Rant-Apprently I’m privileged

Unless you attemp to change a person's perception through being open minded, conversation,education, or a black eye they'll never understand your point of view.
We actually had a good sermon on this topic....preacher left out the black eye part.

We don't teach thinking, critical analysis, or being open to varying opinions along with the other stuff hit on. Right now we are programming classes of people, and the government is helping with all its assistance.
 
Have any of you seen or read any literature on how to instill this type of work ethic into children and young adults? I'd love to know how to make my kids driven to succeed without the trophies and what not. I'm not as driven as I feel I should be, but want them to do better than I have.

That being said, I'm fairly driven. I've advanced my career pretty steadily throughout the years. But, I strive hard not to be Peter. There are still some goals to attain and I see myself getting there. But, I still don't feel as driven as I could be.


Specifically for @UTfball68, what do you do when you need to fire someone from a position but know that you will not have anyone to replace them.
 
"
what do you do when you need to fire someone from a position but know that you will not have anyone to replace them.
"

Fire them and redistribute the work between remaining people that can do it? That or upgrade someone else lower into their position and bring in someone at the bottom.
 
BigBody79 said:
Specifically for @UTfball68, what do you do when you need to fire someone from a position but know that you will not have anyone to replace them.
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First of all, remember no one is irreplaceable. If they quit tomorrow, got hit by a bus, whatever, the business will survive. It survived before this employee, it’ll survive long after this employee is gone. I ALWAYS implement ‘desk top procedures’ (different than auditable SOP’s) whether in the office or on the production floor, so someone that’s never done that job can come in and do it with no prior knowledge. Couple that with cross training, and the gap should always be covered. But that’s up to the manager/business to do. Beyond that, Without knowing the exact situation...difficult to navigate, but I’ll usually have a sit down with them, reiterate the direction I’m going and I’d rather take them with the business. Like I said above, 50% of the time, that seems to straighten people out. If they’re just not capable of doing the job, bad hires happen, (or just not getting with the program) that’ll result in another sit down where I’ll put the employee on a performance/personal improvement plan. In short, over X period of time, up your game, let’s get you the training you need, and hit the appropriate milestones. And it’s also an opportunity to identify if the role is just a bad fit for an otherwise decent/good employee that could be an asset elsewhere. If all that fails, you gotta do what you gotta do. But remember, always have a contingency, you’ll probably piss off this employee, so be recruiting for their replacement and you’ll have to redistribute the work until you find the right person. Or like I said above, if you already have capable heads, promote internally. Daisy chain your way down to the easiest filled position, or when the qualified heads run out...then fill that role externally.


Now obviously if negligence or insubordination is the issue, don’t let the door hit ya, where the good lord split ya.
 
BigBody79 said:
Have any of you seen or read any literature on how to instill this type of work ethic into children and young adults? I'd love to know how to make my kids driven to succeed without the trophies and what not. I'm not as driven as I feel I should be, but want them to do better than I have.

That being said, I'm fairly driven. I've advanced my career pretty steadily throughout the years. But, I strive hard not to be Peter. There are still some goals to attain and I see myself getting there. But, I still don't feel as driven as I could be.


Specifically for @UTfball68, what do you do when you need to fire someone from a position but know that you will not have anyone to replace them.
Click to expand...

I think kids learn a LOT from watching their parents. My son knows we both go to work, but he doesn't see what we do there. He does see us both work hard around the house though.
 
I caught some privilege today...
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drkelly said:
I think kids learn a LOT from watching their parents. My son knows we both go to work, but he doesn't see what we do there. He does see us both work hard around the house though.
Click to expand...

I was lucky enough that my dad brought me to work on selected Saturdays when I was young (7 to 10’ish). I got to see what he did, how hard he worked, how he interacted with other employees, what the other employees did, and surprisingly at a young age I was able to pick up on attitudes. I know that helped instill some drive in me.
 
UTfball68 said:
First of all, remember no one is irreplaceable. If they quit tomorrow, got hit by a bus, whatever, the business will survive. It survived before this employee, it’ll survive long after this employee is gone. I ALWAYS implement ‘desk top procedures’ (different than auditable SOP’s) whether in the office or on the production floor, so someone that’s never done that job can come in and do it with no prior knowledge. Couple that with cross training, and the gap should always be covered. But that’s up to the manager/business to do. Beyond that, Without knowing the exact situation...difficult to navigate, but I’ll usually have a sit down with them, reiterate the direction I’m going and I’d rather take them with the business. Like I said above, 50% of the time, that seems to straighten people out. If they’re just not capable of doing the job, bad hires happen, (or just not getting with the program) that’ll result in another sit down where I’ll put the employee on a performance/personal improvement plan. In short, over X period of time, up your game, let’s get you the training you need, and hit the appropriate milestones. And it’s also an opportunity to identify if the role is just a bad fit for an otherwise decent/good employee that could be an asset elsewhere. If all that fails, you gotta do what you gotta do. But remember, always have a contingency, you’ll probably piss off this employee, so be recruiting for their replacement and you’ll have to redistribute the work until you find the right person. Or like I said above, if you already have capable heads, promote internally. Daisy chain your way down to the easiest filled position, or when the qualified heads run out...then fill that role externally.


Now obviously if negligence or insubordination is the issue, don’t let the door hit ya, where the good lord split ya.
Click to expand...

You must have been part of senior management or had support from senior management. When I was I’m middle management and tried to implement what you’ve been talking about, I was met with heavy resistance. After banging my head against the wall too many times I decided it was time to cut my losses and now I can sleep at night.
 
Been working since 10 years old, at first fun, not so much going on 40, we all missed something. We might be to blame (not this group), don't throw me under the bus! I've earned what I have, it was hard, still is!
 
tlucier said:
You must have been part of senior management or had support from senior management. When I was I’m middle management and tried to implement what you’ve been talking about, I was met with heavy resistance. After banging my head against the wall too many times I decided it was time to cut my losses and now I can sleep at night.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I’m what most would call a job hopper (haven’t stayed anywhere much more than 2 years) but it’s allowed me to be pretty senior most of my career. Knowing how to manage upward is as important as managing downward, not always feasible though. I’ve been blessed with some pretty spectacular bosses/mentors and others that as long as the data supports it and it makes money, they leave me alone. Sleeping well at night has always been important to me too...aside from my first couple jobs, first thing I say in any interview is ‘I’m not your typical finance guy, this is how I operate, if that’s cool, let’s continue...otherwise let’s not waste eachothers time’. It’s a job, there are plenty of them out there, if one isn’t a fit, try on another one. But again, I was willing to move and travel for the last 10 years...if you’re willing to do that, somebody, somewhere will appreciate and want what you bring to the table. Use those opportunities to build your credibility, and then people come to you once you’ve built the proof of concept.
 
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I work in my families business. The perception of "privilege" is a daily occurrence. To start with it was from employees but they pretty soon realized I don't live extravagantly and I'm at work many hour's a day after they are. However, I sleep well at night knowing I'm not like @Jody Treadway tho. I didn't have to sleep with my boss to get ahead :lol:
 
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