Who are you working for?

It may not be who you think.

Most of us work for a company. Large or small, we go to work with the idea that we are trading hours to the organization for dollars we put in our pocket, a slave to the machine. If you think in this way, you are missing a great opportunity.

The truth is, you work for yourself, no matter who your employer is. All your efforts, labors, and interactions directly impact the person you will be a day, week, year, and decade from now. If you sit at your desks playing games for a few hours a day, not only are you negatively affecting the company’s bottom line, but you are also missing the opportunity to stretch your abilities and become more skilled in areas that matter to you.

In reality, we are all entrepreneurs. Regardless of if your boss is the person in the mirror or the lady in the corner office, the company you work for has the potential to be just one of your customers, or serve as the primary client you serve. That’s up to you. A good company will be a stakeholder in your career and its development. A bad one will just take the results of your labor like an easily replaceable commodity.

But you are more than just a machine filling the needs of a job description. Your work is your craft. You spend a vast amount of time doing it. Why not be the best you can be? You owe yourself a fully committed effort.

Whether you reflect on your day on the drive home, or as part of your pre-sleep ritual, as you consider your wins and challenges it is much better to feel a sense of accomplishment than as if you’ve spent the entirety of your day in a kettle of fish.

If you have gotten yourself into that rut, here are three things you can do to reclaim the better part of your day:

Revisit your job description and evaluate your performance in these areas. Your job description is the minimum expectation that the company has for you.

If you work for yourself, or in a small organization, there may not be a job description for your role (or maybe you fill several). Write out what would be expected for each of the roles you fill. Consider what you would expect a new team member to do if they were replacing you. You’ll need this document to measure your level of success.

If you are underperforming, create a SMART goal to get up to par or surpass it. If you are at or above expectation, create a SMART goal to extend your skills and abilities. Most people want promotions and according to management consultant Mark Horstman to be recognized as successful in any organization the most important thing is to get results. Great results are not only important to the organization they help you to feel a sense of accomplishment, too. Giving you a feeling that your time was well spent.

Offer to help. When you have time to play games or visit the company kitchen several times a day, you have time to help others. There are two benefits to this: First, you are deepening relationships, and that will make your time in the office more meaningful. Second, you are making a larger contribution to the company which, as we talked about earlier, is an investment in yourself as well.

The caveat here is to report back regularly on progress and finish what you started. No one wants to pick up an unfinished project that they had expected to be completed by the volunteer.

Consider how your role impacts the organization. You are providing a valuable service to your company. That’s why they pay you. Take some time to think about how your role connects to other parts of the organization. Who are your internal customers? Are you providing them the benefits of your best efforts? I’m sure you expect that from your internal (and external) vendors as well.

It all comes down to value. The value you provide is your gift to the world. And the person that benefits the most from your labors is you. You are the one that feels a sense of accomplishment when things go right. You are the one that lives with the frustration of setbacks. It’s your life- make it one that you can be proud of each and every day. Not for anyone else, do it for yourself. Because at the end of the day, that’s who you work for, yourself.

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Want to get more out of life? Visit my website, https://www.synergypersonaldevelopment.com, to learn more about my coaching and mentoring programs.