I am going to let you in on a little secret. I didn’t set out to snag a position at MHEDA because it was my "passion." In fact, I had no idea MHEDA or even "the material handling industry" existed when I was first approached about working here at the association. It just wasn’t on my radar. But I am extremely passionate about my job and the service I provide to others, including our members, other colleagues and most importantly, the people with whom I work beside day after day. Before writing this column, I went online to do a little research about passion and how leaders cultivate it in their workplace. I was dismayed to learn from an article on gallup.com written by Kenneth A. Tucker that 55% of the US population is not engaged at work and, 16% of the US population is actively disengaged. I was dismayed but unfortunately not surprised. It’s all too often you encounter people who are so obviously unhappy with what they do. Last week, during lunch, I told a co-worker I was running out to one of my least favorite places. She asked, "The dentist?" "No", I replied, "one of my other least favorite places." She then asked "(insert name of cellular phone company here)?" and I said "Yes!" There are certain places we just dread going to because we know it’s going to be a long and frustrating experience dealing with people who don’t want to be there. Side note: my visit to (insert name of cellular phone company here) was refreshingly more positive than it has ever been in the past. I even completed a survey to let them know what a good experience it was and how helpful I found the salesperson to be. There is hope. In […]