In this episode of Training Unleashed, Evan speaks with Jacqueline Throop-Robinson, best-selling author, professional speaker and founder of Spark Engagement, about employee engagement and the importance of loving what you do—a passion that Evan and Jacqueline both share.

Jacqueline breaks down the importance of having an internal feeling of passion so that you love what you’re doing. She explained that people need an extremely high sense of meaning in the work they do (the day-to-day tasks) and in the career they have (the what I do). But, meaning alone isn’t enough.

The second ingredient Jacqueline says you need to create passion in yourself is progress: you need to be taking action that gives you forward movement and momentum.

According to Jacqueline, people have a tendency to look for what went wrong and what we have to do next. Progress isn’t always obvious, so you need scan our environment for signals of progress—then mark it and celebrate it.

At work, you can find progress in meaningful feedback—not just the what it is, but the why I’m giving it to you and how you can use it. But you can’t always rely on other people to help you mark your progress. Jacqueline notes that when you start to look at things for yourself, and start to see where there is value and what you do appreciate, you will find that you can make that work experience definitely better.

Jacqueline and Evan have a great conversation about how you can look for these signals of progress in the workplace, and how to incorporate the concept of having the internal feeling of passion into training programs.

Enjoy the interview, and remember to listen to the end to hear Jacqueline’s BIG tip.

Jacqueline’s Giveaway

Jacqueline is offering Training Unleashed listeners an opportunity to get their own individual engagement profile for FREE. Go to https://tryspark.ca/unleashed to access their Spark Engagement Index.

This is a very powerful tool. In just 6 minutes (and 30 questions) you will get an emotional profile that will tell you how you’re feeling about your current work experience, and give you loads of ideas and strategies to action.

About Our Guest

Jacqueline Throop-Robinson is the founder of Spark Engagement as well as a founding partner of Breakthrough Learning, PassionWorks! and 360traction. Her work focuses on inspiring individuals and groups to achieve those goals that matter most by connecting people to purpose and meaning, infusing a love of learning, especially from mis-takes, and showing how to mark and celebrate progress to keep people uplifted and motivated. Her keynotes, workshops, and consulting always support both individual and organizational needs and goals. When aligned, engagement, momentum and results will follow.

Jacqueline holds a BA, BFA, and MA as well as qualifications in adult education. She has numerous accreditations in a wide variety of learning tools and practices. Jacqueline has worked in the learning and development field as well as corporate management for over 25 years. Her clients have included a wide-range of industries around the world from Australia to Singapore to Bermuda to Romania.

Her clients describe her as a “superb facilitator” who is “trustworthy”, “energetic”, and “creative”.