One of my favorite weblogs is Creating Passionate Users. Kathy Sierra's recent article is on a subject that I can really get behind.
People ask me, "How can I get our employees to be passionate about the company?" Wrong question. Passion for our employer, manager, current job? Irrelevant. Passion for our profession and the kind of work we do? Crucial. (continued...)
I've felt this way for a long time now. It's nice to see the sentiment expressed elsewhere and so well.
To be perfectly honest, I'm not personally invested in the job, the decisions, or the corporate direction at my place of employment. I know that the Company will make its own decisions, often over my best efforts to change things. I still make plenty of suggestions (I can't seem to help it), but, if my management wants to ignore these, that's their lookout.
My real investment is in the quality of my own work. That's what I can control. That's what my caring can affect.
I've felt a little weird about this subject over the past 8 months because, frankly, I'm not passionate about the company that presently employs me. I don't use their products and services; I'm not in their market segment.
I do, however, care about the work I do and the people I support. Doing that work to the best of my ability is what keeps me at this job – complete with the 1+ hr (each way) commute on public transit.
Am I providing a useful service to the people I support? Am I doing what I "want and need to do"? I think so. That's what really matters.
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