Page 47 - Life In Naples Magazine - November 2015
P. 47
DOCTOR’S CORNER
“If a man is called to be a street have a very good chance of success. If
sweeper, he should sweep streets we assess a situation as being hopeless,
even as Michelangelo painted, we are much less likely to want to be
or Beethoven composed music, involved. Being “set up for failure” is a
or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He term which is demoralizing right from
should sweep streets so well that the start.
all the hosts of heaven and earth
will pause to say, here lived a great If we are musically inclined and can
already play an instrument adroitly,
sweeper who did his job well. we are much more likely to learn
how to play a second instrument.
”–Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Or if we have an ear for languages
and are already bilingual in one of
Having a worthwhile professional career is among life’s most the romance languages, we would have much more ambition and
satisfying activities, since most of us spend more time with our aptitude to learn another language. On the other hand, if you just
work and our colleagues than we do with any other activity or got by with high school and college French as I did, then taking
even with our family. on an additional language challenge would be daunting. Even
psychologically believing you would not be successful contributes
Psychologists and human resource professionals say there are mightily to failure.
three components of motivation that help explain our behavior
regarding work, and why we do what we do: EXPECTANCY is our anticipation of what will happen to us
1. Our perceived importance of the work, called “Valence.”
2. Our perceived chances for success, called “Self-Efficacy.” if we find success—in other words, if our patient gets better, our
3. Our expectations for personal reward, called “Expectancy.” student learns, our parishioner is comforted. When we are safe,
free, have adequate food stuffs and material comforts within a
VALENCE refers to the value we place on the work we stable economy, we have the expectation of success.
do. If we believe the work we are doing is extremely important “Who will notice and who will care?” are questions usually asked
we will make many sacrifices. Consider all healthcare work- quietly at the beginning of a work endeavor.
ers from emergency technicians to open heart surgeons and
everyone in between. The importance of saving lives or at least We all expect and deserve recognition. Motivation is likely to suffer
providing comfort when cure is not possible is a primary moti- when we think nobody will notice. Human resources experts in
vation for people in this noble profession. the business world observe that when workers whose productivity
is high are lumped in with workers whose value is low, everyone
Florence Nightingale was the pioneer of modern nursing. While becomes dissatisfied. The task at hand is to reward appropriately.
treating the wounded of the Crimean War, she found that nurses That way, the productive providers of care, education and spiritual
sacrificed their lives due to disease and accidents as often as comfort will continue to improve—and that will have a positive and
soldiers were killed in battle. Also consider our military heroes, direct effect on those who are being served.
police and firefighters who view their profession as protecting
freedom and providing safety for all—and are also willing to On a personal basis, find out what you are good at, and do it. Be
sacrifice everything so others might remain free and safe. passionate about your job, your life, your family—no matter where
you find yourself. You will be better off and more successful.
SELF-EFFICACY refers to the extent that we can be Dr.Martin Luther King,Jr.summed it up with this quote,“If a man is
called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo
successful at work. Motivation is higher when we perceive we painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He
should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will
pause to say, here lived a great sweeper who did his job well.”
We can all do our jobs well. And we should all do our jobs well.
Life in Naples | November 2015 47
