Lately, a few words occupy my mind.................culpability, liability, responsibility, capability, possibility......I think of these words as the "itys". In no way are they small, however. Most of the complaints I've had or heard from others in the last few months center on this list of ity words, and I can add integrity to the list before I get much further into my rant.
What amounts to integrity for many people actually is deniability. The coworker who can never get to work on time or who always has an excuse for poor work performance................deniability. This person wants to deny the bad behavior and often uses a deflecting tool to try to shift the focus away from the lack of integrity. It's a quite comical charade.............sorta like a tennis match.........poor behavior - excuse - counter measure - deflection. I have learned over the last couple years that some people will NEVER have a sense of work ethics, never.
What then happens is that the few with very strong work ethics tend to carry the load, so to speak, but not always graciously. Burnout.............we've all heard it. We have all seen and heard it. Some of us, me included, have experienced it. My anger appears when I get burned out because in the depths of my spirit, I believe that burnout is just another way to return the ball of liability across the net to the the opposing team. I truly believe that a professional acts to protect him/herself from burnout. In order to do so, one must recognize that burnout not only exists but to also admit when he/she experiences it.
At my office, I am known as the one who will tell it to you straight. This is interesting, because bosses only want to to hear it straight when the truth supports a position. A coworker wrote the following on our message board a couple weeks ago:
The truth is the truth, even if no one believes it.
A lie is a lie, even if everyone believes it.
How true. I think about all the Germans who turned a blind eye to the mass deportation / execution of over 10 million persons during the Holocaust. Talk about a lack of responsibility. I can understand motivations, but when I take a stance on an issue, even if I have to work very hard to maintain that stance, I think of the cattle trains that rolled through Europe. None of us can say for sure what we would do...........I know I couldn't; and I am not on a soap box. I am simply making some observations.
Because I feel it is essential to provide solutions the problems we see and report, let me offer one. Boot camp for professionals...........ha ha. I am serious. Somewhere along the way of our public school educations, we completely miss out on training for handling ourselves professionally. Athletics used to be a great way to teach leadership and development to students, but sadly, sports figures today are among the worse offenders for professional behavior. Where are the role models for our upcoming workforce? Most office conflicts arise from frustrations brought on by things like cleanliness, attitude and work product. How hard is it, for example, to pick up after oneself?
I know I've slacked off at work in the last year because having a solid work product is not a current priority for our department. The sublt nuances of shifting priorities and tentative alliances continues to allude me.
What then happens is that the few with very strong work ethics tend to carry the load, so to speak, but not always graciously. Burnout.............we've all heard it. We have all seen and heard it. Some of us, me included, have experienced it. My anger appears when I get burned out because in the depths of my spirit, I believe that burnout is just another way to return the ball of liability across the net to the the opposing team. I truly believe that a professional acts to protect him/herself from burnout. In order to do so, one must recognize that burnout not only exists but to also admit when he/she experiences it.
At my office, I am known as the one who will tell it to you straight. This is interesting, because bosses only want to to hear it straight when the truth supports a position. A coworker wrote the following on our message board a couple weeks ago:
The truth is the truth, even if no one believes it.
How true. I think about all the Germans who turned a blind eye to the mass deportation / execution of over 10 million persons during the Holocaust. Talk about a lack of responsibility. I can understand motivations, but when I take a stance on an issue, even if I have to work very hard to maintain that stance, I think of the cattle trains that rolled through Europe. None of us can say for sure what we would do...........I know I couldn't; and I am not on a soap box. I am simply making some observations.
Because I feel it is essential to provide solutions the problems we see and report, let me offer one. Boot camp for professionals...........ha ha. I am serious. Somewhere along the way of our public school educations, we completely miss out on training for handling ourselves professionally. Athletics used to be a great way to teach leadership and development to students, but sadly, sports figures today are among the worse offenders for professional behavior. Where are the role models for our upcoming workforce? Most office conflicts arise from frustrations brought on by things like cleanliness, attitude and work product. How hard is it, for example, to pick up after oneself?
I know I've slacked off at work in the last year because having a solid work product is not a current priority for our department. The sublt nuances of shifting priorities and tentative alliances continues to allude me.
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