Tunde-Success Osideko: Managing your career – Avoiding workplace distractions

by Tunde-Success Osideko

If you focus on your career and your job is connected with your career, then the organization will feel your contribution and you will be helping to create wealth.

Managing a career is different from holding a job. While career is long term, the focus of a job is usually short term. You can’t have a career without holding jobs but you can have a job without building a career.

There are too many reasons why a number of professionals lose grip of their career. It’s difficult to manage successfully, something that’s not within the reach of your focus.

Too many people are simply distracted. Most people show up at work for reasons that are not connected with the objective of the organization they work for.

There are four kinds of employees in the work place: They are defined by what distracts them.

Some are distracted by Activism. These are the employees that regard themselves as fighter for the right of other employees.  They are always asking for more. They have an entitlement mentality. They always believe that whatever benefits the organization offer, it can always be better. They are vocal and derive legitimacy from the complaints of fellow colleagues. In an organization that’s unionized, they are usually in the front burner of vocalizing the concerns of the silent ones. They critique the decisions of management, question policies and procedure as well as the structure of the organization. They are always pointing finger, wondering why the organization cannot benchmark other organizations that are giving more to their staff. They complain without providing alternative course of action and when they make suggestions, those propositions are largely emotional rather than research driven.

Some are distracted by Politics. These are employees who are concerned about power-play in the work place. They are usually busy identifying power blocs and expend energies trying to align with who’s on the throne. They usually sacrifice everything (including productivity, relationship, principles etc) to enjoy the patronage of senior leadership in order to stay powerful. They boast about knowing everything going on officially and unofficially in the organization.

Some are distracted by the Mundane. These are employees who are usually carried away by the ordinariness of life. They are distracted by the fashion sense of their colleagues, the beauty and the sophistication of the vehicle that their superiors drive to work. From discussion about favorite football club to favorite restaurant etc., they spend productive hour’s chatting away and laughing frivolously about issues and matters that do not have direct bearing on their job description. They are driven by relationship at the expense of productivity. Their narrow focus makes victim of the bigger objectives of their organizations. They are too personally minded that it does not matter what it costs the business of their organization.

Some are however, focused on their career. When they go to work, they are there not just with their body but also their souls. They make every minute count. They think like business owners, make decisions that take them forward in the direction of their dreams. Such employees regard work as a privilege, share ideas and suggestions with their superior on how the organization can be better. They display ownership and defend the organization’s weakness because they have a stake in it. They earn their pay by giving their utmost best, contributing the best of their efforts to the goals of the organization.

How much of time do you really devote to your work? The first picture of God described in the holy book was a busy personality: He created vocation by working for 6 days and resting on the 7th day. The reverse is the case for most people. They are busy resting for 6 days while they are supposedly at work physically, and only working for one day. If you focus on your career and your job is connected with your career, then the organization will feel your contribution and you will be helping to create wealth. If your career pursuit helps the organization to grow, you are not just helping yourself; you are helping to create job opportunities for someone out there.

————————-

Tunde-Success Osideko (HRMP SHRMCertified) is an HR Professional and a career coach, also the author of the book – The Game Changer, Intelligent Ways of Looking for a Job in a competitive World.

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

cool good eh love2 cute confused notgood numb disgusting fail