I want to test a hypothesis: Can professionals who care too much at work, learn to care less and still succeed?
I was having lunch with a friend and we were talking about my recent “a-ha” which I shared in a previous blog: Being Essential at Work.
She had a similar story. She had two bosses, and one day they called her into their office and closed the door. Kandace was critiqued on her communication style with them. In a nutshell, they complained, Kandace would show up every day with lists and didn’t engage them in social conversation. She was being reprimanded because she never asked about their morning or weekend. Oddly enough, they wanted Kandace to become more social in her manner, and less focused on lists and tasks. (Ever take Myers-Briggs?)
During our lunch, we both laughed at the paradigm. If you care too much, it can sometimes be the death of you. Kandace said that the irony here was learning not to work as hard, and eventually receiving incredibly positive feedback for being so essential from peers and managers alike.
Can we deprogram who we are, if we care too much at work, and save our careers?
I feel a workshop in the air…
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