Many companies in descriptions of their positions they are trying to fill have mention that the company culture is team oriented with dedicated team members and that anyone who works with them should be the same way. Companies are right to demand this team oriented mindset a requirement for employees. However, it is important that one keeps in mind that the company who is looking for a team player is not looking for a competitive person, or are they?
Those competitive positions are also very obvious in the ads employers post. There are key words like 'competitive salary,' 'bonuses for performance,' 'fast movement up the ladder.' The fact of the matters is that as job seekers we see these linguistic gems and we already have a slight feeling of what the job and environment would be like.
First and foremost, each person who is seeking a job should realize which environment he or she would be able to work in. In my case, I cannot work in a competitive environment because it seems to be quite demoralizing and there is the factor of not being passionate about the work. In my case, I can only be competitive with something that is a passion of mine, which most corporate jobs aren't a passion that I have.
Despite this delineation, I have seen in my jobs, which have all been team oriented, that sometimes a competitive person slips into the crowd and tries to do everything better, to be intimidating, and whenever necessary to belittle his or her colleagues. The whole problem with this approach though is that in my experience a competitive worker in a team oriented environment will eventually learn to stop competing, quit the job, be release of his or her duties at said job, and very rarely move up.
Working in a team can be and very often is quite stressful. There are different personalities to deal with and there are different work ethics, and when the element of competition is involved the project, company, and client are the ones that suffer. While healthy competition might be decent and help everyone stay on their toes, as it were, most of this competitive spirit is not healthy and can turn into resentment and go to the extreme of being counter-productive or ever detrimental.
At a job I had a couple of years ago in the IT industry; I was given an account to work on that was right in the middle of production. In addition to this, it was very complex and sometimes it seems unmanageable. In my team, there were people that were late with their portion of the project, which would in turn make me late, only and only if I were able to isolated and correct the issues before I passed it along to the next step. The person who was waiting for my completed portion of the project had to wait a few hours. While this is certainly not optimal, it is just a part of working in a team.
But when a competitive person infiltrates a team, it is the whole team who has to be aware of and watch out for the competitive worker. Once I had a worker hack my email and destroy a file that I was to deliver to a client. My co-worker had been at that job which I had just started for almost ten years. He had never been promoted and never had he been a linguist, proofreader or editor. However, this person was highly competitive in that he kept track of how many mistakes no matter how small everyone else on the team made, but had tons of excuses when he made a mistake. But he took it even a step further by belittling his team members over inconsequential matters. Eventually, management made the decision that his competitive streak was not something that was beneficial to the team or beneficial to the company and he was released from his duties.
However, if one is a team player working in a team environment the whole concept of working in a team works much better. Workers perform their functions with each other for a common goal and if the team does well not only do they benefit but the whole company does. There are times when clients have seemingly unattainable requests, but when a team comes together and works toward the goal, morale is up and the client is happy.
There are circumstances that involve a team player who is in a competitive environment where he or she is in direction competition with their co-workers. For the team player this more often than not a very undesirable environment in which he or she will underperform and not be very respectful, because it is a popularity contest and it is to see which worker is better or the best- for whatever reasons management chooses.
So when it comes to choosing one's career it is important that we understand ourselves, how we work best, in what situations we flourish, and in what situations we should not work. Self understanding and keeping tabs on ourselves and our lives will help in building a happy life and a happy career.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Attitude Problems
One of my friends started his first job right after graduation from college and quickly found that he was having conflict with most of the people he worked with. This unfortunately was what eventually signed his pink slip. The fact of the matter is that just like we wear different clothes to work than we do to a weekend barbecue, we have to wear a different face at work than we do outside of work.
My friend, we will call him Dean, had a very loud personality. His voice carried, he was a bit arrogant, and many people found him to be obnoxious. While Dean was good at his what he did, the fact that his attitude was so abrasive was a show stopper. Dean would demand things, and complain, and when he screamed across the company because he wanted attention- his reputation became one, not of a good worker, but of an obnoxious loud mouth.
If you begin to work in an office setting, it is absolutely necessary that one keeps his or her attitude in check, and even curtail one's personality a bit, so that the work environment is one that you find yourself thriving in, and not just surviving in. Being quiet, and doing your work and speaking only when it is necessary is a trait that is quite useful, especially at work.
When it came to Dean, he had been the type of person in college, and presumably in all areas of his private life, who had no problem saying what was on his mind. While he was smart and a very good worker, his arrogance and childlike ways at the job were inappropriate. It is important to remember- there is a thin line between confidence and arrogance, being direct, and being obnoxious.
Don't get too hung up on trying to prove yourself at work. Don't get it twisted, though, you will have to prove yourself, and that will never change, but co-workers and managers alike will notice whether one is working hard and learning his or her job in order to prove oneself, or if a bunch of hot air and attitude is all one has to offer.
Dean did get another job eventually, but he certainly had to change his attitude and the way he approached the workplace. His brazen and loud personality is okay when he gets together with friends or family- those are the people who love him and understand him, but at work he learned that to be assertive is the best policy, and that aggressive and bullying behavior is not the way to earn respect or remain employed.
My friend, we will call him Dean, had a very loud personality. His voice carried, he was a bit arrogant, and many people found him to be obnoxious. While Dean was good at his what he did, the fact that his attitude was so abrasive was a show stopper. Dean would demand things, and complain, and when he screamed across the company because he wanted attention- his reputation became one, not of a good worker, but of an obnoxious loud mouth.
If you begin to work in an office setting, it is absolutely necessary that one keeps his or her attitude in check, and even curtail one's personality a bit, so that the work environment is one that you find yourself thriving in, and not just surviving in. Being quiet, and doing your work and speaking only when it is necessary is a trait that is quite useful, especially at work.
When it came to Dean, he had been the type of person in college, and presumably in all areas of his private life, who had no problem saying what was on his mind. While he was smart and a very good worker, his arrogance and childlike ways at the job were inappropriate. It is important to remember- there is a thin line between confidence and arrogance, being direct, and being obnoxious.
Don't get too hung up on trying to prove yourself at work. Don't get it twisted, though, you will have to prove yourself, and that will never change, but co-workers and managers alike will notice whether one is working hard and learning his or her job in order to prove oneself, or if a bunch of hot air and attitude is all one has to offer.
Dean did get another job eventually, but he certainly had to change his attitude and the way he approached the workplace. His brazen and loud personality is okay when he gets together with friends or family- those are the people who love him and understand him, but at work he learned that to be assertive is the best policy, and that aggressive and bullying behavior is not the way to earn respect or remain employed.
Reasons To Leave Your Job
The title might lead one to ask when it is time to leave his or her current position. Although the the answers will differ and for some seem more obvious than others, there are many different situations that we find ourselves in and there is no formula that will fit each person, but below are a few things to keep in mind.
As a little boy there were two things that interested me- music and foreign languages. Since music turned out to be a path that I wasn't meant to take, I started to learn Russian when I turned eighteen. I had a four year plan- take all of my college classes, live in Russia for a year and then after graduating with my undergrad degree, I wanted to go forth into the world and earn money.
Well, finding a job didn't happen as quickly as I had wanted it to, so I went to graduate school and got a degree in applied linguistics. After this, I found my first corporate job in the United States where I was hired initially as a contract linguist and eventually hired full time.
I loved my job, at first, I was learning new things and found that my work ethic was respected and, in fact, that I was respected because of the work that I did. However, the new wore off and I steadily began to hate my job more more as each day passed.
When the worker begins to feel unhappy at work it could be the result of many different things. Co-workers, bosses, and clients are just a few of these uncontrolled variables that the entry level worker has absolutely no control over. This is just something that one needs to deal with, they say, however, I must say that being completely passive at the workplace will eventually cause the worker to leave.
My decision to start looking for another job was the fact that my bosses and their bosses didn't have a clue about what was really going on. They would have meetings all day long and and not actually take part in the operations aspect of our work. In fact, a former co-worker once told me that all managers just kind of sat around and jerked each other off. Which, by many estimations is true.
As the economic crisis began to deepen our salaries were reduced without question, people were let go, and the normal work week began to consist not of the usual forty to forty-five hours, but of sixty and seventy hours. Everyday I woke up in the morning nauseous at the thought of going to work. In fact, each day was compounded by the worry that I had better not get sick because the company had taken away all of my paid leave, too.
While many of my co-workers would say that this was something that we had to endure and had to deal with because of the falling economic situation, and the lack of other jobs in the country, I felt that even though there were hard times, the company shouldn't make them more difficult. However, no matter what corporate environment you are in, the company is the most important thing, while the people who do the work are the least important.
There was a point after working seventy hours one week that I was standing on my balcony looking down the twenty stories to the ground and I seriously thought about jumping off of it. This was my wake up call. It was either that I was going to stop working like an indentured servant or I was going to have to quit my job.
I was lucky enough though that my boss listened to me and did re-route some of my work and gave me a more manageable workload. However, for those who are not so lucky, my advice would be to quit the job or do something to get laid off (so you can receive unemployment) before you get to the point of considering death as a better option.
There is no corporate job that is worth dying over. The only one that will miss you is your family and your close friends. People at that company will put you in a category that defines you as weak and unable to handle working for a living or even as crazy. Chances are that you aren't any of those things, but remember the company and its employees do not and will not care about you. You have to take care of yourself.
As a little boy there were two things that interested me- music and foreign languages. Since music turned out to be a path that I wasn't meant to take, I started to learn Russian when I turned eighteen. I had a four year plan- take all of my college classes, live in Russia for a year and then after graduating with my undergrad degree, I wanted to go forth into the world and earn money.
Well, finding a job didn't happen as quickly as I had wanted it to, so I went to graduate school and got a degree in applied linguistics. After this, I found my first corporate job in the United States where I was hired initially as a contract linguist and eventually hired full time.
I loved my job, at first, I was learning new things and found that my work ethic was respected and, in fact, that I was respected because of the work that I did. However, the new wore off and I steadily began to hate my job more more as each day passed.
When the worker begins to feel unhappy at work it could be the result of many different things. Co-workers, bosses, and clients are just a few of these uncontrolled variables that the entry level worker has absolutely no control over. This is just something that one needs to deal with, they say, however, I must say that being completely passive at the workplace will eventually cause the worker to leave.
My decision to start looking for another job was the fact that my bosses and their bosses didn't have a clue about what was really going on. They would have meetings all day long and and not actually take part in the operations aspect of our work. In fact, a former co-worker once told me that all managers just kind of sat around and jerked each other off. Which, by many estimations is true.
As the economic crisis began to deepen our salaries were reduced without question, people were let go, and the normal work week began to consist not of the usual forty to forty-five hours, but of sixty and seventy hours. Everyday I woke up in the morning nauseous at the thought of going to work. In fact, each day was compounded by the worry that I had better not get sick because the company had taken away all of my paid leave, too.
While many of my co-workers would say that this was something that we had to endure and had to deal with because of the falling economic situation, and the lack of other jobs in the country, I felt that even though there were hard times, the company shouldn't make them more difficult. However, no matter what corporate environment you are in, the company is the most important thing, while the people who do the work are the least important.
There was a point after working seventy hours one week that I was standing on my balcony looking down the twenty stories to the ground and I seriously thought about jumping off of it. This was my wake up call. It was either that I was going to stop working like an indentured servant or I was going to have to quit my job.
I was lucky enough though that my boss listened to me and did re-route some of my work and gave me a more manageable workload. However, for those who are not so lucky, my advice would be to quit the job or do something to get laid off (so you can receive unemployment) before you get to the point of considering death as a better option.
There is no corporate job that is worth dying over. The only one that will miss you is your family and your close friends. People at that company will put you in a category that defines you as weak and unable to handle working for a living or even as crazy. Chances are that you aren't any of those things, but remember the company and its employees do not and will not care about you. You have to take care of yourself.
The Manager Is The Manager- Not Your Friend
At my first job right out of graduate school working the language industry the first day of my job I waltzed into the office wearing a pink bag completely dressed in green. This could be construed as a fashion faux-pas, but, that was not the biggest mistake that was made, I had essentially outed myself to the entire office on the first day. This was compounded with the fact that my jovial disposition and tremendous size made me susceptible to all of the stereotypes that not only come with being the fat jovial person, but with being 'the gay guy.'
When I was point blank asked if I was a homosexual, of course I answered in the affirmative, because my thought process did not take into account the entitlements that my co-workers had regarding the way they could treat me and the way they could act toward me.
At first I was completely happy with the way that things were going. It seemed that I was being accepted into the working culture of the company and that I was respected despite my sexual orientation. But, as it goes, paradise cannot thrive in imperfection and eventually it became paradise lost.
The problem started when I noticed that my manager would treat me differently and a bit too familiar in our business dealings. Having moved from the South to the North, I was quite desperate for acquaintances and friends, so I most certainly did spend time with my colleagues outside of work. It had gotten to a point where my friendship with my manager was having a negative impact on our work relationship.
Gradually, my boss gave me more and more work and was giving me last minute tasks because the though process was that I had more time to devote to the company due to the fact that I was gay, had no family with no chance of having one, and I was single. The situation got worse for me as my boss would use our friendship outside of work as a bargaining tool at work.
It eventually worked out. I very politely informed my superior that I felt I was no longer needed in my current position and that my time there had come to an end. The fact of the matter was that I loved my job, but the amount of extra duties I had to perform, and the amount of extra time I had to spend in the cubical farm was nothing provided a healthy work/ life balance.
I took away from this experience a few truths in how I would conduct myself in future places of employment.
1) Keep it basic.
Do not let your boss in on you personal life. It is none of their business and it could potentially cause strain and unhappiness at work.
2) People at work are acquaintances keep them separate from your friends.
While it is possible to have friends at work, building up trust takes years, not months. Remember that you are at work not in school or at the bar. Your biggest concern in yourself and your work.
3) Doing extra work in a dead end job gets you nowhere.
At the time I added up all of the extra hours I worked and did not not receive compensation for (because I was on salary). Over the year I worked 900 hours of over time, minus taxes this came to a net loss of almost 10K in pay. It was not worth it.
And to sum it all up, by the time you start to work, you will have made the closest friends you are going to make, and even if you do make another good friend in your new situation, it will not be your manager at work. It is important to remember, the manager's biggest concern is for the company and their promotion throughout, not you and not a friendship with you.
When I was point blank asked if I was a homosexual, of course I answered in the affirmative, because my thought process did not take into account the entitlements that my co-workers had regarding the way they could treat me and the way they could act toward me.
At first I was completely happy with the way that things were going. It seemed that I was being accepted into the working culture of the company and that I was respected despite my sexual orientation. But, as it goes, paradise cannot thrive in imperfection and eventually it became paradise lost.
The problem started when I noticed that my manager would treat me differently and a bit too familiar in our business dealings. Having moved from the South to the North, I was quite desperate for acquaintances and friends, so I most certainly did spend time with my colleagues outside of work. It had gotten to a point where my friendship with my manager was having a negative impact on our work relationship.
Gradually, my boss gave me more and more work and was giving me last minute tasks because the though process was that I had more time to devote to the company due to the fact that I was gay, had no family with no chance of having one, and I was single. The situation got worse for me as my boss would use our friendship outside of work as a bargaining tool at work.
It eventually worked out. I very politely informed my superior that I felt I was no longer needed in my current position and that my time there had come to an end. The fact of the matter was that I loved my job, but the amount of extra duties I had to perform, and the amount of extra time I had to spend in the cubical farm was nothing provided a healthy work/ life balance.
I took away from this experience a few truths in how I would conduct myself in future places of employment.
1) Keep it basic.
Do not let your boss in on you personal life. It is none of their business and it could potentially cause strain and unhappiness at work.
2) People at work are acquaintances keep them separate from your friends.
While it is possible to have friends at work, building up trust takes years, not months. Remember that you are at work not in school or at the bar. Your biggest concern in yourself and your work.
3) Doing extra work in a dead end job gets you nowhere.
At the time I added up all of the extra hours I worked and did not not receive compensation for (because I was on salary). Over the year I worked 900 hours of over time, minus taxes this came to a net loss of almost 10K in pay. It was not worth it.
And to sum it all up, by the time you start to work, you will have made the closest friends you are going to make, and even if you do make another good friend in your new situation, it will not be your manager at work. It is important to remember, the manager's biggest concern is for the company and their promotion throughout, not you and not a friendship with you.
The GLBT Employee's New Job
Being an out GLBT person at work is a dichotomy of both relief and worry. When it comes to ones actions there are certain pitfalls that one should do their best to avoid. While society has come quite far in its acceptance of out GLBT individuals in the workplace, it is important to remember a few rules that will help you avoid uncomfortable situations and have the best experience when you begin a new job.
1) College is in the Past
Beginning a job right out of college presents a learning curve for every worker. Learning the appropriate behavior in the work setting is alike for each individual, GLBT or otherwise. However, for GLBT people there are extra problems- when do I come out and how?
It is most important to remember one thing, you were hired to do a job, not to broadcast your private life at the job. This is the mistake of many GLBTers who come out of college, where many learned to get comfortable with themselves and have gotten used to making a special announcement identifying themselves as such. While it is your right to be proud of who you are, it is inappropriate in the corporate setting to make a special announcement of one's sexual preference. In most cases your co-workers will not mind. Despite this fact, as a new worker you must mimic the workplace behavior of your straight counterparts.
The fact of the matter is this- straight workers do not announce their sexual orientation to the company. Other employees know this information through other non-verbal signs, or through semi-verbal signs such as the straight worker's mention of his or her wife or husband, for example.
Keep in mind that you should not go back in the closet when you begin working (if you are not in a state that does not have GLBT anti-discrimination laws) there will be people who talk to you and ask you personal questions regarding wife and children. The best advice is to answer truthfully, if you are a man or woman with a partner, you can mention that you have a same sex partner, all the while not treating it as though it is anything our of the ordinary.
Additionally, if you are someone who really wants to let people know your sexual orientation without the "I need to let you know something about myself so that you will not think that I have been dishonest with you" talk, you can mention how you engage with your partner in activities outside of work (gardening, eating out, volunteer work etc). This provides a very unobtrusive and non-abrasive flow of information to a colleague.
2) Know that you are to be respected and treated equally among your straight counterparts.
Recently, a friend of mine found himself in an uncomfortable situation in which several women at his company had decided to 'make him one of the girls.' While this is up to each person individually, there is the chance that either women or other GLBTers will feel it necessary to consult you on all things not work related. These colleagues will ask you about your personal life and many times volunteer details from their own personal lives.
This kind of behavior is according to many harassment trainings inappropriate behavior. Thus, steps should be taken to correct the issue so that you feel comfortable in the company environment and that other people, however well intentioned, do not overstep their bounds.
If faced with this issue, it is important to explicitly tell the person that you do not want to bring your personal life into the workplace. But, if you do, please bear in mind that speaking on certain matters at work, namely sexual escapades or the cutest person in the office, is quite inappropriate and could potentially lead to a sexual harassment complaint.
3) Follow the corporate rules.
When starting any new job it is important to listen, work hard, learn more and avoid talking as much as possible so that you can learn from your corporate trainers. Show that you are dedicated to the company and that you are the best person for the position. Doing this and adding value to a team will ensure that you will gain respect and become integrated into the team more quickly.
4) If there is any type of harassment directed toward you, report it.
There are too many instances of GLBT workers being targets for inappropriate behavior. If you are treated in a way that could be construed as harassment according to your company's harassment policies, it is your duty to report it to either your manager, or to HR.Harassment is never appropriate.
Working in the corporate world does present specifically identifiable issue for the GLBT worker, however, respecting oneself goes quite a long way, and separating ones work life from private life is a very important aspect of success.
1) College is in the Past
Beginning a job right out of college presents a learning curve for every worker. Learning the appropriate behavior in the work setting is alike for each individual, GLBT or otherwise. However, for GLBT people there are extra problems- when do I come out and how?
It is most important to remember one thing, you were hired to do a job, not to broadcast your private life at the job. This is the mistake of many GLBTers who come out of college, where many learned to get comfortable with themselves and have gotten used to making a special announcement identifying themselves as such. While it is your right to be proud of who you are, it is inappropriate in the corporate setting to make a special announcement of one's sexual preference. In most cases your co-workers will not mind. Despite this fact, as a new worker you must mimic the workplace behavior of your straight counterparts.
The fact of the matter is this- straight workers do not announce their sexual orientation to the company. Other employees know this information through other non-verbal signs, or through semi-verbal signs such as the straight worker's mention of his or her wife or husband, for example.
Keep in mind that you should not go back in the closet when you begin working (if you are not in a state that does not have GLBT anti-discrimination laws) there will be people who talk to you and ask you personal questions regarding wife and children. The best advice is to answer truthfully, if you are a man or woman with a partner, you can mention that you have a same sex partner, all the while not treating it as though it is anything our of the ordinary.
Additionally, if you are someone who really wants to let people know your sexual orientation without the "I need to let you know something about myself so that you will not think that I have been dishonest with you" talk, you can mention how you engage with your partner in activities outside of work (gardening, eating out, volunteer work etc). This provides a very unobtrusive and non-abrasive flow of information to a colleague.
2) Know that you are to be respected and treated equally among your straight counterparts.
Recently, a friend of mine found himself in an uncomfortable situation in which several women at his company had decided to 'make him one of the girls.' While this is up to each person individually, there is the chance that either women or other GLBTers will feel it necessary to consult you on all things not work related. These colleagues will ask you about your personal life and many times volunteer details from their own personal lives.
This kind of behavior is according to many harassment trainings inappropriate behavior. Thus, steps should be taken to correct the issue so that you feel comfortable in the company environment and that other people, however well intentioned, do not overstep their bounds.
If faced with this issue, it is important to explicitly tell the person that you do not want to bring your personal life into the workplace. But, if you do, please bear in mind that speaking on certain matters at work, namely sexual escapades or the cutest person in the office, is quite inappropriate and could potentially lead to a sexual harassment complaint.
3) Follow the corporate rules.
When starting any new job it is important to listen, work hard, learn more and avoid talking as much as possible so that you can learn from your corporate trainers. Show that you are dedicated to the company and that you are the best person for the position. Doing this and adding value to a team will ensure that you will gain respect and become integrated into the team more quickly.
4) If there is any type of harassment directed toward you, report it.
There are too many instances of GLBT workers being targets for inappropriate behavior. If you are treated in a way that could be construed as harassment according to your company's harassment policies, it is your duty to report it to either your manager, or to HR.Harassment is never appropriate.
Working in the corporate world does present specifically identifiable issue for the GLBT worker, however, respecting oneself goes quite a long way, and separating ones work life from private life is a very important aspect of success.
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