Downsides of Refusing to Take One for the Team In the previous post, YOU made your case for going to an important conference but were overruled by the boss. But YOU might feel that you didn’t fight hard enough. You might be right—more argument might make a difference. However, refusing to give up could win you the battle but lose the war. Winning the battle but losing the war As I have mentioned in other posts, the pressure to get a...
As I covered in the previous post, taking one for the team is often the right way to go. But sometimes, you should not volunteer. When to stick to your guns and not volunteer When this is very, very important to you and/or your career. Maybe you need to attend because you are actively scouting for a new job. Naturally, you can’t say that but you need to go. When you think it’s somebody else’s turn. You may already know that, for e...
When to Sacrifice and Take One for the Team As in life, people who never compromise, volunteer, or sacrifice their own wishes and needs to those of others—well, they might be successful but they surely aren’t popular. And frankly, I doubt they are all that successful either. In addition, a team where all members are willing to give and take is a good place to work, as well as (usually) more effective. We all want to have a job where...
Taking One for the Team? Taking one for the team—it seems to have originated with baseball (thanks, Wikipedia!)—but is often used in work settings. It usually means agreeing to personally take on an unpalatable task in order to help your team. Let’s look at an example. You work in a large company with a history of developing its people, but upheavals in the industry have meant cutbacks of all kinds. You’ve been in your job for t...
Are You Being Taken for Granted on the Job? In previous posts, you actually had it good when your boss valued you too much to let you go. You get the same outcome but none of the kudos if it is taken for granted you will do your job well. Some jobs are easier to take for granted. Examples might be the background organization of a big meeting or convention, production of a regular report, or delivery of a well-established program. Here, ...
