To all the B-School grads out there: there's something about your supervisor or manager taking the day off, right? How many of us do not claim to feel "free", or think we can "work uninhibited", how many of us would leave early, or how many of us would take a two-hour lunch break (or how many of us would sit and blog!)?
This got me thinking about basic HR 101. How many of us really require supervision? Do we respect authority really, or is it a necessary evil? Is a hawk-eye monitoring on us necessary, or is motivation more underrated than we realize?
True, there are some of you who are so motivated that you look forward to Mondays, enjoy working late, cannot think bad about your work. The reasons for this may be many. You may love what you do, you may just like to work, irrespective of what you are doing, or you may just feel a sublime urge to work, irrespective of whether you like what you are doing. I do not want to confuse self-motivation, for whatever reason, with external motivation here. But how many of us fall into the category?
Why do we want someone giving us that push? Why do we slip back 10 years in time the minute our supervisor walks off or takes leave? What do we want from ourselves to make us work without having to look over our shoulders to make sure no one is "checking up" on us? By "us", by the way, i mean the 20-something freshly-graduated workforce who is just happy that we are not in college anymore and get paid to a)work in a "corporate setting" b) make more friends c) learn things not necessarily academic. Sometimes, I see friends, acquaintances and co-workers who have not learn't fancy concepts, but instead utilized those two years to develop technical knowledge and skills. in terms of knowledge, productivity and self-drive I would definitely rate them much higher.
What they dont teach us is the difference between success and leadership. What they dont teach us is the difference between motivation and greed. What they dont teach us is the difference between working and finishing tasks. What I feel is that the terms like "rewards" "recognition" "ratings" are used more lavishly, than in a true context. Mark Mc. Cormack picks Harward to dissect what lessons the outside world can teach us. That holds true from wherever we have graduated.
Today, what I heard in my classroom are just words, what is there in my mind is just terminology that I recall, sometimes to my good luck, at the right time. But what we really cannot be taught is drive.
With that, I have to go make a to-do list. I think my manager's back tomorrow!!! Happy Working!!
1 comment:
Nice post i must say.I rather feel that people prioritize a lot in their lives. Few of them put work on the topmost slot.This really makes them how u described in you initial few sentences. I pity them. Life shouldnt be wasted on anything quoting that the aspect is of top priority, a balance should be hit and maintained.Good post, i did remember few friends of mine in college while reading this post :P:P i hope u guessed who all :).
Post a Comment