There is something to be said about bringing our best self to work. In his book Linchpin, Seth Godin talks a lot about “emotional labor”. Emotional labor is all about bringing forth our unique gifts and not just going through the motions. This involves bringing all of our being to our work and not worrying about what others say. It’s about creating art in whatever we do.
Every interaction and every task is an opportunity to create art. What is it that makes a waiter a good waiter? It’s the humanity that he applies to his work.
He could do the bare minimum of refilling your beverages and making sure that your order comes out correct, and that would be fine. But because he is an artist, he treats you like a friend and goes out of his way to make sure that you feel like a valued customer. He even offers suggestions on what’s best and most popular on the menu. He doesn’t do this because he has to; he does it because he is giving you the gift of emotional labor.
How can we adopt emotional labor in our own work? We can start by not reserving our best for outside of work. In Linchpin, Seth Godin talks about the fact that many of us are our most charming and engaging selves in our lives outside of work. We solve interesting problems and we value people for who they are. What would happen if we brought that type of effort to our jobs? Just imagine the impact we would make.
We spend most of our waking hours at work. Let’s make it a place where do some of our best work and make our biggest impact. We don’t have to hold back in our 9–5. We can bring our best selves. Not because we expect to get paid for it, but because it’s the best way to be true to our humanity and ourselves.
