Never Too Busy?

I will never forget the day my boss pulled me aside for a little talking-to. If you know me, you can guess which job this was. Hint: Rhymes with Twigs Lotto.

We had been in a meeting discussing plans for an event, for which we needed a banner. The group turned to me to ask if I could do it. Of course I would. That was my job. However, my plate was full for the day with higher priority tasks, so I said quite politely, I thought, “I won’t be able to get to it today, but I will make sure it gets done tomorrow.”

It seemed fair. The banner project wasn’t urgent, and I was emphasizing that I would make sure the task was completed quickly, but it wouldn't happen that afternoon.

So, about an hour later, my boss pulled me from my back office to a desk on the sales floor and scolded me in front of the salesmen. “If there’s one thing I won’t tolerate, it’s people saying they don’t have time,” he said. “You’re never too busy. You can always make time. I don’t ever want to hear that you don’t have time.”

I was completely caught off guard. When did I say I was too busy? Or that I didn’t have enough time? Or that I wouldn’t or couldn’t do it?

What’s that old saying? Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today? If it had been urgent, I would have reprioritized my day and made sure that it got done immediately. But it wasn’t and it was already mid afternoon.

I had never been scolded like that at a job, and it wouldn’t be the first time something was blown out of proportion in that particular work environment. Some other time I’ll tell you about a public blowup over an invoice line item for hair/makeup for a TV commercial featuring our hometown Green Bay Packers star and his lovely wife.

I’ve been fortunate to have some really outstanding supervisors (sans this example), who know there is a time and place for constructive criticism, which is a necessary part of growing as a professional. But there's a way to do this, which brings me to a couple of points for happy employees.

1. Praise in public, criticize/coach/correct in private. Over three years, I witnessed more than public beratings than should ever happen in 50 years (because they shouldn’t happen in public at all). Fortunately, very few were directed at me, and when they were, I could usually recover quickly because the issues were beyond my control. I knew I was an easy scapegoat, so I just learned to deal with it. But no one should ever have to work in a culture of fear. If you find yourself in one that isn’t positive, start plotting your escape to a better environment. That’s what I had to do. And if you have a supervisor who yells, run. That’s just plain unnecessary.
2. It's okay to say no. Right now, I have freelance projects out the wazoo, which is great, but let’s face it – between freelance, my “real” job and my volunteer activities, I’ve majorly overcommitted myself and it’s causing me a ton of stress. There’s not much more I can do but trudge through it and try to learn my lesson. In my previous life working on the dark side at Twigs Lotto, I never truly said no to anything, especially not after that initial sit-down. But I did learn to voice my concerns and offer alternatives. The next-day banner design was an alternative and no one was harmed by waiting until the next morning to complete the project. The world did not end, as my boss seemed to think it might if that banner wasn't done right that very moment.

So there’s my wisdom. It’s not much, but hopefully a few tips that will help someone along the way. And thank the Lord for new beginnings in more positive environments!