Jobs @ Career Consulting Limited

Return to career-consulting-limited.com
Managing
People
Managing Your Career
CV Examples
Coaching
Cover Letter Examples
Pre-Employment Tests


Dont Settle


Chuck was the best of the twenty-four candidates. Still, he didn't have exactly what I was looking for and my instincts warned me of his unusual personality. Yet the skills required for the job were specialized and he had most of them, and I'd been interviewing for five months, and my boss wanted the position filled before the budget process started. No, he might not be perfect, but he would be ok.

So I hired Chuck. As a new manager, it was a decision I came to regret. Chuck turned out to be a marginal performer, never grew into the job, and drew frequent complaints from his teammates. It might have taken me five months to hire Chuck, but it took me eighteen to fire him. Still, I'm grateful for the experience. Chuck taught me a lesson I applied in my next twenty years in management: don't settle.

When you settle, you choose mediocrity. Don't settle for the best of the worst. Keep looking. Don't settle for something that's barely okay. Push to make it better. Don't settle for average work from others when exceptional is needed. And don't settle for delivering good when you're capable of better. Expect more from yourself. Then expect more from others.

Whenever I've settled, the work or decision comes back like a boomerang, reminding me to keep my standards high. As W. Somerset Maugham says, "It is a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it." I know that's been my experience.

There's a story I like about Phidias, a Greek sculptor working on the Acropolis. As he was finishing a statue of Athena, which would stand a hundred feet high next to a marble wall, an onlooker asked, "Why are you chiseling strands of hair on the back of her head where no one will see them or even know they're there? "I'll know," replied Phidias.

I wish I would have found a cabinet maker with that same attitude when we were building our home. When we moved in, we discovered tops of cabinets uncapped and unstained. It's true no one would see them. But, it was not the quality of work we expected, paid for or wanted. The cabinet maker had settled for mediocre. But we didn't. We had him do them over.

People who are winning at working know when good is not good enough. They operate like Phidais, not our cabinet maker. They understand that quality work is not an accident. It's a deliberate focus that starts with high personal standards. People who are winning at working don't settle for mediocre. Not in others. And not in themselves.

(c) 2005 Nan S. Russell. All rights reserved.

Sign up to receive Nan's free biweekly eColumn at http://www.winningatworking.com. Nan Russell has spent over twenty years in management, most recently with QVC as a Vice President. She has held leadership positions in Human Resource Development, Communication, Marketing and line Management. Nan has a B.A. from Stanford University and M.A. from the University of Michigan. Currently working on her first book, Winning at Working: 10 Lessons Shared, Nan is a writer, columnist, small business owner, and instructor. Visit http://www.nanrussell.com or contact Nan at info@nanrussell.com.


MORE RESOURCES:

Corporate  Lowe's Careers

Careers  City of Phoenix (.gov)


Working for ICE  ice.gov

Careers  University of Northern Colorado



Careers at FEMA  FEMA.gov

Careers  City of Ontario, California (.gov)



Careers | Home  USDA (.gov)

Jobs  Multnomah County



Careers and Jobs at CRS  Catholic Relief Services

Careers - MDOT  Maryland.gov




Work at Fairfield  Fairfield University


Careers  Baxter


Careers  Johnson & Johnson



Employment Opportunities | Game Commission  Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (.gov)

Careers at USCIS  USCIS (.gov)



Careers at TWU  Texas Woman's University


Work at Butler  Butler University

Careers at Simon & Schuster  SimonandSchuster.biz

Water Services Careers  City of Phoenix (.gov)

Job Search Results  UnitedHealth Group Careers

Jobs  City of Rochester (.gov)

Employment | Department of Corrections  Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (.gov)

Work With Us  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (.gov)

Career Opportunities  Gilead Sciences



Careers at Willamette  Willamette University

Search & apply for jobs  Boehringer Ingelheim

Student internships at J&J  Johnson & Johnson Careers

IOM career gateways  International Organization for Migration


Careers  Washington State University


Careers  BASF

Jobs at Liberty University  Liberty University






Careers | Human Resources  Seattle University

Jobs & Employment  Monmouthshire County Council


Jobs Report  NFIB

Work for the City of St. Louis  City of St. Louis, MO (.gov)


Certified Direct Care Professional (CDCP)  Wisconsin Department of Health Services (.gov)



Careers  WV Department of Education



Careers  The Ocean Cleanup

Job Seekers  Illinois Human Resources

Careers  CrowdStrike

UF Health Careers  UF Health Careers


Careers at Union  Union College









Human Resources Department  City of Phoenix (.gov)




Careers  Euromonitor

Job Opportunities  Bellevue School District




Current opportunities  Turner & Townsend







Need More Information?
Site Home | Site Map | Links | Contact Us | Privacy Policy
© Career Consulting Limited.com 2011

tumblr visit counter