Good Employee Ch 9-Work For An Excellent Organization

Chapter 9

Work for An Excellent Organization (warning: double entendre)

A double entendre is a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways - Wikipedia

The average employee working eight hours a day spends 1/3 or more of his life at work. It would be a shame to hate 1/3 of your life. Don’t do it. If you just can’t help it then I have some advice.

The things we think and feel in our minds and hearts will eventually, no matter how hard we try to conceal them, work their way out into our words and actions. Save the hatred, depressing outlooks, sour attitudes, and whining for the 2/3 of your life that do not impact the work place. The work place, believe it or not is really the only place in your life with a set of rules, an opportunity to excel, and the very real opportunity for you to create a relaxing safe haven from the other aspects of life for which you have no control. Follow the rules, put on your happy mask, be friendly and get paid to do it. Work within the world your employer has created and take control of your life – at least for 8 hours a day.

If this seems impossible for you to do then you only have two possible ways out. Both are described in the title of this chapter: Work For an Excellent Organization.

Either stay where you are and work to make it into the excellent organization every employee deserves or leave to work for a better organization. The worst thing you can do is stay where you are if you are not happy. You will be a burden to your manager and teammates. You will never be happy there and, to be honest, your manager and teammates would prefer that you leave and be another company’s problem employee.

If your job is not fulfilling your purpose then make your purpose to transform your job into something you can be happy doing. If you are a service engineer and you hate to repair machines, make it your purpose to satisfy customers or make it your goal to keep the machines from failing.

If you hate flipping burgers, make it your purpose to provide your customers with the best burger they have ever tasted, perfect every time, quickly done, and happily delivered.

This is not easy to do, changing one’s purpose. But by aiming for a higher reason for the work you do, you will transform how you think about your job. It will no longer be a mindless and sometimes difficult series of tasks. The goal becomes the outcome.

But the most important thing to remember is this. If you are not happy, your customer will not be happy, neither will your teammates or your manager. Work life will be a burden and eventually you will lose the job anyway. So why not seek a higher purpose by either changing your attitude toward the job or find another one.

It is here that I feel I must give you a warning. If you have tried working for an excellent organization but you have found that no matter what job you do and no matter who your boss is you always wind up wanting to leave and you just can’t face another day. The problem is you. Your job is what you make it. The guide provided in this book, if followed, will help you make your career one that you can be happy working with. It will help you earn the respect of your employer and coworkers.

It is difficult sometimes and if you feel you have always been “the problem employee” or if you feel your bosses and coworkers never give you a break, it may seem impossible for you to change. It is not. I’ve done it and so can you.

• Be happy or leave

• Do what it takes to transform your purpose into one you can enjoy or leave

• Work to make your organization and excellent one or find an excellent organization to work for.

• Don’t be a problem for your current employer. Leave them and be someone else’s problem.

• Life is too short to hate your job.