“You work for me”, a friend told his boss and coworkers, mostly architects, who were talking about a client project and clearly forgetting about the customer.
I stopped him to ask him what their reaction was. “They all agreed”, he laughed. He was slightly disappointed that they didn’t argue otherwise so he could engage them more.
This had me thinking about company leaders, and whether they are as much for the people as they are for employees that follow their direction. I can’t imagine telling anyone I’ve worked for that “you work for me“.
As we look more at the dynamics of the workplace, I have been ruminating over the idea of helping the next generations (GenY and Millennials) to re-engage. To give a damn about society and doing “it” (whatever their career) for a greater good.
Let’s face it, if a boss is a dictator, employees probably won’t ever realize their full potential, because fear is constant. Another friend told me that these busy over-paid and under productive human beings in the workforce are becoming a problem and contributing to complacency. “Imagine”, he said, “if they were all living up to their fullest potential. Do you think they would be sitting around and waiting for someone else to make a move when a tragedy like Newtown strikes?”
Of course I wanted to say “but but but we are time-starved, fearful, overwhelmed professionals. Behind financially. Some of us juggling parental responsibilities”. And yet, there are no excuses. When a national tragedy occurs, it reminds us we only get one chance.
Better make it meaningful.
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