Posts Tagged ‘staff’
Part of putting on a professional work face means to be wise enough to know what topics are good to discuss at work and what topics should be avoided like the plague. Two such subjects to avoid at work are politics and religion. These two subjects have been the cause of many wars, debates and arguments over the history of humanity and the last thing you want is to start a war at work over your views on politics or religion.
In management, you have the challenge of keeping the peace and helping everyone from all backgrounds to get along harmoniously while at work. There is nothing more divisive than having someone that’s christian for example telling everyone that they will all go to hell if they don’t repent. Or a catholic telling everyone that if the do not go to confession, their soul will be damned in hell for all eternity. Or even a Jew telling everyone that Jesus was not the Messiah. If you want a war to break out in your office, let everyone discuss these topics freely and see what can happen. Both of these things have a place in our society but I dare say that they shouldn’t be discussed at work.
The last part of this topic of putting on a professional work face has basically to do with your status in life for want of a better description. It doesn’t matter what role you have within your work environment. You can be a top CEO, a manager of a department or maybe a receptionist, all have the capability of doing this and in the process drive everyone around you to want to hurt you in some way. I’m talking about bragging about how much money you have or bragging constantly about your purchases and ‘wise’ investments.
One guy I worked with many years ago when cable internet was just being introduced in Australia, used to brag about how expensive it was and how fast it was compared to my crappy out of date dial up connection. Dial up was nothing compared to cable as to speed but all he succeeded in doing was to make me feel inadequate because at the time dial up was all IÂ could afford. He also used to brag about the new sports car he just bought and the extension to his home recently, going from a 20square home to over 60 squares. Nobody really wanted to hear it. As it turned out, it wasn’t even his money that he was bragging about spending. It turned out to be his wife’s family inheritance and that without it, he was penniless. The irony was that not long after all this bragging, his wife kicked him out and divorced him but then all we heard about was how poor he was. This can be just as bad in a work environment: going on about how poor you are. No one wants to hear that either. Sharing with some close colleagues about your financial issues is ok after work or over lunch but you certainly do not want to be walking about the office telling every one. It makes you look like a loser and in business, no one wants to be associated with a loser.
Perhaps the easiest way to describe what it means to put on a professional work face is to know what to say, when to say it and whom it’s ok to say it to. You also need to know which secrets about yourself you should keep to yourself and which ones can actually help you get ahead and succeed at work.
Posted in Management Articles For Managers | Tags: management, politics, professional workface, religion, staff, workface | 
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