Talent Talk: I Wish You Looked at Me the Way You Look at Saturday. Love, Monday

With Valentine’s Day coming up, our thoughts turn to those we love. Since you probably spend as much time at work — if not more — than you do with them, what about also taking a moment to ask yourself this question: Do I love my job? Would I buy my job some flowers and take it to a nice romantic dinner, or would it just get a card?

If your relationship with your significant other, kids, or best friend is not everything it could be right now, maybe you should take the lead on improving it. Why not also be proactive with your job? Here are just a few ideas to get you started.

Recognize that how you perform your job is quite different from what your job is. If you are passionate about what you do, it's easy to want to do it well. But even if you do not love the job, you should love how well you do it. At the end of each day, if you can say that you gave it your best effort, that is what is important, much more so than what you are paid, where the company is going, or how your boss is acting.

Suggest an improvement, no matter how small. Ask yourself how you could make a change that would make your job better, faster, or cheaper. Thinking about how to make things better will change the focus from a negative to a positive. Mahatma Gandhi said, "As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him."

If you can say that you have implemented the first two tips, then consider asking for additional responsibilities or even a different role within the company. Is it possible your boss would be surprised to discover that you do not really like what you do? Sometimes moving forward in your career will require changing companies, but I suggest trying these things first.

About the author

Paul Sturgeon is CEO of KLA Industries, a national search firm specializing in plastics, packaging, and polymer technology. If you have a topic you would like to see discussed, a company that is growing, or other ideas for this blog, e-mail Sturgeon at [email protected].