True story. An executive gave up his six-digit annual salary to pursue a career as a stand-up comedian. As part of his bit he offers this perspective on his professional journey stating, “Why would I want to earn $300 a day when I could earn that in a week?” (It’s much funnier when delivered by the comedian, whose name I can’t remember.) Financial gain was evidently not at the top of his list of motivators.
Motivators are powerful. In the professional realm they carry you through the rough days and drive you to reinvest your efforts in the work before you with vigor. If the inherent rewards of your chosen profession align with your personal motivators, you are well positioned to have a career that fuels you through the short-lived challenges that come with any profession and into a decades-long career.
One of the top motivators common to healthcare interpreters is a drive for continued learning. This is good news because the work of the interpreter is contingent upon continuous learning. It is such an important component of an interpreter’s work that it is an expectation written into the code of ethics. This means that the work requirements of the job align with the natural motivators of the people doing the job. This is good news because not only do interpreters have to pursue continuous learning, they want to do so.
When your individual motivators align with the inherent rewards of your chosen profession, you are well positioned to have a meaningful, long-sustained career. When your employees are naturally motivated to do the work before them, you are well positioned to have a team that thrives and drives the department through thick and thin.
If you are a healthcare interpreter, how are you feeding your desire to learn new things?
If you are a manger of healthcare interpreters, how are you capitalizing on your interpreters’ drive to learn as a way to motivate and revitalize them in their work?