By Barbara Poole

I’m sitting on a plane that finally got off the ground in Dallas after a two-hour delay. There are grumpy passengers on all sides of me, all of whom seem to be willing to be angry at almost anyone, other than the real culprit: the weather.

This is the last flight of the day for this Dallas-based crew, and they will spend the night in hotel rooms somewhere on the East Coast instead of in their beds at home. They are going through the motions of providing service, frowns on their faces and frustration showing at the screaming child in seat 8B.

All except Nadine, that is. When I boarded the plane, Nadine flashed me a big smile and drawled, “Welcome aboard, Sugar.” There was a holdup ahead as people stowed their luggage, so Nadine entertained those of us who were held captive in the entryway.

“It’s a mob scene back there,” she said. “Ya’ll just hang out with us up here and we’ll tell you all the good jokes one of the passengers on the last flight told us.” And then she added, “If we run out of jokes, we’ll sing to you. One way or another, we’re gonna get you home happy tonight.”

As we finally made our way to our seats, Nadine was behind me helping to scout out overhead room. “Don’t you worry, Baby Girl,” she said. “We’ll find a space for that bag.”

Never mind that I haven’t been a baby girl for a very long time, I laughed at her frivolity and her ability to make light of a stressful situation. Nadine obviously enjoys her job.

It doesn’t matter where you work, you know the difference. There are some people who just seem to have a cloud hanging over their heads, and there are others who always seem to have their dials set to happy. Could it be that those happy folks just don’t have any misfortune or bad things happening in their lives? I doubt it. There’s an intentionality that comes with enjoying your job. It’s an option that’s available to anyone.

There are three major factors that have an impact on your ability to enjoy your job, and they are perspective, control and the element of choice.

Perspective has to do with the lens through which you view your circumstances and what you choose to focus on. I recall an old story that Charles Garfield, author of the “Peak Performance” trilogy used to illustrate perspective. He was crossing the George Washington Bridge into Manhattan one day, and traffic was at a virtual standstill. All around him, he could see people snarling behind steering wheels. When he finally got to the toll booth, there was an upbeat young man collecting money, bouncing to the sound of music coming from a portable radio, and a big smile on his face. Garfield was amazed and asked the young man what his secret was. The toll collector replied, “Look at the gig I’ve got here. I’m virtually outdoors, the sun is shining, I’ve got great tunes on the radio, I get to talk to somebody new every 30 seconds, and I’m looking across the river at the greatest skyline in the world. What’s not to love?”

Control is another issue that has a bearing on how much people enjoy their work. Most of the research indicates that the more control you have over your circumstances, the more likely you are to enjoy your job. My own opinion is that the issue of control is a little more complex. Along with control comes the feeling that they have to have all the answers, figure everything out and be hyper vigilant watchdogs in looking out for the trends that might impact their businesses.

From where sit, I think the control issue is all about balance. A little bit is good, and it helps us to engineer elements of what happens in our world without feeling like we are at the complete mercy of outside forces. On the other hand, clinging too tightly control can actually be more stressful than feeling like you have none.

Finally, the element of choice is critical to enjoying your job. Choosing enjoyment is about intentionally looking for and focusing on the everyday little things about your job that are interesting and entertaining. The operative phrase in this sentence is “little things.” We are all surrounded by a million little things every day that can put a smile on our faces or touch our hearts. Actively choosing to notice those fun and mundane little tidbits can make all the difference in the world in your experience of work.

At the end of the day, enjoying your job is about choosing to see the glass as half full and being intentional about that perspective. Nadine, the flight attendant knows that. Despite her working in an industry that’s notorious for its irritations, she’s having a blast. And you can take that to the bank, Baby Girl.

Barbara Poole is a Leadership and Career Development Coach with Success Builders Inc. She can be reached at CoachBarbara@SuccessBuildersInc.com.

SUBSCRIBE | REPRINTS | CONTACT US

Phone: 843-849-3100    Fax: 843-849-3122