Deeper Dive - Why We Need Good Boundaries - April 19, 2022
I have talked to a lot of you....this what you have told me.
A Quick Editorial Comment….
I am always working to provide you with high quality information and content to help you in your role. A few weeks ago, “Thursday Thoughts” was rolled out and while the response has been very positive, I quickly learned that having newsletters come out on back to back days wasn’t very helpful.
First, it crammed the content schedule to cram a lot of content creation is just a couple of hours in an evening. Second, while the content was good, the “Thursday Thoughts” always got less visitors on Friday due to the Friday edition on going out; it was almost as if the two editions were working against each other, rather than with each other.
So, the content calendar here at Pinnacle Strategies is going to change a bit.
The flagship edition, “The Rundown”, will not change. That will continue to be a free edition that comes out every Friday at 7 a.m. What will change is that “Thursday Thoughts” will now be called “Deeper Dive” and it will come out on Tuesday at 7 a.m.
Our paid subscribers may want to know, “Tuesday is the day Pinnacle Strategies on Video comes out. Is that changing?” It is, our paid video service will now come out on Thursday mornings. If you haven’t yet become a paid subscriber to the Pinnacle Strategies on Video service, you are really missing out on some valuable content. Right now, we are working through Peter Drucker’s classic text, “The Effective Executive” and discussing what lessons we can learn in the public and nonprofit sectors.
You can subscribe at the link below and remember, each paid subscriber receives a free gift!
Boundaries
Over the last few weeks, I have talked to quite a few of our subscribers. Each one is in a critical leadership role in a relatively small shop. Some are part of newly started organizations, some are with a more established organization. Some are in charge of operations, others in charge of development. All of these folks I am talking to are suffering through some pretty major issues at their workplace.
Some of these issues could be traced back to lack of leadership, poor communication skills and lack of clear expectations. But, the painful truth is sometimes these issues come back to a lack of boundaries we set for ourselves.
I get it. I was once part of a small team and I had the unhealthy attitude that if I didn’t do it, it didn’t get done. I thought that if I worked hard on those things that no one else either had the desire or capacity to do, I would work myself up the organization.
I did many things, but my workplace goals never came to fruition. I found myself passed over for promotions, often going to individuals with less experience and less formal education. It was a hard lesson to learn, but these individuals that made these decisions weren’t against me, but they were against me being in a different role. They knew that for the good of the organization, I was most valuable where I was. Moving me up the organizational chart might be good for me, but it would be another (and perhaps even harder) position to fill and there is no guarantee that the new person would go above and beyond. The organization wouldn’t benefit.
They Are Never Going to Love You The Way You Want
All of these experiences gave me a very challenging lesson to learn, organizations aren’t going to love you the way you want. I know that is painful to read (trust me, it’s even more painful to write). And maybe there are exceptions. But those individuals from Executive Directors to Board of Directors to Department Heads have a duty of care, loyalty and obedience not to you, but to the organization. By definition, they have to put the needs and desires of the organization first.
And this is hard, because I see too many conscientious and industrious professionals in the public and nonprofit worlds are so used to giving, they have nothing else to give. They come up to work early, leave late, work weekends, answer the phone at night and “do all the things” often to the detriment to themselves, their key relationships and their families.
They do this work thinking it might help them move up the organizational food chain or it might serve someone that badly needs help. In reality, all it does is paint a target on their back letting the whole organization know that they are willing to be taken advantage of.
Stand Up For Yourself
Many of the work tasks and the expectation we have in this work are burdens we have put on ourselves. In reality, we have no one else to blame for our over scheduled lives. In reality, it’s time to take back your life and that often begins at work.
Being assertive and saying no to unreasonable or unhealthy expectations isn’t easy. I get it. But, it’s necessary. And sometimes the person we need to say “no” to the most is ourselves.
Try this. Tonight, shut off the cellphone. Do you think you are going to miss a critical call from a team member? When was the last time you had a critical call from a team member that was after 5 p.m.? If you don’t take that call, will the world end?
Think about those after hour meetings you believe you have to attend. Is your attendance that critical? Can you back off some of these commitments and still be effective at your workplace? I bet you can.
There are people in your life that you are missing out on because of your work situation. These are people that love you and value you; these are the people that will shed tears when you depart this earth. These are the people you need to invest in; these are the people that will always be there for you.
I sometimes ride my bike through a local cemetery; I see inscriptions that say, “Mother”, “Father”, “Sister”, “Brother”, “Dear Friend”…….I have yet to see one that says, “Director of Operations” or “President of the Board”. Keep that in mind.
I have had my say, what’s yours? Feel free to drop me a line at pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com
Stay Well,
Bill
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