The idea of a calling has become moralized, making it seem superior to seeing work as a job. This creates a bias where those who express passion for their work are perceived as better performers and more deserving of promotions, even when their output is identical to others.
Related Insights
A listener with all the markers of a great job—good pay, respect, work-life balance—feels unfulfilled solely because he compares it to others who seem to have a calling. This one missing piece "seems to undermine all the other positive things."
The concept of a "calling" originated from religious vocations. Its application to secular work is a recent phenomenon, gaining traction with the rise of knowledge work in the 80s and 90s and peaking in the early 2000s, shifting the focus from divine service to personal fulfillment.
The flip side of passion is that employees with a strong calling can be tough colleagues. Their intense commitment can manifest as hyper-criticism towards leaders, coworkers, and decisions that conflict with their personal vision, leading to strained team dynamics.
Individuals with a powerful sense of calling often develop an overinflated view of their own talent. This "career tunnel vision" makes them resistant to discouraging feedback, even from trusted mentors, causing them to pursue high-risk career paths without objective assessment.
Passion has a dark side in the workplace. Highly passionate individuals are often less likely to negotiate their salary because they worry that bringing up money will make others doubt the authenticity of their commitment. This can lead to them being underpaid and exploited.
Society elevates pursuing passion to a moral good, which makes people feel they are 'bad' if they don't have one or choose to leave one. This pressure can trap individuals in unsuitable roles and denigrates other valid, meaningful life paths.
View the workplace not as a place to prove you are moral, but as an experimental lab. The constant pressures of evaluation, deadlines, and power dynamics don't corrupt ethics—they reveal how one's ethical judgment actually functions in real-time. It’s a space for observing our reactions, not performing a role.
Employees who view their work as a calling are more willing to accept lower pay and make financial sacrifices. This passion makes them susceptible to exploitation, as organizations can implicitly substitute the promise of meaningful work for fair compensation and sustainable working conditions.
If you view work as a calling while your partner sees it as just a job, this "incongruence" can lead to tension, longer job searches, and lower job satisfaction. This mismatch in core values around work is a significant but often overlooked factor in relationship and career dynamics.
The modern idea that work should provide fulfillment is a recent concept that enables exploitation. As author Sarah Jaffe explains, it encourages workers to accept poor pay and blurred boundaries because the 'love' for the job is treated as a form of payment, allowing employers to capitalize on passion and creativity.
