# How do you really feel about your job?



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

. . .*Plus, the pet peeves of police work*

By Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith

How do you feel about your job? How do your employees feel about theirs? Does it matter in this profession? According to author Patrick Lencioni, it matters in every profession, whether you're a rock star, a waitress, or a cop, and it affects not only employee performance, attitude, and turnover, but the bottom line as well. 
In his new book _The Three Signs of a Miserable Job_ there are three underlying factors that will make _anyone's _job a miserable one. They are: *Anonymity, Irrelevance, and Immeasurement, *and they absolutely can impact all aspects of the law enforcement profession.

*Anonymity *
People can't be happy or fulfilled in their work unless they are known. This shouldn't be hard; after all, _everyone _notices cops, right? But does your supervisor know you? Do they know anything about you other than the rudimentary personal facts? It's one thing if my boss knows I'm married with four kids, it's another to know my kids names, the sports they play, and how that deer hunt that my husband and daughter went on this weekend turned out. This might sound a little too touchy-feely for our profession, and in fact, it may make some supervisors and managers downright nervous. After all, we've been told that too much probing into someone's personal life can be perceived as the wrong thing to do, legally and professionally.

But think about the last time your own boss took a genuine personal interest in YOU, and your life outside the job; did that make you feel, well, _good? _As Mr. Lencioni says, people don't get out of bed to go to work; they get out of bed _to go live their lives. _As we teach in the Street Survival (HOTLINK) seminar, you're a person first, then a cop, and Lencioni tells us that people want to managed as people, not just workers.

Full Article: http://www.policeone.com/patrol-issues/articles/1630004/


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