As the escalator crested to the second floor of the convention center, Ken stepped off and headed straight for the cluster of armchairs off to the right. Relieved, he sat and looked at his watch: 30 minutes to midnight. 'No wonder I'm beat,' he thought. And then, 'What am I doing here? Working crazy hours to make Warner look good? It isn't worth it anymore.'
Because people are
perceptive, the truth
does get out, and
giving it your all
is almost always
a great choiceJust then he saw Peter hop off the escalator and start to make the turn to go up to Three. Spotting Ken by the window, Peter brightened, changed course and headed over to say hello, motioning to the woman behind him to follow.
"Gina, meet Ken Mersereau, Diamond Square. Ken, Gina Chang."
Ken stood and smiled. "Ah, yes, I attended your talk," Ken said as they shook hands. "Enjoyed it."
"Ken Mersereau…" Gina began, "…so you're the one who makes Warner look so good."
Ken was stunned. He didn't think anyone knew. "Well, I try, but that really isn't my main goal," he said. Suddenly he was glad that he'd decided to give it his all.
Holding back because you work for a credit thief is probably not your best strategy. Because people are perceptive, the truth does get out, and giving it your all is almost always a great choice. Here are three things to keep in mind as you decide how much of yourself to throw into a job.
- Don't hold back to get even
- Restraining yourself because of past or current injustice only confirms the (incorrect) low opinion others have of you. If you aren't appreciated, address the problem directly with the offenders. If that's impossible or if it fails, either do your job the best you can, or find another. Doing your job half-heartedly hurts you more than anyone else.
- Work for yourself first
- Praise or even adulation from others makes most of us feel good, but feeling wonderful yourself about the job you're doing is even better. Practice self-appreciation until you get really good at it. You'll probably find that appreciating yourself for something feels hollow unless you've given it your all.
- Give only what you've got
- Giving more than you've got isn't giving your all — it's giving what's not yours. You could be stealing from yourself, when you give up your time off; from your loved ones, when you deprive them of your full Self; or from colleagues, when you take unethical shortcuts.
When you give it your all (and only your all), a wonderful thing happens. You feel the peace that comes from knowing that this planet is a better place for your having lived on it. Top
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Love the work but not the job? Bad boss, long commute, troubling ethical questions, hateful colleague? This ebook looks at what we can do to get more out of life at work. It helps you get moving again! Read Go For It! Sometimes It's Easier If You Run, filled with tips and techniques for putting zing into your work life. Order Now!
More about achieving goals
Corrales Mentales [July 4, 2001]
- Perhaps you've achieved every goal you've ever set yourself, but if you're like most of us, some important goals have remained elusive. Maybe you had bad luck, or you weren't in the right place at the right time. But it's just possible that you got in your own way. Getting out of your own way can help make things happen.
Commitment Makes It Easier [October 16, 2002]
- When you face obstacles, sometimes the path around or through them is difficult. Committing yourself to the path lets you focus all your energy on the path you've chosen.
Beyond WIIFM [August 13, 2003]
- Probably the most widely used tactic of persuasion, "What's In It For Me," or WIIFM, can be toxic to an organization. There's a much healthier approach that provides a competitive advantage to organizations that use it.
Your Wishing Wand [October 8, 2003]
- Wishing — for ourselves, for others, or for all — helps us focus on what we really want. When we know what we really want, we're ready to make the little moves that make it happen. Here's a little user's guide for your wishing wand.
Knowing Where You're Going [April 20, 2005]
- Groups that can't even agree on what to do can often find themselves debating about how to do it. Here are some simple things to remember to help you focus on defining the goal.
Workplace Myths: Motivating People [July 19, 2006]
- Up and down the org chart, you can find bits of business wisdom about motivating people. We generally believe these theories without question. How many of them are true? How many are myths? What are some of these myths and why do they persist?
Astonishing Successes [January 31, 2007]
- When we have successes that surprise us, we do feel good, but beyond that, our reactions are sometimes self-defeating. What happens when we experience unanticipated success, and how can we handle it better?
Achieving Goals: Inspiring Passion and Action [February 14, 2007]
- Achieving your goals requires both passion and action. Knowing when to emphasize passion and when to emphasize action are the keys to managing yourself, or others, toward achievement.
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Related articles
More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:
Appreciate Differences
- In group problem solving, diversity of opinion and healthy, reasoned debate ensure that our conclusions
take into account all the difficulties we can anticipate. Lock-step thinking — and limited debate
— expose us to the risk of unanticipated risk.
Smart Bookshelves
- If you like to browse in bookstores, you probably know the thrill of new ideas and new perspectives.
When I find a book worth reading, I want to own it, and that's how it gets to my shelf. Here are some
tips to help you read more of what you really want to read.
Let's Revise Our Rituals
- Throughout the workday, we interact with each other on many levels. Some exchanges are so common and
ritualized that we're no longer aware of them. If we revise these rituals slightly, we can add some
zing to our lives.
The Deck Chairs of the Titanic: Obvious Waste
- Among the most futile and irrelevant actions ever taken in crisis is rearranging the deck chairs of
the Titanic, which, of course, never actually happened. But in the workplace, we engage in
activities just as futile and irrelevant, often outside our awareness. Recognition is the first step
to prevention.
How to Get Out of Firefighting Mode: II
- We know we're in firefighting mode when a new urgent problem disrupts our work on another urgent problem,
and the new problem makes it impossible to use the solution we thought we had for some third problem
we were also working on. Here's Part II of a set of suggestions for getting out of firefighting mode.
See also Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness for more related articles.
Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout
Coming July 23: Microdelegation
- Microdelegation is a style of delegation in which the delegator unintentionally communicates the task to the subordinate in such detail and so repetitively that the subordinate is offended. As a result of this delegation style, many subordinates feel distrusted or suspected of fraud or goldbricking. Available here and by RSS on July 23.
And on July 30: What the Dunning-Kruger Effect Actually Is
- Although the Dunning-Kruger Effect is widely recognized, people describe it — and understand it — in many different ways. Some of these expressions are misleading. Proceed with caution. Available here and by RSS on July 30.
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