How to find a job that makes you come alive

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” —Howard Thurman That quote from Howard Thurman really resonates with me because there was a period in my career when I wasn’t living it. I hated my job. That was an odd notion because I had enjoyed my career and had held numerous leadership positions. This job brought me back into transportation after a stint in local government. The pay was great and the head of the company pointed to the general manager’s chair and promised I would soon be sitting there. It never happened. Instead, the years went by, and my responsibilities shifted and then shrank until I was doing almost nothing I enjoyed. I became essentially a “paper pusher” doing administrative minutiae and reports. The environment also was stifling, bureaucratic and micromanaged. Once a customer scolded me in a large staff meeting because the tail of my necktie was askew and ordered me to leave the meeting until I straightened it. It was humiliation designed to reinforce a culture of fear and control. Even employee memos required their approval before being posted. The…