- Geekmaster
- 2022-04-23 12:16:24
- 23 minute(s)
Five Hilarious Cartoons from Every Vowel For Avoiding Another Nasty Job
If your job sucks, and there’s nothing you can do about it, you may be tempted to look for another one. What can you do if you’re not ready to make your shift, but the day-to-day grind is driving you up the wall? Here are five hilarious cartoons from Every Vowel for avoiding another nasty job.
It’s easy to tell someone else to quit a job that makes them miserable.
But when it’s your job (and your livelihood on the line), it’s not always so straightforward. Maybe you recently moved into a new apartment, or signed a contract that literally says you can’t bolt for a certain amount of time, or just started a few weeks ago. It sucks, and trust me, I’ve been there. Even though every minute you spend at your desk makes you want to scream, there are a few ways you can make the workday a little more bearable if you’re stuck at your job.
Keep in mind that when it comes to having fun in the workplace, your mileage may vary.
Only you as a leader can assess your company’s corporate culture and determine what kind of behaviors will fly, and which will get you called into the boss’s office. If you find yourself in a management role, consider that fostering a fun work environment might have just as much of an impact on productivity than more expensive fixes, like higher pay rates and other traditional benefits and perks. It’s not just money that makes employees happy either; job satisfaction also has a distinct fun factor, which comes from encouraging people to bring their personalities and interests into the office and actually being themselves instead of corporate clones.
Highly motivated employees often find their motivation from working in a pleasant office environment.
It is to your advantage to make your workplace a happy place for your employees—the more they can play and relieve stress, the harder and more efficiently they’ll work. In my experience, team happiness spurs productivity and by making your work environment a ‘happy place’, you can take care of your team and encourage them to get more done. Happy employees are healthier and more productive — so don’t overlook the importance of having fun in the workplace.
Creating a fun workplace is not complex or disruptive.
Having a fun day can simply be about enhancing the monotonous everyday activities so that employees actually want to come to the office. It is a means of not only engaging workers but also retaining your top performers. As a leader, here are the five hilarious cartoons taken from Every Vowel that you can follow along to avoid nasty job throughout your organization.
Every Vowel #1: Micromanagers Are Terrible Managers
When you have people reporting to you, you have to rely on the completing their tasks accurately and on-time. Your success now depends on the ability of your team to complete its goals–and that means that your career is now in the hands of others. That can create anxiety, which can lead you to become one of the most dreaded sorts of bosses: the micromanager.
Knowing how much supervision to give an employee can be difficult.
If you provide too little oversight and guidance, people could end up feeling lost, unsupported, and unproductive. On the other hand, if you provide too much direction, you could end up micromanaging your team, which often makes people resentful and resistant. Anyone who has been micromanaged knows it is no fun, but it can affect different people. Some employees will do anything possible to earn the trust they feel like they are being denied. While this might seem beneficial initially, it can have damaging long-term effects because they usually burn out when that trust never comes.
Micromanagers take perfectly positive attributes — an attention to detail and a hands-on attitude — to the extreme.
Either because they’re control-obsessed, or because they feel driven to push everyone around them to succeed, micromanagers risk disempowering their colleagues. They ruin their colleagues’ confidence, hurt their performance, and frustrate them to the point where they quit. Micromanagement restricts the ability of micromanaged people to develop and grow, and it also limits what the micromanager’s team can achieve, because everything has to go through them. Managers usually spend a decent amount of time telling their teams what needs to be done. Sometimes what needs to be done and what is expected are different. Effective leaders will do their best to ensure each individual member of a team knows what is expected. Once everyone is in sync with expectations, there is no need to micromanage. It is about outcomes, not activity.
Someone has saidYour team is capable, knowledgeable, and responsible.
Micromanaging them adds a layer of complication and complexity that can make it more difficult to do what they need to do to get work done. Recognize what aspects of a project or job your employees are most comfortable with and then step back and let them do their work. There’s no need to micromanage what they are doing unless they request your assistance or are not producing the quality of work that is expected. You are there to facilitate—not to crack the whip. Communicate your expectations for the team, and make it clear to your team that you are available should questions or issues arise. This will help your team share and participate in your vision without you having to underscore every task that needs to be done.
The biggest sign of micromanagement is a lack of trust in your employees.
This leads to taking too much interest in their work, second-guessing decision making and, in some cases, doing the work yourself as you feel that you can do a better job. This also leads to hoarding work yourself instead of delegating, leaving you with too much to do and not enough time to do it well and efficiently. To drive your business forward, you need to have your eye on the bigger picture. How is your company performing as a whole, what is the next goal and how do you plan on getting there? Distracting yourself with the day-to-day goings on of the business can leave you without the time to formulate a plan for the future. Sharing out the workload is the first step, as well as putting trust in your employees to get their work done and to a good standard.
Every Vowel #2: Focus on Impact, Not Influence
Leaders in today’s multinational, diverse business world have impact through their ability to influence others. In many organizations, authority-based leadership is waning. Success is all about getting others to care about what you care about. The most effective leaders get their teams, their colleagues, and their suppliers to emphasize their priorities. People listen to what you have to say, and follow you, because they want to, not because they have to. When you have that kind of influence with others, the results begin to speak for themselves. In other words, you have impact on the organization.
Impactful leadership is about making long-lasting positive and meaningful contributions to their organizations and communities, and in the lives of people and the world.
To be an impactful leader who stands out from the crowd, you must combine your mind and heart to lead and achieve sustainable goals that build lasting impact by genuinely and generously influencing people to believe, trust, and join in your vision. People find meaning when they see a clear connection between what they highly value and what they spend time doing. That connection is not always obvious, however. Leaders are in a great position to articulate the values a company is trying to enact and to shape the story of how today’s work connects with those values. This means sharing stories of how the company is making a difference for good in the lives of real people, including customers, employees, and communities.
Great leaders are strong strategists, coaches, communicators and project managers. But the most impactful leadership comes from self-awareness.
For that reason, leaders who make the biggest impact never shy away from inner work such as improving their confidence. Before you get promoted into a leadership role, you spend quite a bit of time being the expert, the doer, the subject matter expert, the go-to person. And sometimes when leaders become leaders, it can be a very insecure place because they don’t feel that they are making that tangible impact in the organization. A truly impactful leader is somebody who’s already done that inner work, who’s honed in their confidence, worked on their mindset, and is secure in their role. Highly impactful leaders work on themselves so that they know what their lane is. They’re secure in their role. And they are actively developing their team members, setting stretch goals for them, and supporting them in accomplishing these goals.
Leaders who take their leadership cues from a mirror cultivate a culture of personal development.
These leaders help us to see who we are and what we are capable of. Mirror leaders focus on the bigger picture and make space for individual achievement. They lead by example. They show teams how to meet goals without prescribing a specific path to success. Such leaders inspire introspection by individual contributors, and they trust that others can innovate and find solutions to the task at hand. They reward courage and enable team members to try new things. These kind of leaders aren’t afraid to fail if it means their team members have learned something new and feel empowered. They see team members’ potential. They believe each person is capable of great things (even when she can’t see that for herself yet). Working under a mirror leader can be challenging, but it is ultimately rewarding.
Authority is expensive. Influence is free.
Authority is expensive because it requires giving people certain tools and staff and all the resources that come with a position. But influence is free. You can build relationships anytime you want and expand your sphere of influence. Influence is when people accept your ideas, not just because of who you are or the position you hold, but because you have persuaded them to a way of thinking or to a course of action. And just because somebody is doing what you’re asking them to do or it seems like they’re going along with it, doesn’t mean you have influence. If you work somewhere and your boss gives you a directive, you may follow that directive because he or she has the authority, right? But influence is when you want to do it. When someone is led out of authority only, they’re not going to care about the things their leader cares about when they are no longer under that authority. The influential leader helps those he or she leads see why what they are doing together is necessary, and meaningful and valuable.
Every Vowel #3: Be Yourself, Everyone Else Is Taken
Authenticity is the quality of being able to bring your whole self to any interaction. There is no hiding or concealing certain qualities because of what someone else might think or how they may react. Rather, people who act with authenticity allow themselves to be seen and heard fully, and they match their actions with their values, intentions and beliefs. When leaders are true to themselves, their people see it clearly, which supports greater levels of engagement and productivity. And it provides a solid model of what leadership within the organization should look like, which is helpful for those employees who may be interested in rising into management and executive roles themselves.
Authenticity is a critically important quality, and it’s getting harder and harder to act upon in our fast-paced world.
As leaders we are often faced with stressful situations, a lot of responsibility and a lot of attention. Leaders have to make the tough decisions, have to manage expectations, performance and always lead by example. This can result in a lot of pressure, especially when we are a new leader or take on a new role with a new team. In an attempt to cope with that pressure, we put on our armor, our mask, in an attempt to be seen as we have it all figured out. Sometimes this mask can also come in the form of trying to copy someone else or an image that resembles, what we have been told a leader has to look and behave like. We compare ourselves to others and try to become more like them.
Authentic leadership is not my way or the highway. Authenticity is about self-reflection and developing a deep understanding of your motivations, aspirations, strengths, and weaknesses.
We are often our own worst critics, holding ourselves to impossible standards. For most of us, our strengths are not omnipresent but instead shine at moments. It may be unreasonable to expect that we are going to exceed everyone’s expectations all the time. We can learn to tap into our greatness more often and develop the ability to treat ourselves with fairness. Also, it is important to surround ourselves with people who believe in us and encourage us to become better. Often the people we love and trust the most put us into a box–of what they expect or perceive as our limitations. The people with the greatest influence in our lives should be people who believe that we can do anything. Listening to negative voices changes our perception of ourselves. Learn to love yourself, and your authenticity will shine.
What are your core values and fundamental beliefs? What qualities define you as a leader or you aspire to develop?
Make sure you regularly check in with yourself to see if you still are still in alignment with your core values and beliefs. Learn your strengths and understand your weaknesses. Knowing your values and understanding your strengths ensures consistency in your leadership and gives confidence and develops trust with your employees. Authenticity can be diminished if as a leader you continually change your behavior. It might be that a person wants to be liked, so they change their behavior rather than checking if it’s consistent with their inner principles. In a work setting people would rather work with a consistently firm or demanding boss than one who is inconsistent and difficult to read. Being an authentic leader is about developing your own emotional intelligence to improve the kind of self-awareness that leads to authenticity. It is also about being better able to manage yourself and your relationships. So you continuously act in accordance with your own values, principles and beliefs.
Authentic leaders work on the principle that they can prove their legitimacy by nurturing sincere relationships with their subordinates and giving importance to their input.
True leaders don’t need authority or masks to motivate work processes. They are self-confident and conduct themselves in the organization with an open heart and a positive engaging attitude. Leadership of the heart doesn’t make us weak. On the contrary it helps us inspire employees and instill confidence, strength and motivation to meet goals. Genuine relationships are predicated on both parties showing up authentically and sharing facts and stories about themselves. Authentic leaders crave genuine connection, which often means taking the first step in being vulnerable with others. Deep connections and trust are built on vulnerability, and authentic leaders know this. They are empathetic listeners, good communicators, and take an interest in people’s lives outside of work.
Every Vowel #4: Attitude is Everything
Leaders, who are achieving lasting success, are those leaders who possess a positive outlook on life. To be an effective team leader it essential that you have a positive outlook on life. A positive attitude not only determines your level of contentment it also impacts how others interact with you. Success is not always the result of a high IQ or exceptional talent. Your attitude is always more important than your aptitude. A positive attitude is important because your attitude will determine your actions.
As a leader or manager of a team, your attitude will directly impact your employees’ and the team around you.
In turn, it will impact their success, how productive they are, how happy they are and how willing they are to do their job well. Therefore, no matter how great you are at what you do, having a negative attitude can hinder your own success and that of your team’s. Whatever energy you bring into the office will reflect on those around you. Your team is looking to you for guidance, which is why you are the leader! No matter what’s going on in your life, adopt positive energy into every mundane task and new project to get your team focused and on board. Encourage your team and focus on their achievements. At the same time if something has happened where they might feel disappointed, show them how to learn from this and change a negative mindset into a positive one.
If you think you are leading, but no one is following, you are just taking a walk.
If you want to or need to lead, you need to have others choose to follow. Think about the people that you most want to be around, those whom you are attracted to. Are those people more positive or negative? Do you want to choose to spend time with people who think the future looks dim or bright? Would you rather be around people who encourage and are proactive, or those who focus on the negative and who think about the future with a “gloom and doom” approach? Positive attitude and energy are attractive. The best leaders know this and that is a major reason they lead successfully.
Gauging someone’s leadership potential on aptitude alone is a fallacy IMO.
At its most basic leadership is about bringing a group of people forward on a journey to reach a goal and fulfill a vision. This is a vast endeavor that can be accomplished in many different ways. Moreover, obstacles and challenges will arise on this journey. Leading an organization can be very unpredictable. Rising to unexpected challenges may involve being able to flick a switch and adopt a different approach at short notice. A leader close-minded and very much set in his or her ways could struggle to do this. On the opposite end of the spectrum, someone indecisive or lacking in self-confidence could end up panicking and avoiding making any decisions. Curiosity, a thirst for knowledge and a questioning attitude can make a massive difference. Why? Because they broaden horizons and provide leaders with a better feeling and appreciation of what is possible and what could be possible.
We’re always going to face challenges, difficult times, and it’s in these moments that things like determination, tenacity and resilience come to the fore.
Having the right skills but lacking the will to use them isn’t going to help us overcome the challenges and achieve success. A great leader is an individual who has earned the respect of others and who leads them effectively and in the right direction. Leadership is able to inspire at all times, and the key to this is your attitude. Leadership has nothing to do with title or position. It can’t be quickly fixed with a fancy suit, expensive shoes or great makeup. Great leadership has everything to do with behavior and your positive attitude, and the natural desire to represent yourself in the best possible way — clothing included.
Every Vowel #5: Work For a Cause, Not Just Applause
Great leaders know humility creates the trust and loyalty needed to succeed. It’s not about them, it’s about the vision, the goal, the organization and the “why.” It’s not about their reputation and self-interests but the results. Humility is one of the greatest values in leadership, and leading with pride and conceit only advertises the absence of humility. Unsurprisingly, those who care about only themselves and understand only their own perspective are often the most miserable.
Leadership is a high stakes game. A lot is riding on it, and few things kill a leader’s effectiveness more easily than pride.
A proud leader feels they’ve earned their leadership. You’ve secretly come to believe that you’re the smartest people in the room. You’ve worked harder than everyone else. You wouldn’t say it out loud, but you sometimes think you deserve the corner office and the public accolades. A humble leader doesn’t feel that way at all. They know others are smarter, and want them on their team. They realize that despite all the hard work they’ve put in, there are others who have worked just as hard or harder and haven’t seen the same results. They don’t feel entitled, they feel grateful. If you want to lead with humility, never lose your gratitude.
Great leaders understand that the path to effective leadership is paved with humility, not pride.
One of the most significant mistakes leaders in choosing pride over humility is avoiding accountability. Instead of inviting people in their lives to be feedback vehicles, they decide to go it alone. In the beginning, it isn’t a big deal. But as time goes on, the lies and thoughts in one’s head become their reality. Those thoughts then become engrained in their behavior, and it’s what other people experience. The vaccine for this situation is to embrace accountability. Put people around you who keep you grounded and are willing to have difficult dialogues when they recognize something is off. Then you keep an open mind and heart to the words they say without getting defensive or making excuses.
Someone has said
Committing yourself to something beyond yourself, of course, is not easy. But nothing of importance is.
It requires resilience and grit and, at times, the courage to face rejection. It requires periods of what Dorothy Day called the “long loneliness.” A lot of us have felt a deeper weariness in this season of division and fear. The talk of winning all around us has become a toxic mantra. Too many leaders focus on what is good for them and not for their community or country or world. Our world has moved from interconnected to interdependent. We will rise together and we will fall together. The changes occurring in every industry, every society require a redefinition of how we think about everything from the nature of work to the way we use resources to the way we define our economic and political systems. No one has the answers.
Every leader should be part of a global commitment to solve the massive problems facing the world today.
Setting out to solve big problems brings a sense of purpose and meaning to your work and your life. And when people have a cause big enough they can move mountains. Our best leaders are those with the courage to live the questions and move, not from a place of certainty, but from a deep moral core grounded in a commitment to what is best for the larger world, measured not by how the rich and powerful fare but by how the poor and vulnerable are included. Most successful leaders, teams, and individuals spend time on things bigger than themselves, their willingness to struggle, and the legacy that they hope to leave. How well you answer this question can be helpful in deciding if you are focused on me versus we is, “What is it that you want to create in the world around you (problem or possibility), that does not currently exist, that you are willing to endure personal sacrifice to bring to life?”
Wrapping Up
Lets’ face it: Companies with happy employees outperform the competition by 20%, and happy salespeople close 37% more sales. It’s hard to ignore those numbers. Now, imagine a workplace where every employee was excited to come to work every day. Their job wasn’t just something they do for a paycheck, but it was a way of life. The benefits of this utopia would be incredible.
Joyful workplaces are buzzing with people bursting with energy, vitality and enthusiasm!
They love what they do and feel they are important at work — and do important work! Leadership is about feelings. Everything in life is about feelings. Everything. How you feel about your job, yourself, your colleagues, your company, your purpose and the value of your job are all critical for performance. The number one thing that people want in life is recognition and acknowledgement. They want to feel special. Make people feel special — whether you are a leader, in sales, a parent, or just a human being! It is the number one quality for success — the ability to make everyone you meet feel special — authentically!
Keep in mind that people have limited energy and capacity for handling stress.
They need breaks throughout the day and after work for relaxation and recovery of energy that enables them to work their best. They also need to develop good working relationships with others at work. It adds value to make your workplace fun as it will help employees cope with the demands of work, build rapport with one another, and come to work eager to face the day.
Most people will spend one-third of their working lives at work. If you’re not having fun at work, you should definitely start looking for ways to change that.
Is your workplace a fun place to be? Do you look forward to engaging with your coworkers, with your boss, or your subordinates? Or is your workplace a dull and unpleasant place where people rarely crack a smile? There can be a tendency to equate fun at work with being frivolous and non-productive, but the most effective workplaces are fun workplaces. Feel free to share your experience with our fellow Geeknackers below!
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