05/18/2011
Welcome to my weekly blog. Each week, I will share some insight on topics such as goal setting, personal improvement, leadership and soft skills (dealing with people). The information shared will be from my 10+ years in working with personal and leadership development. From time to time I will have “guest” bloggers sharing their knowledge and insight.
Feel free to share your thoughts and how this info has helped you.
Enjoy!
“Whack A Mole”
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You’ve seen the game played at family amusement restaurants. It seemed goofy. It appeared a harmless dumb game. But what if you are the mole being whacked?
All too often we feel that we are the mole being whacked the minute we stick our head up above the crowd.
First, allow me to say that I am NOT choosing sides. Situations vary from employer to supervisor / manager to employee.
What I have learned is that there almost always is ONE piece of information one is NOT aware of – that changes the whole perspective of looking at a problem or issue.
Some may say, “If you are going to get whacked on the head anyway – why poke your head out of the hole?”
Well, that is a defeatist attitude for one. This type of attitude will get you nowhere. No advancement. No raise (other than a cost of living adjustment).
Let’s look a little deeper. If you are paid by the hour – then you are paid for what you bring to the table. Want more pay? Bring more to the table. Bring more knowledge, education, creativity, or skill – and you will get noticed.
If you are being paid for 8 hours of work – then work the full 8 hours. No surfing the Internet for e-bay bargains, Facebooking friends, making personal calls or texting on company time. Save those things for when you are on your break or lunch hour.
If you are a salaried employee – you are paid for the problems you can solve. You want to be paid more? Learn the skills and techniques to solve bigger problems.
It has been said that most people work hard enough to keep themselves from getting fired…..and are paid just enough to keep them from quitting.
Getting back to the original point – avoiding being whacked – some may deliberately set themselves up to keep their head from rising above the herd.
Work slow-down by an employee is a form of cheating the company. Intentionally slowing down your pace is wrong. And, verbally slapping the company is very counter-productive. Encouraging discouragement is also wrong.
You have a contract, whether written or verbal with the employer who provides your paycheck. The agreement is – you will be there for X amount of hours, doing the work / task you were hired to do. In exchange for that – you receive X amount of dollars. That’s the terms you agreed to.
You were not hired to gossip about the employer. You were not contracted to discourage your co-workers.
Now, let’s flip things a little.
Standing out among the crowd is not being a “suck up”, a “brown noser” or a “butt kisser”. Those are terms used by critics. And, remember, no one ever built a statue dedicated to a critic.
Everyone in upper management or in a CEO type of position stood out in the crowd. They did something that separated them from the pack.
You want a promotion? You want more money? Then do something that makes you “extra” ordinary.
Start by changing your outlook, your demeanor, or your attitude.
NOTE - Nearly all people in high levels of companies have done things that also got them whacked on the head once or twice. They also have failed at things several times.
When you fall – get up.
When you get whacked on the head – keep forging forward. Keep coming up with fresh ideas, new concepts, new methods, creative ways for the company to run more efficiently.
Look, quite often the hard hats are NOT the ones who get whacked by the mallet for a new idea. They are usually the ones who get hit by the big boom when the company down-sizes, restructures, moves, or closes completely.
Have a good week
Ron
Feel free to share your thoughts and how this info has helped you.
Enjoy!
“Whack A Mole”
You’ve seen the game played at family amusement restaurants. It seemed goofy. It appeared a harmless dumb game. But what if you are the mole being whacked?
All too often we feel that we are the mole being whacked the minute we stick our head up above the crowd.
First, allow me to say that I am NOT choosing sides. Situations vary from employer to supervisor / manager to employee.
What I have learned is that there almost always is ONE piece of information one is NOT aware of – that changes the whole perspective of looking at a problem or issue.
Some may say, “If you are going to get whacked on the head anyway – why poke your head out of the hole?”
Well, that is a defeatist attitude for one. This type of attitude will get you nowhere. No advancement. No raise (other than a cost of living adjustment).
Let’s look a little deeper. If you are paid by the hour – then you are paid for what you bring to the table. Want more pay? Bring more to the table. Bring more knowledge, education, creativity, or skill – and you will get noticed.
If you are being paid for 8 hours of work – then work the full 8 hours. No surfing the Internet for e-bay bargains, Facebooking friends, making personal calls or texting on company time. Save those things for when you are on your break or lunch hour.
If you are a salaried employee – you are paid for the problems you can solve. You want to be paid more? Learn the skills and techniques to solve bigger problems.
It has been said that most people work hard enough to keep themselves from getting fired…..and are paid just enough to keep them from quitting.
Getting back to the original point – avoiding being whacked – some may deliberately set themselves up to keep their head from rising above the herd.
Work slow-down by an employee is a form of cheating the company. Intentionally slowing down your pace is wrong. And, verbally slapping the company is very counter-productive. Encouraging discouragement is also wrong.
You have a contract, whether written or verbal with the employer who provides your paycheck. The agreement is – you will be there for X amount of hours, doing the work / task you were hired to do. In exchange for that – you receive X amount of dollars. That’s the terms you agreed to.
You were not hired to gossip about the employer. You were not contracted to discourage your co-workers.
Now, let’s flip things a little.
Standing out among the crowd is not being a “suck up”, a “brown noser” or a “butt kisser”. Those are terms used by critics. And, remember, no one ever built a statue dedicated to a critic.
Everyone in upper management or in a CEO type of position stood out in the crowd. They did something that separated them from the pack.
You want a promotion? You want more money? Then do something that makes you “extra” ordinary.
Start by changing your outlook, your demeanor, or your attitude.
NOTE - Nearly all people in high levels of companies have done things that also got them whacked on the head once or twice. They also have failed at things several times.
When you fall – get up.
When you get whacked on the head – keep forging forward. Keep coming up with fresh ideas, new concepts, new methods, creative ways for the company to run more efficiently.
Look, quite often the hard hats are NOT the ones who get whacked by the mallet for a new idea. They are usually the ones who get hit by the big boom when the company down-sizes, restructures, moves, or closes completely.
Have a good week
Ron
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