COMMENTARY: Making work your favorite Published March 7, 2014 By Lt. Col. Kevin Parker 100th Civil Engineer Squadron commander RAF MILDENHALL, England -- "I love my job... I love my job" is a tune one of my former squadron commanders would often sing as he walked around the squadron. I was never sure if he really meant it or if he was trying to convince himself it was true. As I am now in a similar job, I freely admit there are plenty of days that have a full quota of challenges and headaches. I believe squadron command is not unique in that regard and every job has its own unique set of challenges. Recognizing that every day is not a picnic, I can say I really do love my job (even if I don't sing it). What makes someone love their job? Hopefully, you don't seek leadership examples from Will Ferrell movies, but "Elf" did have a scene addressing the topic. Buddy the Elf enthusiastically tells his boss, "Christmas is my favorite." The Gimbel's Department Store manager replies sternly, "Make work your favorite... work is your new favorite." Unfortunately, job satisfaction is not something you can order or mandate. It's an internal assessment for each individual. Author Simon Sinek encourages businesses in his book "Start with Why" (formerly on the Chief of Staff of the Air Force's Reading List) to focus less on what they do and more on why they do what they do. He assesses that customers are more drawn to the why than the what and uses Harley Davidson and Apple as examples. To take that concept a step further, I believe the key to job satisfaction is connecting why we do what we do with how we do it, or more importantly, how well we do it. If you believe what you do -- or what you are a part of -- is important, then you will naturally want to do your job well. When barriers and obstacles hinder you or your organization from performing well, you will want to solve and overcome them if you believe the why is important. Everyone in military service has taken an oath with their right hand raised before a flag and stated our why aloud. It's great to see those who re-enlist or get promoted recite the oath again and re-affirm their commitment to the why. At a deployed location, I saw several framed posters of the horrific scene of one of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center towers on 9/11. The posters stated in large print, "That's Why!" They were intended to be a reminder of why we were serving and why the current operations mattered to our nation. One leader replaced the twin towers in his poster with a photo of his children, leaving the same "That's Why!" label in place. Part of his why was ensuring a safe and free future for his children. If we don't consider why we serve occasionally, it's easy to feel like our service is just a job. Things like force shaping, government bureaucracy and personality differences can distract us from doing our mission well. I encourage you to consider why you chose to serve and why you continue to make that choice to serve, because it will make you want to do your job better and make us a better Air Force. Martin Luther King, Jr. claimed that doing your job well was a part of a complete life when he said, "If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, go on out and sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures; sweep streets like Handel and Beethoven composed music; sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry; sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will have to pause and say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well.'" When you connect your why with the what that you do and let it drive how well you do it, work will quickly become "your favorite."