Today's workplace needs to come with boxing rings and a mud pit...

There used to be a time when American businesses shaped the landscape with separate teams of visionaries, producers and salesmanship; getting the product to the client required a mandate to seal a deal with behind the scenes camaraderie that turned the average job atmosphere into a family of success.

Today local managers have been ordered to hire one person to carry the company mantra; you must see it, create it then believe in it...only to find the kickback fails to feed the pockets of the CVS pharmacist impatiently waiting to refill your prescriptions caused by stress, high blood pressure and chronic flu.

Making matters worse it’s become customary for companies to build up their staff with direct competition. It’s no longer Ford against Chevy, Taco Bell taking on McDonalds or Target masterminding a weekend sale to get past Kmart. The new America is Jimmy out performing Michael and what the heck is up with Cynthia? The accepted win win solution is to take your family of employees and turn them into five and six year old boys fighting over a baseball and bat. It’s no different than the rich standing on the houses in Charleston to watch the War Between the States unfold at Fort Sumter.

Employees are competing for the same resources; money available is limited…within seconds the pie is cut into chunks of sixty, twenty, ten, five and a bunch of ones.

Are the current times no different than the days of valiant Greek Olympians where survival of the fittest buys you nothing more than time? Dr. Gary Ranker describes this method of leadership friendly fire believing it puts American businesses in serious danger of creating consequences that eliminate opportunity.

Going to work with your direct competition is no different sleeping with your enemy.

Dr. Ranker lays it on the line when describing what coworkers should do, “Identify what competitive issues will destroy your company. Give attention to the most difficult damaging problems.”

Clarity is word that no longer exists in the world of business. How can a department head be clear with the issues at hand when he or she are given hundreds of reasons why yesterday’s plan isn’t worth the weight of the tree selected to become toilet paper?

According to Dr. Ranker, “There’s nothing wrong with demanding a clear picture.”

The one thing standing in the way is the assumed producers who’ve been driven to believe there are no rules in the game of winning. Clear means what? A winning solution is to motivate each other. But be careful instantly you’ll be introduced to the differences of sympathy and empathy while being accused of being what I was recently called, “You’re too much of a free spirit. People need boxes.”

Teach yourself to locate an objective view of the competition your business has forced your life to become part of. Allow your day to become more productive by generating new opportunities. My weakness is hearing someone say, “There’s nothing to do.” Company minutes and money are wasted daily by in house competitors that seek nothing more than someone telling them what to do.

Ouch!

If it’s new fad to pit employees against each other why can’t the office feature the one thing that made Riverside Jr. High the greatest place on earth; give me a boxing ring to even out the indifferences.

Arthur Miller pinpointed the perfect scared straight book when he forked out the thoughts that became The Death of the Salesman. Sadly that book doesn’t register any fear today because in every business near death experiences happen every thirty seconds because working as a team means nothing on the forefront of hourly survival.

What are you doing to change the workday landscape? How you are treated today allows your children to become numb when they enter the business world in the years ahead; basically meaning it’s not going to get better until you prioritize competitive issues at work.

I’ll always believe in you first…

arroecollins@clearchannel.com