| YOUNG AGENTS COMMITTEE |
Love what you do
Focusing on the value you bring to others
brings renewed sense of value to your own work
CAROL VANLEEUWEN
Young Agents Committee President
Y
our work is going to fill a large part of your life, and
the only way to truly be satisfied is to do what you
believe is great work. And the only way to do great
work is to love what you do.” – Steve Jobs
When is the last time you thought to yourself that you
love what you’re doing? If you are putting your heart into
it, it should have been today. What you do with passion,
purpose and commitment, is love.
As I look at the wonderful people I’ve had the pleasure
of meeting in the insurance business, I know one thing
for sure. I see love. I see many people who have put their
heart into their career, and leaving in their wake, very
grateful customers, friends, family and co-workers. Many
great agents before us have set an example for the next
generation. They have achieved so many great things. Not
only do they tirelessly work to meet their own personal
and business goals, but they are doing this primarily for
others.
Truth be told, I don’t always enjoy all aspects of the job.
The phone calls, the emails, the paperwork. None of that
is fun, nor exciting. It’s not what gets me going in the
morning and I don’t look forward to the busy days ahead
of me. But I love what I do. The reason is simple. What I
do is not for me, it’s for others. I do it for my customers,
for my family, for my community. When you have a
greater purpose, the day-to-day tasks that seem not-sofun, might just be a phone call to your customer who is
starting a new business or buying their first home. Don’t
focus on the value that your work offers you. Instead focus
on the value that what you do offers others.
8
I remember my boss asking me how I respond to a
customer who says “Thank you.” How did I respond? I
usually said: “It’s no problem.” “Absolutely.” “You bet.” Or,
just “You’re welcome.” What he said next has stuck with
me since. He said,“I think you should try saying ‘It’s my
pleasure.’”
I never really thought about what my response meant
to someone when I would say whatever it was that I said
following their thank yous. But almost every time since
then, I have said “It’s my pleasure” in response to their
thank yous. And to be honest, it really is. I think about
how I would love hearing someone say that to me when
I say “thank you.” It is my pleasure to help them, to work
with them, to be there for them. And the more I said it,
the more I felt it.
When we are passionate about what we do, we work
harder, learn more, find creative solutions, and inspire
others. And above all else, we, ourselves, are happiest
when we are helping others. Your reward will follow. Your
work may go unrecognized at times, and not everyone will
see the value in what you do. But when you know you are
working for a greater purpose, and when there are many
people who have greatly benefited from your hard work,
you just might find, at the end of the day, that you are
saying to yourself “I love what I do!”
KANSAS INSURANCE AGENT & BROKER |March-April 2015|