Workplace Ramblings

I stepped into the building and immediately did a double take. The once plain, khaki colored walls of the (very) long hallway to my office area now had art on them. It had taken a little over a year, but we finally got something on them. I should have been happy about it. Instead, I felt a little awkward. The reoccurring theme of the pictures became more obvious with each image I passed. As I walked down the hall, my eyes shifted back and forth under the watchful eyes of an owl.

A trio of polar bears.

A seal.

A flock of birds.

A lion with a little blood on its cheek and a blurred out carcass in the background.

Did I mention the antelope that was nursing its baby?

I reached the door of my work area befuddled. The phrase “jarringly out of place” kept ringing in my brain as I sat down at my desk. I commented to my teammates about the “art” that had popped up while I was gone last week. The story I got was an interesting one. Keep in mind…I can’t confirm if this is true or not. But the prevailing notion is that the owner of the Bank (a man we all generally respect) let his girlfriend, an art interior decorator; choose the stuff that now adorns our walls. Apparently the Bank had hired her to decorate our offices. This is the same girlfriend, who rumor has it, had her current business personally funded by the Bank owner.

I guess it’s really true: It’s not WHAT you know. It’s WHO you know.

Sometimes I wish that was a lesson I learned a lot faster.

Success in life today is all about the network of friends, favors, and acquaintances you have. Business contacts are really commodities. The life or death of a product or service is dependent on getting it into the right hands. Want a sure fire way to launch your book into the bestseller list? Get on Oprah’s booklist. Your band has a demo CD cut? Of course you have to give it to your best friend’s third cousin’s neighbor’s doctor’s dog walker because she lives next door to a girl who works as a receptionist at a radio station.

Is it a bad thing? Well, of course its not. Connections and networking definitely get you places. But it’s easy to forget that hard work and a friendly disposition are important. What are all the connections in the world going to do for you if a good chunk of the people you work with don’t respect you?

But you should also be competent too, right? What about ethics? What about a positive attitude?

The willingness of some people nowadays to walk on or over their co-workers (and even their friends) is astonishing. And people can be crafty about it. When I got laid off of my first job, I felt a little betrayed. Here I thought I had really put myself out there for the company and the management. I felt like I had bent over backwards for them.

After a little distance from the lay off, I realized that I had gotten caught up in the political game that is the workplace. I let the little power struggles and tiffs wrap themselves around me. I let everyone pretty much use me as a doormat. I refused to make some important alliances that probably would have kept me there. But I thought I knew WHAT to do. I didn’t spend enough time figuring out WHO to know.

So now, in my second fabulous career, I’ve learned balanced. I have to enjoy what I do, but I also have to be a hard ass sometimes. I’ve learned saying “no” is a powerful tool to have. I’ve reaffirmed that a good work ethic and a positive attitude are even better weapons against apathy.
In the constant spin that is my job, I feel secure this time around. I am conducting myself in a professional manner. While humbling, it is pretty cool to know that people above me respect my opinion. And I can rest easy knowing that I haven’t done anything underhanded to get where I’m at. While I can’t make people at work like me…I can only hope that they will extend me the same courtesy I have them.

And who knows? If I work long enough and make the right friends…I might not only be the one choosing the art, but maybe I’ll even own the place.