The dirty jobs philosophy of success

Mike Rowe, host of “Dirty Jobs” on the Discovery Channel, gave a TED talk in 2008.

He talks about what is wrong with the common adage “if you want to succeed, follow your passion.” He reflects on a pig farmer in Las Vegas who uses casino food scraps to feed his pigs and how this smelly man has become a multi-millionaire.

“He stepped back, watched where everyone else was going, and he went the other way,” says Rowe. He goes on to say how well adjusted and happy many of his dirty jobs subjects are and how not many of them “followed their passions.”

This is the story of many of us at IBEX (including me). A biologist doing HR, a social worker leading customer service, a football coach systems expert, a certified CPA doing advanced customer support, a bank manager doing accounting and an electrical engineer payroll expert – all led by a computer geek with no formal business or leadership background. Not the group you would expect to find happily building a successful payroll company. None of us followed our passion to success. We found success in our passion for helping others.

Maybe success lies not in what you do, but in why you do it.

IBEX Payroll extends our profound respect and immeasurable gratitude to all the ancestors and keepers of the land on whose traditional territories our work takes place. We acknowledge that we are on Treaty 1 territory, the traditional gathering place of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene people and the traditional homeland of the Métis people. This land is sacred, historical, and significant.

Every time we acknowledge this truth, we have an invitation and an opportunity to reflect on the wrongs of the past, what we do in the present, and what we can do to continually honour the people whose lands and water we benefit from today.

This statement only acts as a first step in honouring the land we reside on and its peoples, and must be paired with education, understanding and informed action.