Philosophy of Work
As a master’s student here at Notre Dame, I have prided myself on building proper habits that I can carry with me into the workforce, and as I continue my path into manhood. This has started with me getting into a daily routine for the school year, which has certainly paid dividends on my structure as a student. As we continue to network with the Notre Dame community throughout our job hunting process, 3 traits I persist to achieve in my work throughout this program and into my career are loyalty, achievement, and creativity. Notre Dame has produced great leaders and community members in the world since 1842, and I feel as if these core values within a leader can help me follow in their footsteps once I wrap up my time in the MSM program.
In the year 2024, I feel as if a lot of people grind out work with the sole purpose of making money. While a goal of mine is to make a lot of money while I work, I value building relationships with my peers as I commit myself to loyalty in the workforce. From a young age, growing up as an only child, I prided myself on making a lot of friends and socializing with others while in school. Loyalty has created inseparable bonds between me, my family, and my friends. Displaying loyalty in the workforce not only builds up trust between you and your coworkers, but will also enhance your performance in the workforce. I also believe that being in a comfortable environment where you can trust your coworkers will relieve a lot of stress when working on team projects. To me, work is defined as you and/or your team putting in the effort to create a positive outcome, and I believe that this cannot be achieved to the fullest potential without individual leaders enhancing this trait.
The next trait that is visible within powerful leaders in the workforce is achievement. All of the great businessmen, coaches, doctors, etc have presented this trait into your work. As humans, we need to set bars and goals for ourselves so we are able to better ourselves each and every day. Chasing goals helps us mark that progress, and achievements rally us to continue doing the great work we are doing. All work that we do should be to better the company we are working at, so we can have an impact on the world around us in our field. Achievement also marks a trait of strong businesses. Many companies list their achievements on their websites and forums making it known to viewers about what their accomplishments are which is extremely important to me. Having a leader that is able to will their team towards a goal is the greatest kind of work, as everyone feels pivotal to the success of the operation.
Lastly, creativity is a trait I believe is essential to have while navigating into the business world. The most effective workers and thinkers are able to think outside the box to find their answers. Although rules are essential, at some points during work, some projects will feel like putting a square peg into a round hole, and when we encounter these difficulties I believe it is important to have someone in charge who can challenge you to think harder to achieve a common goal. Creativity is also a way of putting your own stamp on your work, which is something that is essential to me. Creativity in one’s work has the ability to provide joy in one’s field, as this can feel like a sense of accomplishment and self-satisfaction. During team projects this semester, I hope to provide a sense of comfort to my peers, and help lead our team to achieving our goals by being creative and being open to new ideas from group members on how to present and attack the projects we have in front of us.
As I navigate through the MSM Program this school year, I will continually provide my leadership qualities of loyalty, achievement, and creativity throughout my work to strengthen results and sharpen my skills as I navigate into the business world next year. I believe it is important to have an understanding of what and why we are working as it helps build up these skills and traits within our work. Being an effective leader is something that is very important to me, and I will continue to provide these 3 skills throughout everything I do as it is essential to not only maximizing my own potential, but also maximizing the potential of those around me which will be essential in maximizing the potential of whatever work I encounter in the future.
