Love the job you hate

Happy Thursday,

We're seeing this way too often right now: hard-working leaders valued by their organisations and seen as high potentials, yet internally feeling stagnant and torn between their day-to-day role and the work they really want to be doing. Changing jobs isn't realistic for everyone, especially in this economy. So people feel stuck, motivation drops and disengagement creeps in. Sound familiar? Well, that's where job crafting comes in. HR might not love it, but it works, and you should think about it. Let's dive in.

🧠 LEARN something.

Job crafting has been around in different forms for a while, but it was made popular by a 2010 Harvard Business Review article and real life case studies from Yale researchers Amy Wrzesniewski and Jane Dutton. At its core, job crafting is about turning a job you dislike into a job you enjoy or at least a job you can tolerate so you go home feeling good at the end of the day. All done through a level of nuance, self-enterprise and some inner work. According to the research, effective job crafting focuses on three main areas that can help you reshape your work to better fit your needs, motives, and strengths.

• Task crafting: First is task crafting, where you adjust the type or number of tasks you do to deliberately include more of what you want. For example, a Compliance Manager might get involved in an organisation redesign project, or an Operations Manager might take on a coaching role to grow themselves and others. It’s often the easiest of the three, but many leaders don’t ask and so they never get.

• Relationship crafting: Where tasks are fixed, you can try relational crafting, where you shape who you interact with and what sort of interactions you want more of, outside your core job. For example, a Sales Lead might build stronger ties with the Dev Team to learn the back end of the business, or an Engineer might spend more time with Marketing to spark their creative side. Relationship crafting can also pay huge dividends if you are looking to step up into senior roles in the same company or industry.

• Cognitive crafting: Finally, the third and most powerful, but hardest, is cognitive crafting. This is where you reframe how you see your job and the meaning you attach to it. Like relating your day-to-day work to a greater purpose or cause, or even just acknowledging your current position as an important stepping stone that helps you move toward what you really want next. This internal shift, changes the whole external experience of work.

Together, these strategies help you feel like you are in the driver’s seat without needing to quit or change jobs. Whether you craft a little or a lot, it does not matter. What matters is the feeling of agency to do something. One thing I have learned about high performers I have worked with is they do not complain or wait for permission. They get on with it and shape every role into something they can love and be proud of.

🤔 REFLECT on an idea.

In his book, Crossing the Unknown Sea, Whyte shows how work can pull us into routines and expectations that slowly disconnect us from ourselves. The pressure to deliver can nudge us away from what we love and value without us even noticing. However, with a bit of conscious effort, people can shape their roles so they serve both the organisation and their own sense of purpose, in a way that’s mutually beneficial.

😊 SMILE a little.

“Woke up feeling unstoppable today, then remembered I still work here.” 😅

✅ DO IT to get results.

If you feel stuck, try reshaping just one part of your role in the next two weeks. It does not need to be big, but it does need to be deliberate. As you do this, remember not to do it in isolation. Be open with your Manager about what you are trying to shift and why, and build support by focusing on the additional value your will creates for your team, your customers, your outcomes, and the wider organisation. You taking ownership and crafting your job should not come across as a threat or a zero sum game. In fact, it should do the opposite. It should create more value for you and for the company.

🌱 How we can support you and your team.

We provide strategic leadership solutions tailored to align with your business strategy, size, and budget. We can support your with:

• 1:1 Leadership and Performance Coaching

• Team Coaching, for high performing teams

• 1:1 Health & Lifestyle Coaching for busy stressed leaders.

• Workshops, offsites and team development.

• Or our flagship individual Leadership Coaching Programs.

Kia pai tō wiki

Kenny Bhosale

CEO & Founder, The Bridge Leaders