I am excited to begin this new year of Tuesdays with you. When I first launched Tuesdays, it was intended to be, and continues to be, a place to relax and reflect, to take a moment to have a cup of coffee and think about who you want to be in the world of work.
Every day, we choose how we want to ‘show up.’ During our monthly series of articles, I want us to focus on the perspective of how our boss (and co-workers) think we are showing up. In coaching, we often do an exercise in which we place 3 or 4 chairs in a circle around the room. While this is a bit more challenging to do in times of COVID and being online, it is still actionable. Here is a simple walk-through: Identify each chair as belonging to someone. You, your boss, perhaps a peer, perhaps a direct report, perhaps your boss’s boss. Now ask yourself, “If I resigned and was walking out the door, what would they say? Would they run after me? Would they feel a bit neutral? Would they be silently relieved?”
I realize this is a difficult question for anyone to ask. It’s easy to not actually do this, but I am asking you to try. We often don’t think this way, but most of us do think about how we view ourselves and how we want to be perceived. We sometimes forget we are working for someone and for something, and that we were hired to provide pretty specific services and impacts that were designed to make the company successful.
This season, I want to awaken this broader thinking within all of us. This year, we will be focusing on topics that will help you examine what you were hired for, your areas of professional growth, and how you can be a rock star in each of these areas. I hope you will join us in this fun and perhaps re-orienting time. I want you to be a player – first string. A star. You are well worth the investment!
