Here’s a simple question:
Did you do what you got paid to do this week?
Before you answer that, you need to recognize just what you get paid for.
You get paid to be the best (insert your title/role here) that you can be. And you’re paid to get better at it.
That means you actually (insert your main responsibility here) to the best of your ability and/or you learned something that will make you a notch or two higher on the kick-butt-o-meter tomorrow.
- If you’re a leader, did you lead this week? Did get better at it?
- If you’re a manager, did you manage well this week? Did you get better at it?
- If you’re a barista, did you rock the beans this week? Did you get better at it?
- If you’re a customer service rep, did you truly help your customers this week? Did you get better at it?
- If you’re a salesperson, did you truly help your customers this week? Ha, trick question. ‘Cause you know selling should be all about helping customers, right, not just about selling stuff?
- If you’re an analyst, did you dig as deep as you needed to this week? Did you get better at it?
- If you’re a dog groomer, did you make every dog shine this week? Did you get better at it?
- If you’re an elected official, did you serve your constituants well this week? Did you get better at it?
This isn’t about perfection. It’s about focus, excellence, and improvement. Most businesses — and business professionals — are mediocre at best. They don’t bring their best to work, and they rarely take the opportunity to improve, even when the opportunity is right in front of them, and it’s gift-wrapped, and it’s free for the taking. Most people look at these gifts and say, “Meh” (which is a half-word, half grunt that means “I don’t really care about my job, my customers, or the people/place I work for).
It really doesn’t matter if you’re full-time, part-time, or the boss of the whole building. Your job is to do the best you can and get better at it. Every day. Every chance you get.
THAT’S what you get paid for.