LoveYour Work
“If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.”
Opening Case Study :
MS Dhoni –A Successful Leader
Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the only captain in the world to have tasted success in all formats of the game! The manner in which he has gone about transforming the Indian cricket team into the best in the world offers valuable lessons in management and leadership.
His leadership style offers invaluable lessons to managers and leadership team at all levels across industries. His calm mind is the most dangerous and his ability to stay cool when the heat is on allows him to make the uncanny calls that others find hard to fathom!
Hailing from a humble background, Dhoni never let this aspect hinder his style or behavior. Infact, he managed to channelize this raw rustic energy to his on-field performance. He was never shy of expressing himself in any given situation. In a competitive corporate world, one is often judged by one’s past or stereotyped and it is important to maintain a positive ego at all times
In a hierarchized environment, Dhoni was catapulted to captaincy ahead of several established players in a team laden with stars and former captains. He took his time and didn’t interfere in their proven methods and managed to extract the best out of these stars at most times without ruffling feathers. Many young managers who inherit legacy organisations face this challenge at the workplace. You need to learn to handle every situation calmly and with maturity.
Dhoni did not rush through with change in personnel and team culture. He first established credibility and over time dealt with these issues and managed the transition through the process of natural attrition and performance management. Similarly, when the leadership team at various corporates are confronted with change management issues at the workplace, they will do well if they do not handle it head on but instead take inspiration from Dhoni’s style of change management
He dealt with his early success with a lot of maturity with his feet firmly on the ground, which eventually led to his elevation. It requires a great degree of level headedness and humility to handle fame and money at an early age. In a corporate context, early success need not lead to brash behaviour towards colleagues and customers. There have been instances where young managers, who see success early lose their balance and face early career burnouts.
Dhoni is hands on, is versatile and can adapt to any situation. He plays all three formats of the game, can bat in any position, keep wickets and roll his arm if required. Versatility and adaptability is the key for long-term success in the corporate world.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni is regarded as one of the best captains in India’s cricketing history. Be it his cool temperament or his ability to handle pressure. Dhoni has been a class in showcasing his arsenal at times of crisis and has been crucial in steering his team through in the toughest of times. His ability to extract results out of pressure situations tells a lot about his leadership abilities.
Steve Jobs stood in front of the 2005 Stanford graduating class and said, “the only way to do great work is to love what you do,” but how does enjoying your work really lead to success in the workplace?
Being happy at work and loving what you do is an overall productivity booster and enhances performance. Leaders who enjoy their jobs are more likely to be optimistic, motivated, learn faster, make fewer mistakes, and better business decisions.Being able to enjoy your work is the main factor in getting into a state of flow. The experience you have when you are “in the zone”. You feel fully focused, creative, and ideas are flowing freely.
Doing work, you love is energizing and creates a positive feedback loop that fuels productivity. Your passion for the work energizes you and vice versa, giving you more fuel to put towards success. The trick is figuring out how to make yourself love your work – even the most tedious of tasks.
The ability to complete work you don’t enjoy with enthusiasm is hard enough, let alone being the best at it. Without the passion or drive it just doesn’t come naturally. Leaders are more confident at tasks that are more natural and seem to flow. This pertains to anything from writing emails, speaking to large groups, or even creating a presentation. Use a positive mindset to find your drive and build confidence in yourself. If you feel confident and secure with the work you are producing, you will be able to complete it to your fullest potential. Without this overall positive mindset, confidence is lacking and can lead to second-guessing yourself and becoming inefficient.
Passion not only drives you to enjoy your work, but helps in overcoming obstacles in the workplace as well. Anytime you hit a bump in the road or begin to doubt your abilities, remember the positive effects of the work you are doing. This persistence will lead to quality work that elevates you and brings you that much closer to your next goal. Use that drive and motivation as fuel towards your next checkpoint to success.
An overall positive and passionate mindset can be difficult to enact while completing tedious assignments. To change the way you think, you must also change the way you work. Find the significance in your efforts, live the vision of your organization, work with your colleagues, and in turn you can encourage positive change and take one step closer to success.
So why should this be such a big deal? Work is work, after all. Do you really need to love what you do?
Yes. You do.
There are 5 important reasons to love your job:
- At least a half of your waking arehours spent at work. If you’re upset about being at work because you don’t love what you do, you’re on average a sad person. That’s no way to live.
- It will be very difficult for you to invest in your career,if you’re not into love with what you do. How would you seek out extra training, certifications, conferences and the like? It’s hard to imagine spending extra time outside of work investing in something you don’t like.
- You’ll never be truly great at what you do. If you don’t have any passion for your work, and you’re not spending time and energy upgrading your skills, how will you ever improve in your field?
- You won’t get promotions. This ties into points 2 and 3. It’s