There are many ways to do fine work. One approach is for a person to focus on the areas where they have the ability to do superb work. It is then for them to demonstrate enthusiasm, be enterprising and deliver excellence.
Different people demonstrate these qualities in different areas. Imagine that somebody has certain strengths. It can then be useful for them to focus on the following themes.
Enthusiasm
Enthusiasm is a key driver in life. Doing the things we feel enthusiastic about can give us positive energy and help us to feel alive. Ralph Waldo Emerson expressed this in the following way.
Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality.
Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your objective. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
What are the things you feel enthusiastic about? How can you keep doing these in your life and work? How can you do these in a way that may encourage yourself or other people?
Sometimes enthusiasm is a choice. We choose to be enthusiastic about doing something because the other options are not attractive. One person expressed this in the following way.
“The company I worked for went out of business. Looking ahead, I could choose to be resentful or I could be enthusiastic about looking for work.
“I chose to throw myself into pursuing the second option. This led to getting some project work with people I knew which eventually turned into being offered a full-time role.”
Different people feel enthusiastic about different things at different stages of their lives. When we are young, we may feel enthusiastic about pursuing our hobbies, learning and experiencing life.
We may then move on to feeling enthusiastic about earning our own money, travelling and shaping our future. We may then aim to build loving relationships, a family and doing satisfying work.
Some people may feel enthusiastic about playing to their strengths, working with certain customers and building a startup business. They may continue to maintain this enthusiasm for many years.
Enthusiasm is one think to look for when recruiting people. Bearing in mind their strengths, it is to ask the following questions.
What is the person enthusiastic about doing? How do they demonstrate this enthusiasm? Do they have the ability to build on this enthusiasm, be enterprising and deliver excellences?
Imagine that you are taking this approach when looking at a person. As mentioned above, this can lead to focusing on the next step.
Enterprise
Imagine that you are focusing on a person’s potential. Bearing in mind what the person is enthusiastic about, do they also demonstrate enterprise? If appropriate, you can explore the following themes.
Are they positive and proactive? Do they take initiatives? Do they explore various possibilities and then settle on their option? Do they then prepare properly, set specific goals and set things up to succeed?
Does the person then follow their successful style of doing things? Do they follow good habits? Do they keep reading reality? Do they build on what is working and tackle areas for improvement?
Do they use their creativity to be enterprising? Do they sometimes dare to be adventurous? Are they good at anticipating and finding solutions to challenges? Are they good at finishing certain things successfully?
Imagine that a person is showing enterprise and doing superb work. They may then move on to the next stage.
Excellence
Great workers keep following good habits and absorb themselves in doing deep work. This can lead to them focusing on continuous improvement and delivering excellence.
People who are enthusiastic about things are more likely to feel alive and also encourage other people. Aldous Huxley expressed this in the following way.
The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm.
We are told that excellence is a habit. This often calls for people building on their strengths. They can then continue to be enthusiastic, recover from setbacks and do their best to deliver the goods.
Some leaders who take this approach act as positive models for other people. They are then more likely to build an excellence culture rather than an excuse culture.
Enthusiasm is vital but this highlights a key point. People develop and their enthusiasms may evolve. Some may reach a point in their lives where they want to focus on other personal or professional goals.
Some entrepreneurs, for example, may enjoy founding and building a business. But they may reach a point where they feel more enthusiastic about doing other things in life.
This is a theme sometimes comes up in mentoring sessions with founders. Whilst still feeling a responsibility for the people in their business, they want to recapture their zest for life.
Such people feel duty driven. They want to leave the business in a good place but also revitalise themselves. Sometimes this means returning to following the pleasure approach rather than the pressure approach.
Looking ahead, we therefore focus on how to find positive solutions. For example, they may aim either:
To stay in the business, build on their strengths and focus on doing the things they give them positive energy;
To put somebody in charge of managing today’s business whilst they do pioneering projects that help to shape tomorrow’s business;
To hand-over the company to other people in the management team or to sell the business;
To move on from the business, regain their energy and then focus on personal or professional projects they feel enthusiastic about;
To change their lifestyle and focus on spending quality time with their family or doing other things that they find stimulating.
This may seem a luxurious problem but there are several principles that hold true in many situations. People are more likely to do superb work when they build on their strengths and are enthusiastic about what they are doing.
Let’s return to your own life and work. Can you think of a situation where you may want to follow elements of the enthusiasm, enterprise and excellence approach? How can you follow this in your own way?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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