You know, I read about someone who refused to help someone out because they were on the verge of passing that person for a promotion. So, they let the person hang out to dry. While this sucked, I would bet most of us have done something like this in the past. We often see our competition as bad.
Would you help a coworker or a rival business if it meant they would outperform you?
We also need to include people who want to look the best and use others to get ahead for their own reasons. Those may be the A players at work, yet, they hire B, C, and D players so they won’t be outdone. Using the people better than themselves and pushing them aside while making sure no one else will pass them. This is more common than you think, regardless of what every motivation quote tells you. They don’t want to be displaced as #1.
I had this problem years ago. I thought I was number one because I felt I outworked everyone there. Whether I did or not wasn’t the point. The point was I worked longer, maybe harder, but not smarter. I was not evolving and I didn’t have anyone who could challenge me.
The truth is, a lot of people I hired just quit and had no desire to work harder or longer. Lesson learned. I needed to hire better people at specific tasks.
I know people say to hire people better than you but that takes time and you could burn out by the time you find someone. However, if you break it down and look at who could offload your work, that is different. It might be a different skill set, like someone who can run reports or schedule people. Start to offload tasks, one at a time putting some thought into it. Make a plan.
It also pays to hire rivals or alternative personalities. For instance, if you’re technical, hire a finance person or a creative person to even things out. Unfortunately we often hire people like us, not different. While that may be OK for a while, it creates blind spots. Also, many people you hire because you think are like you are putting on an act just to get hired and become #2 even if they don’t deserve it. It pays to be demanding from day 1 so there are no surprises when the chips are down. Another lesson learned.
However, I started to back away from management positions because it’s hard to lay people off. Not fire people that deserve it, there is a difference. If you built a case around someone’s incompetence, then that is justified and you’re not doing anyone any favors keeping dead weight or a problem. Laying people off because some executive F’ed up is completely different. To me, it sucks but for the company to survive you have to put the individual’s loss aside. I just hated the reasons I usually had to do it. Sometimes the market shifts, but there have been times that executives refuse to make concessions or keep their friend that failed around. That has always frustrated me. You see it a lot in sales.
When laying someone off, just make it about them. It’s best to be honest and forthright to let them move on. It’s nice if you can offer them a fair package.
Of course, when you’re in the workforce and you see the company struggling, maybe due to the industry shift or some executive F’ed up, then it’s not up to you, is it. Someone makes that decision for you. You’re either on the list or you’re not. Remember that it’s not your decision, maybe not the person laying you off, but someone looking at the numbers. Try not to take it personally. Chances are there was nothing you could do.
This brings me back to helping people, specifically co-workers. I am happy to help if I can, meaning if I have the time and energy, I will gladly help someone. Even if they look better than me and might get to stay while I’m let go. You know why? It’s because I should have done more myself. Maybe they got picked for a better project, have more experience, or an underlying thing makes the company value their status over mine. Who cares! All of that is out of my control.
Several years ago I learned that helping can pay dividends, in good times and bad. Treating people with dignity and respect pays dividends.
Have people stabbed me in the back or taken all the credit, of course. Who cares? That’s on them. The way I look at it, what happens when they’re asked to do it again? Can they do it or not? We shall see.
My view is that I have to keep my eyes ahead and keep grinding. No need to whine, complain, or quit. Although, I have done all of that in the past, maybe even recently. But, when I get my feelings out of the way I start to wise up, then I look at things logically and I come back to reality.
I feel if I just do my job, learn as much as I can, and continue to improve, I will be OK. If not with Company A then Company B. Maybe I could start my own business, again, hopefully with better success than last time. I have options that I often overlook at that moment. That moment when someone tells you it’s over and you really think it’s over. Maybe it is, for a short while. Then you get your groove back if you can focus on moving ahead and avoid being bitter.
The downside to helping is it can hurt you, so make sure you prioritize your job and tasks over others. That is critical. Helping someone while your job or life goes to crap is no way to make it. I fell into that trap too many times in the past. Sure, you’re going to piss them off in the short term, but be aware that you have to take care of yourself and your family first.
So, who have you helped this week?
Who is #1 on your list to help next?