Every Thursday, my job sets aside a half hour-long Zoom call for folks to give each other props. Props for going above and beyond. For blossoming in their new role. For stepping up when things were hectic.
I don’t get props, and rightfully so, I’m adequate at best. Juggling home with a small child and generally just being a poorly organized person, it would take double the effort for me to get on the “props” radar.
Anybody else just doing the work—but not notably excellent? Sometimes I feel embarrassed about it, but not so much so that I’ll make the trade offs necessary to get attention.
Anybody a high achiever at work? Does it come easily to you? Have you always been this way?
Comments
I dislike this idea that we need to be constantly growing and getting better and just overachieving and striving in our jobs. I understand growing and getting better, its natural, but this overdrive to achieve achieve achive mentality is tiring.
In fact I believe that a relaxed and less stressfull environment and attitude to work might be better in many cases even in terms of work efficiency and results.
If you are asking for 110 percent every day from people, you can expect people to burn out eventually.
The question is also this. The employer asks for 110 percent from employees. Does the employer provide 110 percent to their employee? If the aim is to make money and to use workers, there are only two places that money can come from. From paying the workers less money, or from asking more money from the customers.
Most workplaces try to create a pseudo family unit type of an environment, in many ways there are cultish elements to this. There is this idea of “Us” but really the “US” means the company as a whole, and not the individuals working there. And when we “help each other” we actually help the company. Which is not bad in itself, its just that its a lot harder to get help back from the company as one of the individuals working there.
The vast majority of workers are just like you, getting through the day, getting the job done and not making their fellow workers life hell
When I was a teacher, I was voted favorite teacher many years in a row. I got excellent test scores. My peers considered me a great teacher and many of my lessons were adopted by the district for other teachers to use in their classroom. One year, I stopped an intruder in the building as part of a “test” by the district and my name/photo was shared all over the district’s social media for it. I was also known as the teacher to send your behavioral issue students because they would behave in my classroom because I would treat them like a *shocker* human being.
I never got above “meets expectations” on any review, ever. We would have meetings with administration and they would come down on me, hard. If I wrote a student up, admin would admonish me for it and write ME up.
I’m now in a different industry and thriving.