Truth and personal life are paramount in work
We recently came across Liz Ryan’s Five Things You Owe Your Employer – And Five You Don’t. In the interest of keeping you from procrastinating too much at work, we’ll narrow them down to one each:
You Owe Your Employer: The Truth
You owe your employer the truth about things that happen at work — whether anyone is dying to hear the truth, or not. When you speak up, your muscles grow.
If it feels scary to speak up, as it often does, think about this: the only way you can solve a problem is by addressing it. If you’re sick of pushing a rock uphill and sharing your ideas with people who don’t want to hear them, that’s a sign from the universe. Don’t waste your emotional energy on people who don’t want to look at problems and surmount them. Start looking for a new job, instead!
Assign yourself a new rule: if you haven’t spoken to your manager about it to see if they can help solve a problem, no matter how inconsequential it seems, you aren’t allowed to hold it against her or him.
You Don’t Owe Your Employer: Your Personal Life
Everyone needs to learn the script we call “It’s Impossible” to deal with managers who ask you what you’ve got scheduled at night or on the weekend that would keep you from working extra hours.
What you have planned in your personal life is nobody’s business but yours. Here’s the script:
BOSS: Joe, can you stay late tonight to get those invoices out?
YOU: Not tonight, but I can do them tomorrow.
BOSS: What’s going on tonight?
YOU: Unmovable plans, but don’t worry — I’ll do it tomorrow.
Don’t start explaining that your kid has a hockey match or your wife’s barbershop chorus has a dress rehearsal that you have to attend because you can’t make the concert. The minute you open that vault, you can kiss your personal priorities goodbye.
Learn to say “Wish I could! – but it’s impossible” with a smile on your face.
This script will literally take care of everything—you feeling overworked, underappreciated, or stressed will go by the wayside if you draw firm, reasonable boundaries. Use your off time to really be off and you’ll find that you are much more on when it comes time to be on.
Click here for the full Five Things You Owe Your Employer – And Five You Don’t.