Some of the most effective members of staff in the organisation where I work quit within the past month. They had been recruited most recently, but before they had even left, we were mentally preparing ourselves for a quieter office, less banter, lower morale – all hands have always been on deck, but now there would be fewer capable and dedicated hands to carry the ever-increasing load. Adjusting to the resulting changes since got me thinking, not just of the strength of their impact on the organisation, but of my own direction.
I began to reflect upon my own life goals, wondering whether I still brought value to the workplace, and whether I was having as much an impact on those around me as I would like. If I left, would I be missed and would my colleagues speak well of me even in my absence as we were doing of those who had just moved on?
In light of my recent thoughts, Diana Schwenk’s post a couple of weeks ago, Who are you? was particularly apt. Diana posed a question that her boss had asked her and she in turn asked her direct reports:
What do you want people to say about you when you’re not in the room?
I had been wondering what other people would say, but had not asked myself what I hoped that they would say. And so below are a few things I’d like my colleagues to say about me:
- That I care and always make time to truly listen to what matters to them
- That I help them to develop beyond what they know they are capable of
- That I am reliable, trustworthy, proactive, passionate, creative and have a wicked sense of humour 🙂
One for sorrow, two for joy…a favourite sight. I like magpies a lot! That’s something my colleagues won’t say about me, because the only birds near work are pigeons…
Diana boldly displays her personal vision and mission statement on her blog. I guess I had an indirect mission statement on my About page all along, although I think as I grow through different stages in life, my focus shifts. As I have wandered about on this blogging journey, I’m grateful that I’ve found the space to explore ideas and be more creative than I have been in a while. It’s helped me to treasure my life a little more and challenged me to be more mindful of the effects of what I do or say. And reading or seeing what is going on in your mind as we each explore our worlds, makes this journey just that bit more interesting.
Do you tend to think of yourself in the context of what you do rather than who you are? How would you answer the above question?
this is lemonade 