The Pursuit For Perfection
I spent quite a bit of time during my vacation watching the Olympics…I really got behind my home team doing so well across the board.
(Yes, I’m Canadian.)
All of the athletes really pulled together and put forth a herculean effort to make the most of their experience. This just didn’t apply to the Canadian athletes – it was a trend that held true for all participating athletes and nations. Working together for one common goal – to be the best at what they do best…and to do it for them and their country. This kind of thinking applies in the workplace as well.
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Learn From the People Around You
There’s more to work than just work. If you’re lucky, you’ll make some of your closest friends from your place of employment. There are many people whom I no longer work with but am still close to. I have learned some very valuable things from them. Here are a few tidbits:
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“I hate to be a kicker, I always long for peace, but the wheel that does the squeaking is the one that gets the grease.”
The above is the actual quote (often commonly stated as “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”) attributed to American humorist Josh Billings. It’s from his poem “The Kicker” describing his frustration with being polite and not getting his way with the authorities. A kicker, by the way, is also known by a more common name: a complainer.
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Taking a Real Life Practice Interview
I have been applying for jobs for the past eight months. I’ve redone my resume a couple of times and I’ve redone my cover letter more times than I can count. It has been a bit discouraging as no one has taken the bait. Well, let me rephrase that. I’ve gotten several calls from AFLAC recruiters and several banks asking me to come to their group interviews.
I just had a job interview last week. It was the first one in over two years and to be honest, I was a complete and utter wreck. I got a call on Saturday for an interview on Monday. There was very little time to pull myself together into a fully professional package. First, the easy items: conservative dress, printed directions, and reading up on the company.
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Bureaucratic Bellwethers & Barometers
Most of us would agree that our jobs are made less pleasant by all sorts of things we can’t control, from the fluorescent lights and gray cubicle felt to the cranky copier and the underpowered microwave. There are human problems, including bullies, liars, and people who watch soap operas on tiny TVs at their desk while eating the loudest, crunchiest pretzels in the universe. But we also have too many meetings, too many reports, too many forms, and too many emails that we don’t really need to read.
These are signs that your big company is less concerned about running a tight ship and more concerned about staying a big company. The more sloppiness and waste your company tolerates, the less it cares about actual work. That’s a bad thing. But there are other ways to measure how much common sense your company has sacrificed on the altar of bureaucratic nonsense. Click Here to Read Article …
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How to Handle Criticism at Work
Unlike the rest of the world, I was born perfect. Nothing needed to be changed about me from the moment I arrived, and I expect, until the moment I leave. It’s a bit challenging to be this perfect, but it’s my cross to bear, and I try to do it quietly.
Unless you’re like me, perfect, you might find occasions where your coworkers, partners, bosses, or even customers offer their opinion on how you could improve. Sometimes these suggestions are helpful, and sometimes they are physically impossible (is there somewhere that the sun doesn’t shine?), but what you do with these suggestions, and how you go about handling them, can have quite an impact on your career.
I have seen many different ways for people to cope with criticism, and here are few that seemed to be the most effective. For them, not for me. Remember, I was born perfect.
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