Employees should never be given access to the front door.
Daytime soaps carry no weight in a world created by coworkers and those striving to be more. Who needs a laundry mat to air dirt when the lobby is looked upon as being the first place of safety before being released into a parking lot filled with every avenue of escape?
Your mission…stop reading magazines and watching TV at the dentist and doctor, put down the thick heavy books with fancy hairstyles at the boutique and grab a good dose of lobby drama.
The concept of “competition” being healthy in the workplace is splashing over the edges of the assumed tall thick cup. There’s so much energy being wasted fighting with each other that companies who’re truly competing against you are given free valuable research doing nothing more than sitting in your lobby.
Being part of a company team is no different than growing up in a house cursed with too many brothers and sisters; the parental figures can talk about getting along until they’re blue in the face but who’s listening? Employees arriving and departing for lunch or meetings through the front door almost never take note of guests.
Every breath you take someone is watching you.
Don’t call me a snoop! It’s no different than the World Wide Web and Texting, if you’re going to put your life out there we’ve got the right to watch it unfold. It becomes our business to get wrapped up in other people's business.
Instability and uncertainty causes such displays of thoughtlessness. Company policy and closed door meetings have made it too easy to become suspicious. Therefore, we’ve evolved into a monster that’s geared toward being more aware of what coworkers are doing than family members and friends.
Blame it on a lack of firm leadership. Dr. Gary Ranker explains that the worker bee forces that keep America going have been provoked to live a lifestyle energized by survival instincts—open door battles are acceptable behavior usually starting with small talk in bathrooms, inner office emails and the infamous lobby.
In order to be successful it’s completely natural to fill your cubicles with ambitious individuals who’re locked on competing and there’s no sweeter place for that journey to begin than within the four walls holding up the roof over your head. Competing against each other develops a firm foundation but to get there puts your fields of clover in the center of friendly fire.
Bickering consumes every department heads day. It takes time to sort out both sides of the story. Once progress is made the idea of wanting to get back to work seems pointless because in ten minutes another lobby drama will rear up like a hurricane on the horizon.
Dr. Gary offers this advice: Determine how your daily behavior might be contributing to the dilemma. It doesn’t matter where you stand on the totem pole, how you act and react influences coworkers. If you tend to easily lose your temper, you’re giving permission to those around you to do the same.
My weakness is holding onto things too deeply for too long. A former GM once said, “If Arroe is making noise, someone two weeks ago planted a seed that’s now starting to make its way to the surface.” Correcting the situation is like scolding a dog three days after it messed on the floor. It’s impossible to locate a level playing field when ideas, challenges and outcomes have no physical new beginning during a time when the ending has become a disruption in a lot of processes.
Through methods of motivation and positive thinking I’ve learned to be more open at the moment of arrival. Interestingly enough, that’s created even a bigger problem because now it looks like I’m not being a company player. Being honest creates assumption which mind melts into more situations of belief and by the time the real state of affairs is confronted too many opinions have already developed a walking path for all to follow creating another season of ABC’s LOST.
Dr. Ranker has three areas of behavior we can work on everyday: Stimulating competition among peers. Stop encouraging aggressive behavior. Make the competition friendly.
Guard sensitive information: Avoid topics and minimizing communication, it erodes trust creating rumors. Be clear about what you feel and share without withholding information.
Solving problems for followers: Bosses are looked to for guidance and answers—if you’re in the market of solving problems, employees will do nothing but depend on you to make their world better; teach your team how to figure it out themselves without having to take it to the lobby for visitors and potential competition to fall witness to.
Employees should never be given access to the front door.
Oh wait…did I fail to mention Face Book, Twitter and any other Social Networking connection are no different than the lobby? Thank you in advance for giving me something to read…People, Newsweek and Highlight aren’t what they used to be. Not compared to the drama driven by your heart and everything else connected to your emotions.
arroecollins@clearchannel.com
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