All You Need is Love

This week, it occurred to me how often people say they love their job. This is a great thing in this economic climate, but what is puzzling is that these people are often in contact with me because they are experiencing bullying at work.

I hear it a lot. And they usually follow it up by saying how unfair it is that they have toxic colleagues. My response would be – it is unfair, but employees should take care not to compartmentalise. 

We must take our jobs as a whole – measuring pay, culture, colleagues and the management style we have to work with as well as the nature of our own particular job. I get the impression that when people are being bullied at work but still say: ‘I love my job,’ what they mean is they love one or two aspects of their job.

It’s very easy to over-focus on this good part and resent the fact that we’re not left alone to enjoy it, but this, of course, is no accident. Whoever put the company together and created those lovely, interesting jobs also hired all the other staff or put bad management in place.

The good news is, if you’ve found a job you love doing, then you know what works for you. You can’t buy that sort of enthusiasm. There will be other companies you can work successfully for. Similar jobs can and will be found elsewhere – but you can leave those toxic colleagues behind. Do that, and at some point you may be able to say wholeheartedly that you love your job: every bit of it. 

Very best

BBTB