Why is it that I have never heard of a senior manager being dragged to work kicking and screaming and bemoaning their job? I'm not saying it doesn't happen but I've never actually seen it. But how many times do you witness an employee or middle manager moaning about their job? You know exactly who I'm talking about in your office don't you?
Why is the practice of whining about work only reserved for those not in senior management?
Also, while we're at it, why is it that two people working in side-by-side cubicles doing the exact same job can view their jobs so differently? One can choose to complain about the job and the other loves the job. Why the difference? It's obviously not the job or both would be either happy or whining. The key to job satisfaction and company morale is to understand and acknowledge the differing attitudes toward the work. Fix the attitude of the one who dislikes the job and you improve the workplace for two people - the complainer AND the person who has to endure the constant complaining in the next cubicle.
And that's how you change workplace morale; by affecting the prevailing attitudes regardless of position. I urge senior management to demonstrate these traits by example and most do when it comes to complaining about their job. But the truth is that those outside of senior management will always do as they please regardless of the example set, always. This leads me to believe that it's not the job that people dislike - it is the perceived lack of control over the job and their own destiny and/or contribution. And that is an attitude of feeling dominated/controlled by another which can be reversed by addressing the underlying attitudes and opinions.
My point is always, if you're not making your conscious choices about making your own life better, then you're going to get whatever is left over from everyone else. If you are not acting to create the results you want then you are, by default, allowing whatever happens to be your choice. If there are more "good-natured" people going to work, then we end up having more good places to work.
Everything starts with the individual. Take the people out of a building and you don't have a business anymore: you have a building with a lot of stuff. There is no business without people. My mission is to improve the people and let the business improve itself. And I mean everyone - regardless of position.
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2 comments:
Hi Kevin,
I've always enjoyed your blog, but this is the first time I've felt compelled to make a comment.
Regarding the perception that senior management never whine about their jobs, I believe there is one more factor at play. I believe that people who rise to senior management positions, in most cases, do so because they have an attitude that whining doesn't solve anything. Their attitude, nearly always, is "give me any problem and I'll find a solution, and I'll enjoy the challenge". These are the type of people who rise to the top. If middle managers and line workers learned to adopt this attitude they would more than likely find themselves getting ahead at a surprising rate.
For a minute there I thought you were going to disagree with me. You are absolutely right: people who solve problem rise to the top. People who whine about their lives get more of the same. It's why you never see a whiner as a great leader. Thanks for your comment. Bang on.
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