Being a great employee is being a great team member. Being a great team member is being a great human. Being a great human starts with mapping out your rights and responsibilities, your values, non-negotiables and walk-away points and aligning them with your behavior. How to do that? Here are ten starting points:
1. It’s YOUR job
This the job you were excited for when you signed the offer or got the promotion. YOU have the definitive last word on everything about it. YOU were hired for your potential, for your skills, for your expertise, for your experience. You may not control every single instance of WHAT you are required to do, but you do control HOW you do it. No one person has power over you unless you allow it. Not your colleague, not your boss, not the CEO control your job. Your manager owes you their position, not the other way around. Own your job, own your career and keep it on track.
2. There is only one boss
No, it’s not you. It’s not your boss. It’s not the CEO. It’s not the stakeholders. It’s the CLIENT. They can fire all of us by going somewhere else. If you don’t regularly have 1:1s with this boss, go out there and meet them. Go see how (and if) your work translates into a benefit. Or save some time and ask a salesperson what the clients say about their needs and complaints. It’s essential you understand how your role adds or removes client satisfaction.
3. Learn and teach
No one person knows it all, and least of all the person who acts like they do. Keep learning something new and pass the knowledge around to those who are willing to hear you out. It’s a journey unique to each individual and we’re all in a different train, on a different point in this rollercoaster.
4. Take pride in your work
As I said, this is YOUR job, so own it or change it. You may not love or even like it in its entirety and on every single day, but there must be something you enjoy about it. Dream jobs are not found, they are made, so start making. Be curious about how things work, especially at the border of your responsibilities and aim to slowly become an expert in your field. This is key to job satisfaction.
5. Have a work bestie
Work — especially the corporate type — can seem surreal, absurd or unbearable at times. You need a work bestie to keep you grounded into reality or to challenge a stale perspective with a fresh point of view. Chose one that shares your values, not your objectives, as these may change and you can be just a stepping stone for them. Success is better enjoyed when you have someone to celebrate it with and failure is easier to bear when you have someone’s shoulder to cry on.
6. Respect everyone
Yes, everyone: the janitor, the cleaning lady, your manager. Respect is self-respect and has nothing to do with rank, height or gender. Respect people’s time, but also be mindful with yours. Respect people’s boundaries and set your own. Hear them out, but also claim your right to be heard. If you do try and get nowhere, remember Mr. Aznavour’s advice: if it’s no longer being served, you have to leave the table.
7. Be kind
Be kind to yourself. You can’t be all things to all people, you can’t reply to every single e-mail on time (congrats if you do), there’s too much going on for 24h and the list keeps on increasing. Be kind to the people around you. Some may wrong you, some may take out their frustrations on you, some may be a lesser professional. You can’t control their actions, but you can control yours. Choose to be kind.
8. Show up
Showing up is half of success. Show up on time, show up prepared, show up interested. Repeat. See the magic happen.
9. You are replaceable at work, irreplaceable at home
This one gets shared a lot, but it’s worth repeating. We are all someone’s daughter, someone’s dad, someone’s partner or our furry friends’ hooman. Jobs come and go, but wherever you call yourself at home comes first.
10. You are not your work
If your work is great, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re a great person. And the other way around. You are more than your work and it doesn’t determine your personal worth. One good day or one bad day is just that: one of many days.
There you go, ten more pieces of advice for a better workplace. Which ones did you enjoy more? How to be a great boss or a great employee?
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