I got this book for Christmas and read the whole thing today. This is one of those books that you don’t want to linger over standing in the aisle at the bookstore. Someone might think that you have a miserable job just by looking at the title. I mean…what if your boss walks in and sees you looking at this book. Oh the horror! The title intrigued me, but I have also read several of Lencioni’s other books and have enjoyed his leadership fables. I have read “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team”, “The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive”, and “The Five Temptations of a CEO”. I have posted my thoughts on those here.
He has written six leadership fables. Other than “Three Signs”, he has also written “Death by Meeting” (which is next in my pile to read) and “Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars”. They are all quick reads that start off with a fictional story followed by some principles to consider for management and leadership.
Each book has given me a lot to think about, but “Three Signs” has really helped me get a handle on why I love my job at North Cobb Christian so much. As the Dean of Student Life, my responsibility is to build relationships with our students and to create opportunities and resources for them to grow in their faith in Christ. I am a very relationship oriented person so the passages about anonymity reminded me to be thankful that God has provided a job for me that hinges very much on that principle alone.
Here are Lencioni’s Three Signs of a Miserable Job.
The first is anonymity, which is the feeling that employees get when they realize that their manager has little interest in them a human being and that they know little about their lives, their aspirations and their interests.
The second sign is irrelevance, which takes root when employees cannot see how their job makes a difference in the lives of others. Every employee needs to know that the work they do impacts someone’s life – a customer, a co-worker, even a supervisor – in one way or another.The third sign is something Lencioni calls “immeasurement“, which I realize isn’t actually a word. It’s the inability of employees to assess for themselves their contribution or success. Employees ho have no means of measuring how well they are doing on a given day or in a given week, must rely on the subjective opinions of others, usually their managers, to gauge their progress or contribution.
I know many people who are miserable in their jobs. Most of the reasons lie somewhere in these three points. I am thankful to actually love my job. I have a great team that I work with. That doesn’t mean that everyday is great, it just means that everyday has the potential to be a great one because I honestly love what I do.
When my alarm goes off at 5:15 every morning, my feet hit the floor because I am excited about what might be coming my way during the day. I am also reminded to pray for those close to me that are miserable in their jobs. Perhaps 2008 will be the year that they are able to find satisfaction in their work.
I’m off to read “Death by Meeting”. Oh yeah, I should mention that we are still on Christmas break and don’t return to school until January 7th. That could be another reason I love my job so much!