Your Five Acres
It was the third time in as many weeks he'd asked to see me.
Once again sitting across the desk, Jeff was expressing distress
at something. This time he was upset that Lydia was making more
money than he was. Last week he was unhappy with the hours Joe
wasn't putting in, leaving at five when he was often stuck past
six. The week before, he registered a complaint about the way
work assignments were handed out by his supervisor. As my mother
would say, "Same song, thirtieth verse."
Jeff's focus was on everything but his own work. He fixated on
the latest rumors, viewed work policies as unfair, kept track of
what was happening down the hall and fretted over what others
might be getting that he wasn't. Worrying what was happening in
someone else's work-acres, his own were filled with uncultivated
opportunities and backlogged projects. In the process, he was
sabotaging any chance of his own winning at working.
In twenty years of management I've met too many Jeffs. People
focused on everyone except themselves. They fritter time away
trying to straighten out others, rather than deliver results.
They complain, blame others and point fingers. They believe the
world owes them a living, others are out to get them and nothing
goes their way. You can recognize them by their victim mind-set
and frequent anthem, "It's not fair."
They're right. Work-life isn't fair, but then, what is? Does
fair mean equal pay increases and work assignments? What people
offer to the workplace isn't equal, so how would it be "fair" if
rewards were? Unbiased? Well, we all have biases and life
happens to be subjective. Just? If just means one gets what's
merited, then for people like Jeff, the workplace is pretty
just. They get back what they give, which is not much. That
doesn't mean the issues they raise are not valid, at times. But
like Chicken Little, frequent complainers are tuned out.
If Jeff focused attention on his own five acres, putting his
energy into personal performance, he'd significantly impact his
results and his rewards. He'd also impact his credibility and
ability to be heard. In the words of novelist Aldous Huxley,
"There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of
improving, and that's your own self."
People who are winning at working are too busy producing results
to track what others may or may not be doing. They're focused on
their five work-acres, fertilizing them with new ideas, skills
and challenges. They plant positive thought-seeds that yield
high harvests and personal motivation. And when they
consistently produce results in their corner of the universe,
they help others do the same. Want to be winning at working?
Make your five acres exceptional. Then don't be surprised when
you get more or better acres to tend.
(c) 2006 Nan S. Russell. All rights reserved.