Saturday, October 03, 2009

A juggling act

Everytime I interview a candidate, I'd ask them if they have done anything beyond what is required of the job for the company or for the team. Just to gauge if they have the teamwork spirit and the passion to go that extra mile for their career, to take on additional responsibilities.

It's a good quality to look for isn't it? It's a good quality to practice as well right?? And you must practice what you preach, leadership by example...blah blah blah.

But this is not a fair world. Good qualities lead to good actions... but it does not necessarily lead to good outcomes. What people see and judge you upon are only the outcomes. If outcomes are not out, not matter how much "extra mile" you put in, it is not enough.

In fact, the more willing you are to take on the extra, the more extra people will put upon you. Then you'll be left to juggle ALL that extra balls. You only have 2 hands, so 2 balls are in your hand... the rest of the balls are in the air. With so many balls in the air, what kind of outcomes do you expect? All the balls will be in the air la. People with one or two will have it in their hand.

A stupid clown, juggling...juggling...juggling.

Nothing but a circus act. Any more balls you wanna throw at me, world???

1 comment:

nat said...

Oh no... that's me. Going the 'extra mile' might be one of my weaknesses, really! Too much work now