A Paying Job Makes It Professional

In our paying jobs, we all experience decisions by our employers that we don't always agree with.  No news flash there, right.

Whether we work for a restaurant, the government, a boutique, or a gargantuan Fortune 100 corporation - everyone sooner or later and more often than not - experiences the downsides of decisions made by bosses and corporate suits.  Sure, sometimes we benefit from the upside of good decisions.  But let's not kid ourselves.  The majority of the "siding" effect is down, not up. Que sera sera.

So we ask ourselves: what gives?  Why does the preponderance fall on the negative, not the positive.  Well, while I can't tell you the specifics, I can tell you the generalization: and that's that the bosses and suites aren't as smart as they think they are, and more often than not - make decisions based on their individual biases/paradigms/feelings, and not in the best interest of the company as a whole. In other words, they're human.   

That said, sometimes decisions - while painful to individuals - are what's best for the company.  Yes, when times are hard, reorganizations, recalibrations and yes, even layoffs and firings may be the only recourse from staving off the worst of the worst.  But outside of the drastic decisions, the others ones ... the ones that happen 90% of the time and are based on so-called "strategic reasonings" ... are made because of the mindset and thinking of individuals, not companies.  After all, companies don't have brains, people do; companies don't strategize, people do; companies don't choose to do this or that, people do.

You get the picture.          

That said, when we are impacted by suspect decisions (yes, we all will be impacted, at multiple times in our careers) - and our income relies on that job - we must accept it, and get back to work.

At the end of the day friends, it's pretty simple: if we are paid to do a job, that makes us a professional: be us a cook, painter, accountant, sales person, engineer, president, or a freak at the Carney.  If our employer pays us, and we have a paid job that gets paid - than we are professionals, and we need to act like ones.

That means we have jobs to do.  More so - we have families, colleagues, customers and a bunch of "stakeholders" to support.  By definition, a job is important because it's a job. Regardless of the actual requirements/pay, it's still a job, and one that if you are in it, must get done.  In doing so, we must accept certain decisions that may not gel with our own.  It happens.  We know it.  That said, if we play our cards right (no, we must play our cards right) - we continue to enjoy the fruits (aka pay) of our labors, assuming we continue to stay employed and get paid.  Make sense?

Here's the deal: when decisions go down that make us bothered, bummed or even down right bitchy - we have to turn those frowns upside down and get back to work.  We do.  Even better - get back to work with a smile and good cheer.  After all, if we are being paid, than we are professionals and need to act like ones.

So, the next time a "downside decision thing" happens to us - instead of griping, moaning and causing a ruckus with those folks whose decisions we think are bad (and after all, they could be right) - how about we knock their socks off by showing them how truly professional we can be, even when we don't want to be.

After all, its the right thing to do, assuming you get paid to do it.  And if you get paid to do it, that makes you a professional. And acting professional, especially when the chips are down - is the professional thing to do.     

Being a Professional is Good.

Being a Professional Slacker is Bad.