In the Godfather movies there are a lot of great quotes, but my all time favorites is, “It’s not personal, it’s strictly business.” Michael Corleone says this to his brother Sonny in response to a comment about his emotional state. To me this is the defining moment when Michael actually shows he has what it takes to lead the crime family.
One of the greatest challenges I face when working with people is the misconception I am mad at them, when in fact I’m not really even thinking about them, I’m just trying to accomplish the goals set before me. As a man, I like to get the tasks assigned to me done in as an efficient manner as possible. I don’t like to play around; I just want to get my job done. I guess you could say I’m a driven individual.
When I’m at work, I want to get my work done and then play. The problem I run into a lot of times is other people want to either play then work, or they want to chit chat while they work. I am my least efficient when I’m talking while working, not to mention I tend to make more mistakes because my focus is not fully on what I’m doing.
Having been both a business owner and an employee I’ve been on both sides of the fence. I know as an employer I wanted the people I hired to do their best work for me; after all this is what I was paying them to do. And as an employee, I want to give my boss the best bang for his buck.
There is such a lackadaisical attitude any more when it comes to people doing their jobs. It’s almost an entitlement mentality, like the employee is owed something because they work for a company. The only thing the boss owes you is your pay check at the end of the week.
Perhaps I’m just old fashioned, maybe I’m just a jerk, but I really feel men should give their employers a full day’s work; making sure all of the work is done before doing anything else. I mean, once I’ve completed all the tasks at hand, I’ve got no problem socializing with my co-workers. I’ve just got to get the work done first.
I’ve been called out on more than one occasion because people thought I was angry, when I really wasn’t; there was work to do, and I was just trying to do it. It’s in moments like these I want to say, “It’s not personal, it’s strictly business.”
Happy 4th of July holiday, have fun but be safe too! Now you know what I think, what do you think?
All In A Knight's Work 