So why are we still working in positions we don’t like? Dunn says many of us believe we don’t deserve to be happy at our jobs; that a job is something we do because we have to rather than because we want to. Dunn points out that approximately 75 percent of people have experienced some sort of trauma or betrayal in their lives, many of whom turn out to be bosses that believe higher incomes will relieve emotional stress at work. This attention focused on pay for distress and toxicity verges on exploitation, which is where we find ourselves today.

Fortunately, not all employers are content with disgruntled employees. That’s where Dunn and his team from the Dream Leader Institute come in. 

One of the first exercises Dunn conducts with a new organization is asking how each employee would rate his/her current job satisfaction from 1 to 10. He often gets low numbers, which leads him to ask, “What does a 10 out of 10 look like?” Most people, employees and employers alike, don’t know the answer to this question. Some employers, Dunn says, don’t want their teams to find out what this looks like because it may not fit within their current plans. If this is the case, Dunn suggests the employer help their employee discover what their 10-out-of-10 position is, as this could lead to more dedicated and happy employees overall.

Individual dreams make up the collective dreams (or purpose) of the company. Before a company can reach its highest potential, it must step back and find each employee’s working dream. When asked how to accomplish this, Dunn uses an example of his old colleague, who believed himself to be worthless after his father abandoned him.

After an argument with his mother, the colleague took his SATs in order to go to college, which came back with a total score of 1480 out of 1600. With this score, the colleague no longer felt worthless and continued on to college, where he got his degree and eventually started a profitable company. Years later, an audit revealed his scores to be 760 instead of 1480.

Despite this score, the colleague’s attitude never changed. Dunn points out that this mindset is important for all employees to have, that they believe their job title or grade or degree does not define them; their behaviors and attitudes do. Because of the impact job titles and social status have on our identities, employers must recognize that employees are humans who need to feel valued before the company can grow, progress, and innovate.

At the Dream Learning Institute, Dunn offers companies and individuals courses from the business’s own curriculum to fight the disengagement many employees struggle with. Not only does this promote healthy work communication, but recognizing an employee’s worth can help reimagine the attitude towards work.