Do Not Let Monday Ruin Your Life

If you are looking to throw people a curve ball, go to work on Monday in a good mood. They key word here is ‘good’ and it is not ‘great’ mood. Great moods can be interpreted as being a ‘suck up’ or fake whereas a good mood is genuine and believable. Most people will begin to arrive and you begin to hear the Monday phrases: “weekend went fast;” “can’t believe I am back already;” or “let’s hope the weekend gets here quick enough.” It’s definitely a shame people spend five of the seven days weekly looking forward to, and talking about, the other two days. By my calculations, most employees do not enjoy 70% of their working lives. We now expect to walk in on Mondays thinking and talking about Friday, but do not take the time to give Monday a chance. Your job can’t be that bad because if it was, you should have quit by now. Therefore, if you are still walking in on Mondays, it means you haven’t found another job or you plan on being with the company for an unspecified amount of time. Rather than dragging yourself and others down, go into work in a good mood. Don’t complain or whine and don’t bring up the coming weekend. Focus on making Monday as productive and fun as possible. Who knows: other people may stop their negativity and the workplace may just be a better environment.

Employees In Numbers Can Take A Company From Medicore To Exceptional

Employees should be meeting with each other without management oversight.
Unions have been around for decades but most companies do not have unions anymore. Labor laws are in place to prevent too much workplace hardships and heaven is fully aware of the abundance of lawyers who are ready to sue a company on behalf of an employee who feels they are being mistreated. I still wonder why employees let managers meet together and make plans for everyone else but never meet themselves. It would seem beneficial for employee representatives to meet with each other once a month and discuss what is working or what is not working in their roles at the company. We spend so much time complaining about new initiatives or bashing certain performance metrics but spend little time empowering ourselves to take the reins. Perhaps we overlook how powerless managers would be if employees began to take more control.

Let Your Employees Have A Good Day

Just because your boss manages more doesn’t necessarily mean they’re managing better. I recall a recent day when the team of employees were getting ready to start their day. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits and excited for a productive day. Then, the first email came from our boss: “blah, blah, blah and do not do this again in the future.” Soon enough, the second email came: “from now on, I want to be informed when you blah, blah, blah.” And the third email: “I am going to be listening to your sales calls, blah, blah, blah.” Then the fourth, fifth and so on; after 7 emails of managing your staff, it should be obvious they are in a worse mood and feel like they are being babysitted (not to mention they probably stopped paying attention　after the third email　and now realize their boss is both micromanaging and scared to confront people face to face). People want to have a sense of accomplishment; no one wants to leave work and feel like a failure, yet managers continue to try and convince employees they are failing at something. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if a manager only focused on – and talked about – what the staff was doing right for a few months.

Acknowledge Results And Do Not Always Focus On The Bad

What is wrong? What is broken? What is not working? Employees are constantly put through the ringer by managers who are always looking for the flaws and weak links. I am not suggesting managers stop this practice because we need to analyze data to decide on how to make the organization better and more competitive. However, at what point is it counter productive? There are employees who are excelling in most areas but the manager will always find the one statistic which is below average while overlooking – and never praising – the other above average results. Management loves to read about motivation but who knows if they are aware of de-motivation. A great way to take a great employee to a worse employee is to pick the one area they are struggling and make them worry about their job security. The employee is offended because they dedicate all this time and effort to their results which for the most part are positive and respectable. Then a report is run which depicts one category (probably the focus of the month by the company which will be forgotten next month by management because they have a different focus) which you are facing obstacles. Rather than approach you, this ridicule and critique is sent out through email for everyone to view. Perhaps common courtesy is changing or maybe managers are becoming comfortable with hiding behind their walls, doors and desks where they shuffle through reports and data avoiding human contact all together.

People Are Successful - Accept It

You’re going to hear from two crowds when successful. One crowd is going to be prying to discover what actions you are taking to get the results and the other crowd will be ready to tell people the many reasons you are just ‘lucky.’ These situations are common and you may have been involved in both crowds at one point. When someone is exceeding expectations in their role, people begin to ask questions. What are they doing that I am not doing? Are they really better than me because I have been here twice as long? The people quickest to criticize are the ones who are not performing up to expectations; they are quick to judge someone else’s success as coincidence or luck. These people, which may include you (don’t take offense), have formed a habit of whining and complaining. It is easier to pass the blame but doesn’t make it the right decision. If you are successful, help those seeking advice and do not feel any ill will against those who do not believe you caused your success. Also, do not find yourself in the crowd of negativity and pessimism; people may deal with complainers but they are not going to feel any better about their job when they arrive or leave.

Managers Need To Let Go

Managers have a hard time of letting go and understanding that in a few months of being promoted, they will not be as good as their employees at the job they used to perform. There is nothing wrong with employees being better than management; for instance, if you are a salesperson who gets promoted to sales manager, you are not going to be as educated on the product or service as your employees will become. Listen, you weren’t promoted to management to be better than your salespeople. You were promoted to management because you have a leadership ability to help others be better than they would have been without your help. So for you employees, be aware of those managers who will not know the answers to certain questions and do not make it a big deal when they are wrong; you should really start asking other employees and begin to not rely on managers for product and service questions. For you managers, be aware you no longer will be the expert in what is happening in the marketplace and learn to trust your employees who are in the marketplace daily.

Don't Complain About Change

It rolls down hill… If you haven’t ventured into the world of owning your own business or working for yourself, then you probably have a supervisor and most likely wouldn’t be reading this. In the lovely world of corporate America, everyone reports to someone and you will most likely be told what to do and what not to do; do not be surprised if next year, they change their minds and tell you to do what they originally told you not to do and not to do what they originally told you to do (confusing, I know). Unfortunately, we live in a world where people want rapid results and if the new policy isn’t getting the job done, they are going to trash it and try something else. Eventually, after having tried all types of directions, they will probably go through a year of ‘let’s get back to basics.’ One thing is for certain: change.

Happiness Without Riches

The more time you spend regretting, the more you will spend regretting the time you spent regretting. Basically, you need to accept the decisions you have made and move on; otherwise, you’re going to find yourself in a perpetual state of inactivity and unable to achieve those goals you have set or want to begin setting. I can’t change what my major was in college or my lackluster study skills. I can certainly regret not researching colleges or career options, but the norm seemed to be college right after high school regardless of whether or not you could afford it, regardless of whether or not you knew what you wanted to go for. So, regret is an option for wishing I saved money before I went to college or went to a community college beforehand; for wishing I had more understanding of the importance of study skills; and for a better concept of what career to pursue afterwards. However, I learned what should have happened and unable to change what did. I am able to take my experience and use it to help others make better decisions. As for those who regret: learn and teach; we must find another route and work harder to achieve our goals. Consider it a test of character and if successful, you’re that much better for having traveled the trail which few were able to finish or dare to try.
Are you money motivated? Heck, most of us are and those who say they aren’t probably do not have many obligations or they live a very modest and conservative lifestyle. The majority of the population is somehow and in someway motivated by money; it could be as simple as wanting to earn a large salary or by owning certain items. You need to accept the fact of money being an incentive because without it, you would be hungry and homeless.
While we work for money to provide for families and ourselves, money should not determine your level of happiness or define the worth of your life. For instance, do you think the person with the 8 bedroom house and no kids is happier than the person with a 4 bedroom house and 2 kids? How about the person with the sports car? Are they really much more satisfied with their life? The point is the items we own should not be the basis on how we define our happiness. There will always be the next great gadget which will excite you but not enhance your feeling of worth. We need to place less value on who owns what and how much money they make, and place more value on friends, family and community. An hour spent with a friend is more valuable than an hour spent watching TV.
To emphasize this point, would you rather own many items only to come home from work and find you are spending that time alone? Your answer is probably ‘no.’ To quote into the wild, “happiness only exists when shared.” Stop being so angry and frustrated with what you do not have or how much you do not make; get over it and start forming relationships with others by any means possible. There are plenty of avenues to socialize which do not cost you a penny. Some examples are: township meetings; social clubs; college classes; political groups; or sports. You are not the only one who feels alone; visit some online sites and there are plenty of people looking to engage others who are up for an activity.

Welcome Corporate America, Welcome.

Despite your assumptions – which I hope you do not have any yet - I am not an author of multiple works who has sold millions of copies worldwide. If you think you are going to read a something written by a top of his class scholar, with four degrees…you’re misguiding yourself. For the lack of better words, I am average, common, typical, [insert any other word which is synonymous with ordinary]. Like many of you, I work a 40 hour per week job; have off two days a week; lose a good amount of money to taxes; pay bills every month; put money towards a 401k; have debt exceeding my assets; read bad news daily; listen to politicians promise everything; drink beer; and zone out watching TV for an hour a day. Nonetheless, I am not a pessimist; in fact, I enjoy everything about life. I have an uncanny ability to accept the way certain things are and by acceptance, I am able to understand and change them. Hence, I decided to write about the obvious truths to life, and specifically, Corporate America; my hope is by reading, you will identify these easily overlooked items and respond in a controlled manner rather than acting in the conditioned way everyone gets used to behaving. Most of what will be written and read is from the mind of a corporate employee but sometimes a tangent is necessary. Rest assured, my writings will not come from someone who preaches plenty and practices little. You can expect to read about honest, and at times, hard to swallow truths. If anything comes from your reading this blog, perhaps you will act as a better employee and/or become a better manager.