Working.

So I am currently taking a break, but I just wanted to say that I am very, very lucky to have the job that I do. I get to work very closely with veterans groups and those who want to do research to improve conditions for veterans at school and upon entrance into the civilian job market. I love it; I love getting to raise awareness, figuring out where those connections are, making things happen, and helping people. Seiously. Everything about working for SNVC and Aurora makes sense to me, and I am so fortunate that I love what I do.

And to just add to the joy, I got a phone call today from someone interested in becoming my roommate in Manassas! Very cool, right? She's from Michigan and went to MIT and spent the past few years in South Korea and has worked with both college and student ministries before; seriously would be awesome if she worked out. And there are so many people seriously interested in moving into the room in Arlington. I don't have a lot of stuff, so I anticipate this being the easiest move on the planet.

And speaking of college & youth ministry, I have the privilege of interning this summer for my church with the student ministry, so I get to not only work with college kids (and I'm praying very seriously about whether or not God wants me to actually do more speaking there... slightly horrifying). But I get to just have an open door for the students to hang out in their hometown of Manassas, and there's so much vision for really cool events that we get to do this summer to just bring students out to the church and hear about Jesus. Love it.

Alright. Had to get this out while I keep chugging along. I got to be the "Team Lead" for one of our Workforce Creativity Teams - I'm in charge of the Rewards team, and we are charged with finding better ways to reward employees who bring value and success to the client. I'm reading this really cool article now about how the idea of a "reward" at work has changed throughout the generations. And it makes sense; where it used to be that the older generations valued a pay increase or a bonus or the guarantee of a promostion, the younger generations are more inclined to desire a sense of achievement, or something they can be proud of. And it makes sense; we are the generations that were all brought up as winners, so if you make something into a competition for people my age, they won't really care as much as someone who is older would. What younger workers will care about is the sense of pride and achievement they will receive genuinely from their superiors - that is the motivation for them to keep doing a good job and find ways to improve.

Interesting that people care more about the feelings they are awarded than the actual tangible rewards of money. I know its true for me; one time, my boss took me out to lunch to personally thank me for doing a good job on a project, and that genuine way of saying "thank you" meant so much more to me than a financial incentive coming in the mail. I'm reading a book called "Drive" by Daniel Pink right now, and I'm supposed to start reading "The Carrot Principle" soon. I just ordered it, so we'll see how that goes. But all the psychology behind what makes people better workers is very interesting to me. So now I get to help figure out ways to make our company's reward policy better than it already is. Tall order, considering its already phenomenal.

Well, I need to get back to work. Today was pretty cool.