Searching for a niche in the workplace

Mar 25, 2021 Letters

Dear Editor,

There were two totally contrasting conversations. The first was with a well-qualified University graduate who after nearly two decades in a relatively small but well recognised organisation, had only achieved the level of a junior manager. After all the years in a familiar setting this so called professional still had to apologise for late coming, and therefore could not speak to subordinates of the same deficiency. As a consequence the range of insubordination overflowed into other areas of their performance, since discipline could not be enforced with the respect that was required.
The outcome was an operational environment which exuded mediocrity that, for some unspecified reasons, was tolerated – climaxing in a long unrewarding day as far as this under-professional was concerned. Instead, just blaming others for having to leave work late almost on a daily basis – incapable of self-evaluation, unable to recognise how barely tolerable are the administrative services rendered.
What a contrast to the other professional, also a university graduate, imbued with desire to strive for excellence, at least technically, which in fact is the nature of the services rendered. The latter boasts about meticulous preparation and of insistence on meeting often demanding deadlines; while being impatient with own performance deficits, if any. What is interesting is that despite earning high credits from the supervising directorate, is the former’s reluctance to accept being upgraded to an appropriate managerial level; the explanation being a lack of passion that should normally be complementary to the technical competence which achieves highly commended results.
These contrasting portrayals provide interesting pause for contemplation. For in both cases there exist different types and degrees of the lack of passion. In the first instance, one is patently unconscious, while in the other there is this active awareness, but which is never depletive.
The question to be asked is how many such contrasting attitudes to work obtain in organisations; and more importantly how many levels there are of the consciousness of ‘passion’? How is passion (or the lack of it) related to the communication of ‘motivation’ by the supervision? Do managers understand enough of their responsibility to excite perpetually their subordinates towards achieving a standard of performance that may not be immediately self-generated? Surely leaders charged to achieve the required organisational targets must set examples of having the passion to achieve excellence. In other words they must have the moral authority needed to conduct performance appraisals of reporting staff that would earn credibility both laterally and vertically.
But this is not to say that the observance of productive protocols may well be constrained by the ‘virtual’ interactions imposed by the current (and future) pandemic times. So how then does the passionate executive transmit his/her intensity to the next level from whom must rise a successor? Asks a long retired but still passionate professional.
Yours truly,
E.B. John

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