Love It, Don't Leave It

I spent hours helping him work through workplace dilemmas. Eventually, he changed careers and landed his first job as a high school teacher. Six months later he approached me at a meeting and said, “Because of you, I’m losing sleep at night.” I said, “Oh, no, why is that?” He said, “I love my work so much that I wake up thinking about what I plan to do in the classroom the next day. Thank you again for all of your help.”

I wasn’t paid for the work I did with him. Yet I feel a tremendous sense of reward. That feeling is renewed every time he receives acclaim from his school or forwards a student’s thank-you email.

Sure, money matters. Our paychecks ...