Beyond Loving What You Do: Fueling momentum for your team and yourself

I was babbling on about work, when she interrupted me and asked, “You really love what you do, don’t you?” I paused and then shared. “Yes. I really do.” 

According to the research Gallup has done on employee engagement, doing what you love every day is one of the key factors to retaining talent on your team. The kind of delegation we have been talking about in this blog series flows from a delegation conversation talking about what they do best and what you do best. It’s the kind of partnership that moves BEYOND just loving what you do, to creating a momentum that keeps the whole team (including yourself) engaged in the mission and bringing your best self to work.

When I was asked that question about what I love to do, it caused me to pause and reflect for a moment. What is it that really makes me love what I do?

Loving “the work”

I’ve noticed that what I do weaves together experiences, passions, gifts and talents that I have come to understand are all important for my job satisfaction. This is why delegation is so much more than giving away tasks, but is a development opportunity to stretch leaders and their teams to grow and expand the possibilities of what they might love to do. 

Opportunity to Learn

Some great mentors and leaders have invested in my growth by delegating well and giving me opportunities to stretch into new territory. I’ve taken the opportunity to do the same for others. One of the top three reasons employees leave their job is lack of opportunities to grow and they are leaving in droves right now with 48% of employees reporting they are looking for other jobs. This hits small organizations as well as big ones.

Connecting with Great People

Seeing people thrive and excel in their roles and getting to be a part of that! Wow! It couldn’t get better.  Collaboration and building strong relationships among team members are values that run deep for me and inspire me to work with purpose each day. Knowing what drives people helps leaders delegate well AND retain the talented people that are excited about the mission of the team.

This kind of energy fuels the momentum of a team. When people are engaged and love what they do they stick around for a long time. It’s a circle of energy where great work, opportunity, and people create greater energy to bolster the team and then all can go “above and beyond” in the work they do together.

“When people are engaged and love what they do they stick around for a long time.”

What is it that we can do as leaders to inspire this kind of momentum with our teams? What do we need to be paying attention to in our organizations to boost retention and engage our teams in the work they do so that when they are talking about your organization, or your team, someone will interrupt them and say … “You really love what you do, don’t you?”

What’s next?

That’s what we are going to dive into for this next blog series. What does it take to boost retention for small organizations or ministries who often don’t have the needed resources, the opportunities, or the “ladder” to climb? I’ll give you a hint … we’ve got something the big guys don’t have that gives us an edge!! Tune into this new blog series that starts next week. I can’t wait to get started and share these ideas with you.