Making Work Meaningful

Just as our lives are much bigger than our work, our work is much more than our job. Let me explain why this reframing of what you do every day makes work meaningful.

When I began my career, I thought going to work and my job was the same thing. I put everything into my job and gave 100% and more to my employer. I still do. But I do it differently.

Your work (what you choose to do in making a difference in the world) most likely is bigger than your job or role you play. This is normal and okay. Right now you have an opportunity to reframe your job as part of your work. When you do this you take responsibility and are no longer a subject of a story. You get to write your own story.

To be fully engaged, we need to find ways to bring our best selves to work each day. You may need to bring your other talents to the job you get paid to do. When you share more of who you are with others it can inspire others to do the same and your workplace gets healthier. It is worth it!

Today, I see my work more clearly through leading others and continue to grow as a servant-leader. Listening, becoming curious where I used to be more judgemental has increased my effectiveness and adaptability. I spend time developing my voice by sharing my own story and showing others how to do it. I even wrote my own personal mission statement to stay focused. You could do that too. Mine is below.

My mission is to challenge, encourage, and equip individuals and groups to discover and employ their unique gifts, talents, abilities, and experiences in realizing noble causes that improve the lives of people.

You might want to explore your area of interest further. Mine was leadership and community building. I needed to see if work-life balance for me could be obtained so I wouldn't burn out. If I was successful I intended to help others along the way which I do.

I have so many people to thank for their help. I learned how to integrate my work and my life more effectively from Stew Friedman, author of the book, Total Leadership and how to become a change agent from Seth Godin's book Linchpin. I was accepted into the AltMBA intensive workshop crafted to help me take responsibility for the change I was seeking to make and even started my own blog called Shepherd Leadership based on a 6 principle framework I use every day to get better results from me and my teams.

Eric Peterson

In support of my mission to improve the lives of people, I perform program management, write, speak, and coach. I focus my learning, thinking and writing about leadership, team performance, and community building. To further my reach I founded ShepherdingHeart LLC, publish the Shepherd Leadership Blog, the Shepherd Leadership Journal, and was a recent speaker at the International Servant Leadership Summit.