Why do you love your job?

The question really isn't meant to be rhetorical. Really, tell me why you love your job. Or tell me why you have loved jobs in the past.

Yesterday, I had one of the guys on my team tell me that he wanted to feel a bit more like we were a team. Interesting. As I think about how we work, he is actually spot on. I interact with all the members of my team one-on-one as we work through projects, issues, and resolutions. So, in some sense, I am very connected to my team. But the people on my team rarely work together. So it is a hub and spoke model, with Mike at the center. That works well for me, but it really doesn't form a team for anyone else.

So this got me to thinking about a lot of things. My first focus was on what makes you feel like you are part of a team. But really, that is just a part of the larger issue. In the end, what I think is most interesting is what makes you love your job - this one or past ones.

As I think to past jobs, I think there are a couple of things that make work enjoyable. When I feel like I am productive and making a meaningful contribution, I tend to like my job better. I think this speaks directly to the notion that you have to utilize your strengths daily (or at least weekly) to truly feel satisfied. The book "Go Put Your Strengths to Work" (the follow-on to the popular "First Break All the Rules" and then "Now, Discover Your Strengths") addresses this quite well. Of these, I recommend Now, Discover Your Strengths the most (you can see all at this listing on Amazon.com).

Buckingham points out a survey that indicates that only 2 in 10 people feel like they work in jobs that utilize their strengths. This means a staggering 80 percent of us are working in jobs where we are not used optimally. Ouch. I believe this is a big part of why I used to be lukewarm about jobs (and consequently hopped around), and why I am now energized by my work.

So let me put that as the number one reason I have liked past jobs. But what else is there?

In some cases, I really liked the team. As my team member points out, we need to feel a part of something bigger. And our team is the most immediate thing we can associate ourselves with. I have never really been a part of a team at work before. I have been largely a mercenary in the past, hired to take care of some daunting task and then bolting at the next opportunity. Now, I am part of a team (though not the team I lead). The management team in charge of our particular business unit certainly has some of that sense of team, though it might be by accident. I don't know that we do anything deliberate to make ourselves a team. Maybe we should. And for the team I manage, I am thinking I need to start. So what should I do?

Other things that make jobs satisfying? Well, the sense of being part of something larger (as I postulated was part of why we like teams) certainly extends to the company. If you love your company, your job will feel more satisfying. This means you have to have an intimate relationship with what your company does. You have to understand how you are directly connected to your company's business. I tend to have a good view of this as I meet with oodles of customers and am quite connected to the business (both internally and externally). How do I promote this within my team? I have some ideas here but am curious if anyone else has any.

Finally, I think I have liked jobs where I had a good manager. Yuck. This means I need to look at where I stand. To that end, I am conducting my own 360-degree review of myself. This is, quite frankly, terrifying. I don't want to find out that I am wildly ineffective. Hopefully, the feedback will validate some of what I consider my strengths. To be fair, I will invariably focus on what people don't like about me. But I can focus on that aspect later.

So anyway, I guess I am wondering if there are other macro trends that promote job satisfaction. I need to think on this more I suspect. If I come to any realizations, I will let you know.