Straight, No Chaser

If you work for a company, business or person this message is for you.

No matter how much your employer may tell you, "We treat all of our employees like family", or "I'm not just your boss, I’m your friend", etc, the truth is, you are an employee. Nothing more, nothing less. Someone who has been hired in order to help the company, business, or person make more money.

There has been a lot of talk lately in politics about how the country needs to get businesses to create jobs. Dan Kennedy, author of the "No B.S." series of books, said it best: "Companies do not have the responsibility of creating jobs. They have the responsibility of making a profit." And what is the highest expense a business has? Bingo! You guessed it! Employees. 

Dan Kennedy also said, "Employers are not obligated to make their employees’ lives happy." He is correct. You were hired to do a specific job using specific procedures. You are compensated for that effort. You do well, you get to keep your job and maybe advance. You don’t do so well, and you can find yourself out of job.

That said, if you want to be successful - If you want to get promoted and move up to the next position - you must make yourself invaluable. Your employer should feel that the company wouldn’t be same without you and not that the company would be better off without you. 

How do you this? One easy way is to treat your job as if you were the owner or manager of the company. If you work for a small business, and your boss works very closely to you, this might be easier to imagine than someone who works for a large corporation. One thing to remember is that large corporations had to start as small businesses at one point. The owner was probably the one who had to clean the toilets, order the supplies, cook the food, sweep the floor, make customer calls – whatever it is the company needs to do to operate. 

So do your duties with the mindset of "This is my company. If I want more customers to come and spend their money, I have to treat them with courtesy and respect at all times. I have to make sure that our product is consistent and reliable. I have to make sure that my office / building / store is clean and looks presentable." By taking this responsibility, it shows that you take pride in your work. It shows that you can be trusted to take care of their business. And just like the Bible tells us, if you are faithful over the little things, you can made ruler over bigger things. 

 So, what are you going to do as an employee? Are you just going to show up for work? Or are you going to show up and help move your company to the next level? The choice is yours.