Wouldn’t it be great if everyone just did the job they were employed to do instead of,
- Playing office politics
- Undermining colleagues
- Protecting their turf
- Not accepting responsibility when things go wrong
- Doing the minimum required for their role
What could happen?
For a start, productivity would likely increase because everyone in the business would be focused on providing the best possible outcomes for clients.
When individuals focus externally, away from political ambitions and status, things improve for the people who pay for a product or service.
Stress levels for employees decrease as trust and cooperation between departments become the norm. People feel good about the enterprises that employ them.
For examples of how things go badly wrong when senior managers aren’t doing their jobs, think,
- The Post Office Horizon scandal
- Cover-ups at maternity hospitals over mother and baby deaths
- Criminal activity by Police officers due to poor vetting
- Miscarriages of justice like Hillsborough
- Sewage leaks, poor service, and higher charges from water suppliers
To say that managers in the cases above have completely lost the plot is an understatement. Some have moved from incompetence to criminality while trying to maintain the facade of respectability to the outside world.
You may have frustrations in your work. You may have difficult colleagues. Regardless, commit to doing an excellent job, no matter how big or small your role in the business is.
It’s the quietly good that make things better for themselves and others.
Photo Credit: Photo by KATRIN BOLOVTSOVA: https://www.pexels.com