able to balance today’s need for standardization and efficiency with a pressing need for flair and originality.

It’s not about the experience, brainpower, or willpower that makes the difference to fulfill and obtain a role. No matter how carefully you select for experience, brainpower, or willpower, you still end up with a range in performance.

The best way to help an employee cultivate his talents is to find him a role that plays to those talents.

As managers, our job is to not teach people talent; our job is to help peers earn the accolade ‘talented’ by matching their talent to the role. Anyone with the right training can do a job adequately; rather, we need to be guided to capitalize on each person’s uniqueness to define the right outcome.

Manage the exception.

I could continue to bore you with details and personal discoveries (Denis Rodman and Bud Grant included), but here is what I found the most impactful as both a manager and an employee:

Manager Hat: People don’t change that much. Don’t waste time trying to put in what was left out. Try to draw out what was left in. That is hard enough.

Employee Hat: Do What You LOVE What You Do.