Everyone Is Replaceable! Really??

Anyone ever hear that, either directed at you or someone you work/worked with? That's a nasty thing to say, and very NOT true. Surely anyone who loses his/her job can be replaced with another person, but it still AIN'T you. The talents that only you possess, the temperament, attitude, your nuance is yours and yours alone.

  I left a company after a two week notice some years ago, they told me I'll be easy to replace. I ran a dept. several different machines, and even stepped in as manager for weeks on end while the manager was being hospital treated for cancer.

  Several years later they did sell due to financial difficulties (due to their negligence), none on my account. I bumped into one of my colleagues and asked how things were going. He told me they had went into bankruptcy, then finally sold the business. He told me after I left, they had to hire 3 other people. I asked why. No one wanted to do everything you did without compensation. It was either supervise or run a machine.

  I may be the exception, because I never liked standing still. I had to do something, make things run better, smoother, in sync. If there's a better way of doing a process, I'll find it, write the SOP's, and bring it to fruition. I would work it out myself first. Then have the dept. run the gamete.

  On the other side of things, you have bosses that are self-absorbed, everything revolves around them, or as an elderly friend says, "dissolves around them".  Humorous and yet true. In time it catches up.

  Bad leaders say that because of one or more of these issues:

#1. They're infatuated with themselves.

                                                             "It's my way or the highway!"                          

     No matter what you do it's just not done right. No one does it better! You'll hear the boss exclaim, "Do I have to do it all myself?" or , "If you want it done right, you just have to do it yourself!" We know fully well he/she can't (in some cases), and he/she won't. The project is never the way it should be, he/she would have done it differently. Yeah, right!


#2. They can't handle that or any situation too big for them too handle.

                                             It's always someone elses fault, never their own.

    I walked into a company, and when questioning the reasons why particular things were done in such and such a way, I got all the pain of heart his people give him. They don't listen, or pay attention to what they're told.

#3. They can't handle the truth when confronted.

                                               "Truth? You can't handle the truth!"

     When I asked what steps did he take to undergo transformation of his dilemma, he gasped, "What? I do everything I can to make this a tight ship!"  I just replied lowly only for him to hear, "Your ship's sinking."
You're, he didn't like that at all! Let's face the facts, you're paying me to fix the problems you've created.


#4. Their boss told them that when they get that promotion that this is the way you act towards everyone beneath you.

                                                "You're above that now!, they're just..."

  It goes something like this: "Look Sam, starting Monday when you walk out of your office onto the floor, just remember you're not one of them anymore." Some think that once you graduate to a higher level of success you 'must be above' all your peers.


#5. They just don't know any better.

                                  "No one explained to me what I'm to do, I'll just go with the flow." 

 They come to work and assume little to no responsibility; not caring about what does and doesn't get finished. Trying to look busy, just to get through the day, hoping to make it through to the  weekend. As long as they're not called to the carpet things will go as is.


#6. They didn't ask for it, they didn't want it.

                                    "They just dumped it on me, I don't care what happens!"
   
  It will cost them the job somewhere down the line. Again, they come to work and assume no responsibility; not caring about what does and doesn't get finished. The boss before was discarded, and now it's their turn, as if to feel   "NEXT!" So they turn that fear and anguish around and do what I call "Dumping Down". Passing it down the line to the next.

  You are unique, a one of a kind person. The boss may put someone else in your position, but they can't take your place. Put yourself in a position of being non-replaceable.  Go the extra, do what others turn down. Don't be arrogant but in humility be joyful, even in adversity. You will rise to the top and make it hard to replace.


   You can come up with some more points not mentioned here, list them in the comment section. Sphere-Logic Business Thinking is getting rid of the box mentality; and giving business real life thought. Working with the home and career sides of living simultaneously. Giving organizational leaders a step up to a fulfilling life. You can reach us at: info@agrpllc.com.

  "Building dreams, teams, and friends for life, not just clients!"

Cats' In The Cradle

 

                                 And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
                     Little boy blue and the man on the moon
                     When you comin' home dad?
                     I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
                     You know we'll have a good time then  chorus
                                                                               The Artist: Harry Chapin

     Anyone remember the song? For those who don't, it's about a dad who doesn't make the time to be in his child's life. Always making promises, whether to play catch, go to a game, or just watch TV together, dad just doesn't take that time. Meanwhile the child grows up and the dad grows old. Now he wants time with his son, but the son has the same reaction dad did all those years, and the cycle repeats. He makes promises

unkempt.

 And he was talkin' 'fore I knew it, and as he grew
He'd say "I'm gonna be like you dad
You know I'm gonna be like you"
  Last three lines of first stanza 
 
    We do the same in and with our families, our business, our careers. We forget the small things. Like the saying , "We eat to live, not live to eat." Our careers or business feed our families, but they should not run your life. Family comes first, then the rest should and will fall into place.

  I've seen all too many times a career change, or a business start-up fail, and come home to a house with no one there. I get a call only to hear, "Where did I go wrong?"

  Our priorities MUST be in place. For instance mine are as such: God, family, friends, career, in that order.

  On the other hand, I deal with clients whose businesses are blossoming. They call with the regret our meeting is postponed to a later date, they forgot a sons little league game, a daughters dance recital, and change the date and all is well. I understand that family comes first, the meeting we had reset was not life threatening and can wait.

  True success is when your priorities are in place, you have confidence in yourself, family, employees, etc. Yes, we should take our careers seriously, BUT we must take family and life more so.

  I never heard anyone say late in life or near its end, "I wish I'd spent more time at work, or I hope that self portrait fits in my coffin, I want it with me!" No, I hear, "I wish I spent more time with my spouse, my kids, my family, and friends."

Sphere-Logic Business Thinking takes the whole of life and starts with what matters most in life. Living life to the full with what we're given.

Say to that mountain

 

  Say to that mountain "Be cast into the sea, and it will be removed into the sea!" Everyone in Christiandom knows that phrase. Did you ever consider the ramifications of those words, and how they would in turn affect and effect the outcome? Everything comes with a reaction (as ripples on the sea) from the original action.

What may seem good in your eyes may not be good for someone else. Just because it works for you doesn't mean its working. Are the affects long lasting or are they infecting others around you? Processes have to work 1. for your good, and 2. for the good of the organization in whole. They are built on now term, short term, and long term. Can your processes endure the test of time?


  The mindset of your business is like that; things that were done 10, 20 years ago affect, effect, and even infect us in the here and now. We all have heard it, "The only thing that doesn't change is that everything changes!" It's true, everything in this life is constantly changing and on the move, preferably forward. So when you think of what it is you're doing, can you ascertain its outcome in the future?

  There are organizations that are sinking into the ocean of confusion and shutting their doors; while wondering what happened to their dream; the negatives built a mountain of regret they feel they just can't conquer. While on the other  hand, there are organizations that speak to their mountain and climb and conquer it.

  Here's an example: (short version)
  Company X built its business on great customer service. It grew exponentially! As it grew, of course it hired more associates, losing much of its clarity of vision and purpose. This is the mountain building process. Speaking to the mountain is recognition of the problem, and as in practice tools you go thru a DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, initiate, control) process. That is, your speaking to the Mt. So company X realized they situation and started a PPP program to bring them out from valley to an oasis of a 300% increase customers over a 12 month season.

      Foot note here: DMAIC could be DMAICC (add the process 'confine') You must confine the problem before going on. DMAIC goes on in continuous sphere, as you recognize x, it must be confined and repaired at that moment.

  Some companies don't realize their Mt. is crushing their business, and they go around and around, never climbing or speaking, but building a trench just getting deeper in the pit. They are so close to the situation, its invisible to their sight, when it does come them from outside it can go one of two ways, 1. they take it to heart (as a threat in some way), and 2. they listen, realize the problem then start working on the remedy. Make the Mt. work for you!


  How do you deal with your mountain? Don't hesitate to speak to it and bring it to captivity.