Isn't It Time to Love Your Work?

Reclaiming Purpose, Passion, and Possibility in the Workplace

By Rodger Dean Duncan

My grandfather, one of my first heroes, was an uncomplicated man. He had very sparse formal education, but he was gifted with other kinds of smarts that I always admired.

For one thing, he had a strong work ethic. To the very day he died he had a constant list of projects. While other people might have thought their chores were finished, Granddad could always find something that needed to be fixed, cleaned, tuned, tightened, moved, painted, or otherwise improved. He loved work and he loved people. Most of all, in his quiet and unassuming way, he loved serving.

In my own career I’ve worked with and observed thousands of people from the boardroom to the factory floor, from the White House to the small office with no window. The most effective—and happiest—people I’ve known labored with a sense of purpose in the causes they’ve served.

That’s the theme of Work Is Love Made Visible, a collection of essays about the power of discovering your purpose.

This fine book, featuring nearly three dozen essays by today’s top thinkers and writers, addresses a range of subjects that are critical to people wanting to be happy with what they have while working for what they want.

The book was shepherded by leadership legend Marshall Goldsmith, Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Frances Hesselbein, and leadership coach and author Sarah McArthur. I spoke with Sarah about the project and some of the key takeaways.

Rodger Dean Duncan: You’ve asked some of today’s top thought leaders to reflect on the question: “What is it you see when you look out the window that is visible but not yet seen by others?” What do you believe is so compelling about that question? What kind of reflection does it typically evoke in people?

Sarah McArthur: The fascinating story behind this question is that it’s based on an answer that the “founder of modern management,” renowned teacher, writer, and “guru” Peter Drucker, gave during an interview with BusinessWeek magazine. The interviewer asked Peter to explain his uncanny ability to describe the future of management. Peter’s response was, “I never predict. I just look out the window and see what’s visible—but not yet seen.” Frances Hesselbein, who Peter said is the greatest leader he had ever known, re-phrased Peter’s statement as a question, which she often asks casually in conversations over lunch. It’s not a casual question though! This question invites us to examine our view of the world and formulate it into a purpose, a call to service, an area on which we concentrate that only we see and which we feel compelled to share with others.

I find that most people are at first stumped, even a little shocked by the question as it causes us to reflect deeply on what really matters to us and what we want to share with the world. Personally, I found this question so fascinating that I wanted to hear the answers of some of the world’s great thought leaders think and I wanted to share those answers with readers.

Duncan: The title of your book—Work Is Love Made Visible—may run counter to the mindset of many of today’s success-at-all-cost business people. How do you clarify the role of “love” in the modern workplace?

McArthur: The full quote from which the title of the book is taken is from Kahlil Gibran, and it is: “Work is love made visible. And if you can’t work with love, but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of the people who work with joy.”

This is our hope, that by finding our purpose, we can abandon the mindset that we “have to” and go to work with love as a “get to.” Because when we love what we do, no matter how difficult things get or how successful we are, our days are filled with the joy of doing what matters most to us. And that is a truly amazing feeling!

Duncan: Alan Mulally, former CEO of Boeing and Ford, says one of the life lessons he learned from his parents is “It’s nice to be important, but more important to be nice.” What do you think would be the result if more leaders adopted—and practiced—that principle?