Attitudes towards Work – 18 May 2010

‘She is so involved’ said the eminent scholar about one of his teachers. History teachers who teach with understanding and passion are hard to find and therefore it is claimed to be one of the most boring subjects by students! The subject of history is actually one of the most relevant subjects to one’s life and enriches the personality to know about the world. The attitude and commitment of the teacher makes it interesting or boring. So it was the teacher’s attitude of total commitment and dedication to her work and her strong identification with the work that made all the difference to her teaching.

Take another example of Mihir who is a sales manager and an average performer on his job. He often feels like a misfit and wishes to do something else but is not sure what he would like to do. He is regular in his work and he is generally known to be sincere and honest but a simple guy. He takes his work seriously but is unclear about his long term work goals and does not seem to care too much about it. After work he spends his free time roaming around with his friends and family. He sometimes feels that friends and time spent with them is more interesting and satisfying than working. What a pity! People like Mihir may never go places and are more likely to remain in mediocrity all their lives. His attitude towards work is that work is necessary and important but not a pleasure or a mission. Such an attitude is slightly positive and slightly negative in content. 

On the same continuum on the negative extreme is Varun. He is the pampered only son of his father who is a middle class person. Varun has grown up having all his needs met and that too without having to work hard for anything. His output in studies was average too and he did not care about it. With his low motivation for any type of hard work he spent his time with friends and bad habits. He loved money but did not know how to work for it. Anyway he had always been supplied with enough money by his father who doted on him. The fact did not bother him that he was spending his father’s money. He disliked work and could bring himself to get into a stable job. He kept shifting and job hopping all the time finding various faults with each assignment! He sometimes wondered what was wrong with him but often felt that the world was a cruel place. 

Attitude towards work defines the human individual and his personality. There are three categories which have been recognised. One category is of people who identify themselves strongly with their work and are fully integrated with it. The work is not just a job for them but their vocation, their calling which gives them immense pleasure and they define themselves with it completely. This is the most positive category of people who contribute to scientific, economic development and to the progress of society. The second type is the one where a job is important for economic reasons and has to be done well. But they do not define themselves through it and their identities are not completely merged with it. Here the attitude is slightly negative as it is not totally positive. A large category of people would perhaps fall in this type. The third type is where work is a liability and a hindrance so to say but he has to work because he needs the money! This is the most negative category where work is looked down upon as a nuisance or a necessary evil! This complete disregard for work makes the attitude negative in nature.

You could decide and choose which category you belong to or would like to belong to! That would decide your social worth

Published in The Hitavada Future – 18 May 2010

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