To me it seems obvious. My work matters. I work within the security field. I have for many years now.
The early years of my career were filled with rewarding work within Security Management, Investigations, and Operations. My work protected people. Good people like employees, customers, vendors, and others benefited from life safety and physical security systems I managed and directed. My work investigated and addressed challenges in the workplace like sexual harassment, employee fraud, and organized crime. I trained staff in workplace safety, being first responders and even self-defense training.
To some, a job is a job. A career is a career. Essentially, time is put in – pay is received – and there is little to no emotional attachment or motivation beyond the simple “show up, do what you must to earn a living, and call it good.”
I am not wired that way. I never have been.
Fast forward to the last 15 years of my career. Still within the security field, yet charged with selling and advising on physical security and life safety solutions. Working within security integration, then security distribution, and now with a security manufacturer. And, happily, with every position I knew my work mattered. Daily.
Today, my work matters more than ever. And that motivates me. I get that not everyone is “wired” that way. In fact, I’ve seen highly successful people in the industry who make no bones about their motivation being plain and simple – a paycheck. Their career is solely a “means to an end.” Nothing more. I cannot fault them for this. I merely recognize we approach our work in very different ways.
For me, in my current role, my work matters when I know that the locking solutions and technology I sell help a kid keep their cell phone secure in a locker. It helps a healthcare provider keep patient files private. A family has peace of mind on vacation due to the locks I provided on a rooftop cargo carrier. My technology increases the simplicity and level of security in a school. A cancer patient knows their valuables are secure when they are dealing with much larger issues. And the use cases for what I do and who I help are ever increasing. And – for me – that has made all the difference.