You know how you tend to surround yourself with people just like yourself? While it may be fun, it might not result in the best team. James Standen’s approach and his comparison to the Irish potato famine is insightful.
http://vimeo.com/35911261
How did that feel, being told you’re an idiot and then being told to work harder? Great motivator wasn’t it? Frankly some people can take criticism but most people can’t. It’s no good for their self esteem. I don’t mind criticism and I have one good friend who really likes it. So guess what? He dishes it out all the time. Earth to reader:
I sat at one boardroom table, full of prominent people and wondered how they had all been successful, really successful. Then one day it hit me. You left every meeting with one of them feeling better about yourself. What was the key? They didn’t criticize. They still managed to get the point across that you had screwed up. So how did they do that and how can you?
Don’t criticize. Set higher expectations and let the person know that better results are possible and thus expected.
Do you ever look at your CEO, your boss, or perhaps a politician and wonder, Why isn’t that me? After all, you’re smart, talented, and funny. You get along with people and get results. I do this from time to time, particularly with politicians, wondering why it’s not me giving that speech. Then I remind myself; that wasn’t one of my objectives.
Simple to say and frankly the difference between you and the CEO. It was her objective and it hasn’t been yours. If you want to be the boss, a politician, a writer or a movie star then you have to step up and make that an objective. Set that as a goal. No one’s going to give you your dream. You’re going to have to figure out your dream, set it as a goal and diligently work towards achieving it. Every day you have to ask yourself:
While taking work home was commonplace years ago, allowing your personal life to intrude on the office was not something that was tolerated. It was very uncommon for people to take personal calls at work and spending time doing household related chores at work was not acceptable. The advent of the working couple changed that dynamic in that it forced people to have to use working hours to get personal tasks accomplished. Perhaps the social contract has changed to accommodate this in that work is generally acknowledging that the requirement to get some work done at home is balanced by the right to get some personal chores done while at work. While this change may have been accepted in some work places however, the feeling is not prevalent and there are still those workplaces that promote workers getting work done at home while denying them the right to get personal work done during the work day. Unfortunately, firms will need to specifically address this imbalance if they want to maintain good relations with workers.
We can choose whether we are contented or upset at work. Joanne Thomsen explains her perspective on choosing your perspective.
http://vimeo.com/35911457