Are you like millions of others in America and around the world who dread Mondays and you think it’s because work is a necessary evil? Well, I’ve got good news for you. Work isn’t evil. Work is good. Work is virtuous. Work is what you were created for. It’s meaningless work and working around a bunch of jerks that destroys the scared space we call “work.”
If you’re still working under the old-world paradigm of the carrot-and-stick boss – you know what I’m talking about – “if you’ll do this, then this will be the reward.” And every time you perform, somehow the stick and the carrot are extended just a little further out. It’s leadership by manipulation. Yeah, that day is gone. And if you’re a manipulating leader, you’re going to be gone too, very, very soon.
What has taken its place? Well, I think you’ll be glad to know that you’re now treated like a human being, an intelligent, thinking individual; someone with not only gifts and talents but intellect and feelings and worth. You’re now being challenged to seek out and embrace work that matters, work that makes a difference in the world; work that heals a hurt or lifts a load or rights a wrong; work that is about being obsessively, compulsively preoccupied with the needs of others. And oh, by the way, an economic system that can be put in place to make sure you get handsomely rewarded.
I could point out a lot of different companies that I know personally who operate this way. They challenge their employees – they usually call them team-members – with ways in which they can change the world, make peoples’ lives better, and even save people from misery, pain, destitution, and even suicide. Yeah, that’s how far it’s gone. We are values-based, virtue-driven companies these days. And I, for one, thank God for the change.
If you’re using the carrot-and-stick, throw it away while you can. If the carrot-and-stick is being used on you, begin right now and set your own liberation date to be free from that bondage.