When I was a teenager, I got a summer job working in a grocery store. All day long, I took vegetable cans out of boxes, hit each one with a price tag gun, and placed them on the shelf. Again. And again. And again. I felt every minute of every hour stretch to a standstill. I had no contact with customers, and I hardly ever saw a manager.
How to Reframe What Work Means to You
Transform your job from something you endure to something that brings you meaning.
October 18, 2021
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Summary.
Our society often conceives of work as something we must endure so we can afford to do something else. The former CEO of Best Buy explains why this view has led to a crisis of engagement among leaders and employees alike, and offers a different model that he introduced during his tenure: No matter our jobs, we can and must choose to approach work as an essential element of our humanity, a key to our search for meaning as individuals, and a way to find fulfillment in our life. With this point of view come three steps for business leaders: 1) They must find their own personal purpose; 2) They must lead their employees to do the same; and 3) They must help their employees to connect their own personal missions with the larger purpose of the company.