There are 2 things that have jumped to the front of the line in all walks of WORK. Corporations, professional organizations, unions, academia, government, services, industry, manufacturing, construction, and I could go on and on; but the 2 things I am referring to are both DATA and OPTICS.
Having had conversations with many professionals, there is a recognition that PERFORMANCE is less of a consideration than the data that supports our performance at work. The data is important, and I don’t want to minimize it but too much emphasis is put on how it appears and how it “looks”. Often there is a referral to the OPTICS. How will it look if…..?
Sometimes that just doesn’t matter. What should matter is what you do. What have you accomplished and being recognized for a job well done. The essence of who we are, what we do and how we behave, how we engage is where the progress is and sometimes the data and the optics just don’t pick that up. Leadership has changed because of the BOTTOM LINE. There is a different attitude today because of the OPTICS. The moment of truth should be measured by our performance. You either do your job well or you don’t. Most days, we are put to the test. We have an agenda, a ‘to-do’ list, and typically we have 8 hours to do it. You set your priorities in place and do all you can to get things done. Feels great when you can check the boxes as you plow through the workday. You can take pride in what you accomplished and know that tomorrow you will have more to do but today is complete.
Every day, you should have your own private performance review. Look in the mirror and you judge for yourself – How do your OPTICS look?
