Normally you come across people who are indifferent at work.

People with poor attitude. People who crib about work environment, pressure, bad colleagues, lack of facilities, lack of recognition, poor pay and the list goes on and on.

They are also poor ambassadors for the organization they work for as they generally are also poor in customer service. Some of these people even bad mouth about the company they work for and about colleagues to the visitors and customers which without doubt creates a bad image of the Company.

Very rarely do you come across people who make a difference at work.  Such people love and enjoy what they do.  They have a positive attitude, they are enthusiastic, vibrant, they have solution for every problem, they treat their colleagues as if they are their customers and extend the best service to both the customers and colleagues.

They create a good impression of the Company and ultimately are benefitted by their positive attitude as they will invariably be recognized for their good work.

Talking about people who make a difference at their work, I am reminded of a Chennai City Traffic Policeman by name Mr. Aiyavoo (old timers from Chennai please correct me if I am wrong with the name).

There used to be a four way traffic junction on Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai (previously known as Cathedral Road).   Now they have constructed a flyover at that junction. Before this flyover was constructed about six or seven years back, this junction used to be a high traffic area. Traffic regulation at this junction used to be a nightmare for the traffic police personnel deployed there.

This junction witnessed high traffic even about twenty five years back. While any other traffic policeman would have carried out this stressful job in the ordinary manner, with his stop and go signs and by blowing whistles, Mr. Aiyavoo thought and did his job differently.

It was a treat to watch him regulate traffic using smooth dancer like movements for signaling traffic to stop or go. His traffic regulation was so exciting that many people became his fans and started using that junction just for the pleasure of watching him regulate traffic.

If my memory serves right, he was also featured in The Hindu as well as some of the popular Tamil magazines at that time for his innovative way of traffic regulation. Soon we had few more traffic constables following his style in different parts of the Chennai city.  I do not know if there is any traffic policeman in Chennai using Mr. Aiyavoo style for regulating traffic these days.  If there is one, I can bet he will be enjoying his work even in these heavier traffic times.

Talking about enjoying one’s work and doing the job differently to make it enjoyable, I am reminded of a quote attributed to Mr. Victor Menezes, an Indian IITian who rose to become the Chairman and CEO of Citibank “if you enjoy what you do, you will never work for even a day in your life”.   Mr. Menezes may not be farther away from the bulls eye.

All the great achievers enjoy what they do and that is the reason for their achievement. You just have to love what you do and you will soon start making a difference.

Long back (over 15 years back), I went to Bangkok taking up a job.  That was my first overseas assignment and in just three days flat I started feeling homesick.

Adding to that homesick feeling was the trouble of washing and pressing my clothes as well as cooking. I simply hated doing all these and always compared my luxurious position in India where I could get my food prepared by my wife, have my clothes washed by the servant maid and pressed by the street corner “presswala”.

I was about to present my resignation to move back to India when I met a friend who had been living abroad for a long time and was also widely travelled.

I narrated my plight to him “I have to wash my clothes, I have to cook food, I have to press my clothes, I have to clean my house, I have to travel by bus, I have to walk a distance to the bus terminus” and so on.

My friend looked at me for some time and then said “see the number of have to in what you just said.  When you have something to do, never think that you have to do it.  Rather, start thinking that you want to do it.” “When you have to do something, it is forcing yourself to do it.

You will never like being forced to do something.  Instead, if you want to do something, it is a voluntary act.   There is no force involved.  You will start enjoying what you do and you will never feel burdened by what you do”

I, the person who wanted to return back in three days, stayed for almost two years.

For those of you who want to see what is doing the work differently and enjoy doing it, here is a video of a flight attendant working for Southwest Airlines doing the somewhat boring job of making the announcement about the flight and the safety regulations.

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