Are You Enthusiastic About Your Career?
You may be enthusiastic about your time off, your hobbies, or your favorite sports team, but are you enthusiastic about your career?
Enthusiasm is one of the fourteen Marine Corps leadership traits that is defined as “The display of sincere interest and exuberance in the performance of duty.”1
Do I always have to be enthusiastic?
I invested thirty-seven years of my life in the fire service and there were times when I was not enthusiastic about a particular task or response.
Let’s be honest with ourselves. It is hard to be enthusiastic when you respond to the same commercial fire alarm multiple times in a 48-hour period because the building owners won’t repair the system.
Every job in the world has the mundane, the boring, and the tedious tasks that must be done, but are not enjoyable.
But I am not writing about the isolated portions of a vocation that we do not like. I am addressing the overall scope of your career.
Leaders demonstrate sincere interest in their career.
Demonstrating a sincere interest in anything fuels enthusiasm and that can spread to others like a wildfire burning upslope on a hot, windy, sunny day, with low humidity.
Enthusiastic leaders understand:
- the significance of their position in the organization.
- their influence on subordinates.
- the value of a healthy work environment.
- that the exciting and interesting aspects of the career are intermingled with the ordinary.
What about you?
Are you enthusiastic about your career? As firefighters and fire officers, do you truly understand the privilege it is to serve others? Are you influencing those around you in a positive manner?
Are you taking an interest in your career? I have a book in my collection titled The Romance of Firefighting.2 The author provides a colorful and interesting history of firefighting in America and details the various aspects that draw people to firefighting. What drew you to this profession?
Fuel your enthusiasm!
Leaders are enthusiastic about their career, and they take the necessary steps to professionally develop. The Fire Officer Leadership Academy offers membership in Tailboard Talks where you can grow and flourish among like-minded individuals. Click this link and join today: Officer Development – Fire Officer Leadership Academy
2Robert S. Holzman, The Romance of Firefighting, (New York: Bonanza Books, 1956)
©2023 Rick Davis. Artificial intelligence (AI) WAS NOT used to generate this content.
