Yesterday I came across a really motivating article on Harvard Business Review, entitled “Don’t Like Your Job? Change it Without Quitting.” Whether you love your job or are looking for something different, it had a really nice tone. The one thing that stuck with me was the idea that it challenged each of us to find meaning in our jobs. For associations that’s easy. Your mission is your meaning but from a day-to-day perspective it’s easy to get mired down in the incessant questions and complaining you hear when devoting yourself to a membership organization. “Are you serving chicken again?”, “What time does the conference start?”, and on and on. You want to shout several times a day, “Just read the email I just sent!” But you don’t because you are dedicated to the people and cause.
The thing I loved about this article was that it suggested you do a little analysis and figure out what about your job do you love. It suggested finding your bliss and incorporating it into your current role. For instance, if you love social media but it’s not in your job description talk to someone on staff and offer to do it for them or do what one gentleman did in the article and offer to give brown bag lunch seminars on a topic of great interest.
Working for a member-based organization is hard work. It requires every role to embrace customer service, marketing, communication and member coordination/recruitment regardless of your job title. But with some quick reflection you can mold your current position into the role of your dreams. This article can help give you some ideas to work on.
