Are you engaging?  No, I am not asking about your winning personality.  Rather, I mean being engaged in something that you are passionate about or motivates you.  For those fortunate to have jobs in this tough economy, if you are not truly engaged, you feel like your days are long and that you are just “punching the clock”.

Last week, I was fortunate to attend a presentation (co-sponsored by Coles College’s Executive MBA program) at the Georgian Club by leadership expert Jeremie Kubicek, entitled “Making Leadership Come Alive”.  An important theme of Jeremie’s message was how to address the issue of “dead” employees, and one of his main solutions was to provide opportunities for those employees to be more engaged in what they do.  That is, find a way to complement what your company does with what is important to you and those who work with or for you.  Find the things that you and they are passionate about.

At KSU, we are taking engagement seriously.  After the controversial initial Provost search last year that was chronicled in the pages of the MDJ, we at KSU realized that the local community did not understand us well because were not well enough engaged in that community.  In addition, many of our faculty and staff are energized by participating in activities which improve our community.  Therefore, our President, Dr. Dan Papp, has made engagement a primary strategic initiative on our campus.  A university has a lot to offer its community and we are now making a much more conscious effort to be further vested in that community while further energizing our faculty and staff.

So, if you see that your employees or co-workers are “dead”, try to enliven you and them by being more engaged in the world around you.  See how your company and employees can complement what you do with what you are passionate about.  It will make you more engaging…in many ways!