How many employees roll their eyes during meetings when it’s time to discuss new initiatives? How often do they scramble to complete a task not because they love it, but because they’re afraid of the consequences if they don’t? How many mutter “not in my job description” when asked to assume a new responsibility?

These are examples of people whose work is providing them with nothing more than a paycheck. And even though that’s ostensibly why we go to work, it’s not what gets us excited and enthusiastic about what we do.

The solution starts with business leaders and managers, as I explain in my book, The Human Equity Advantage (Jossey-Bass, 2013). If their work is not fulfilling any higher purpose for them than making money, they’re lacking one of the essential qualities necessary for helping their employees become engaged—and for keeping engaged employees enthusiastic.

You need to step back and assess your own situation. Are you driven more by your fears—of not being able to pay your bills, of losing your job, of failing? Or are you driven by the knowledge that you, like every one of us, have the capacity to do amazing things?

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