The workplace has no menu you get served what you deserve.
I am not discussing software bugs (of course I am not an expert in that space). I mean corporate bugs. The traits of bugs are interesting and worth sharing. I will limit this to bedbugs and how their behaviors relate to the workplace somehow. There are bugs at the workplace. Yes. There are categories of bugs.
Bedbugs do like the bed just the way you do, which is why they would always want to share your bed with you. Some think these bugs live in the beds to make us uncomfortable. To some extent, yes. To a larger extent, their presence do remind us that there is no comfort zone. In other words, if you do live in a comfort zone, get up, get out and get to work. That is what bedbugs do to us. They keep us in check.
The bug stinks. You will always find colleagues who will be on your case till you part ways. They could be junior or senior, but they will always be in everything you do at the workplace. They stink. Yet you need them. They are part of the corporate mix.
If you fail to live with such colleagues, you may exit the workplace prematurely. That will be a big blip if you do. Some do frame and create problems with the goal of getting good employees in trouble. Simple. They are the first to advice you that if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. They bless you and show you the quickest way to leave an organization, whiles they stay behind.
Bedbugs are naturally bloodsuckers. Call them parasites to mammals and birds. They feed on preys and leave them weak. It happens on a daily basis in offices. Corporate bugs will always backbite. But don’t worry because their operations make the workplace complete. Just so you know, the workplace is for hard-hitting, emotionally balanced mentally tough minds. You must learn to be tough. Tough minds walk through storms. Common sense is just not enough at the workplace. Be intelligent. You just can’t give too much away. You are human.
The good news is that, corporate bugs cannot work against performers, though they remain a bother. Interestingly, they remind you to sit up, clean up, get back to work and constantly get busy. We all need some corporate bugs in our offices. No doubt. The question is: how bugging is your corporate bug? Rate ‘corporate bugs’ say on a scale of one to ten, to guide your extinction strategy.
One clear clue is to be resilient and resolute in your journey to leadership development. If you understand this journey, you shall welcome corporate bugs as part of your expedition and still give them places in your offices.
The point is, you need some discomfort to have comfort. There are also some ‘good’ bugs who won’t let you sleep. That’s positive. Imagine a boss who demands results and performance always against another who gives you all the comfort. Employees like ineffective leaders just so they can lazy about but they admire to work under effective leaders so they can learn and build a career. Note the difference. Employees would like a lazy boss but they’ll forever admire an effective boss.
You may never know who the bug is. Just be on alert. They enjoy corporate gossips, aspersions, backbiting, amplifying buzzes, squabbling and they only set traps for colleagues. These are the activities that get corporate bugs excited. Do you see some around your space? They are, however, scared of performers.
Years ago, I always saw one side of the bedbug. Bloodsucker, and nothing else. Now, I see them as the backbone for my career growth. Let them say all the negatives. From experience, concentrate on your job description, exceed expectations and be a consistent performer.
Learn to welcome bedbugs because they have been around for thousands of years, when your grandparents were not even born. Interestingly, they have a weakness. Bedbugs are wingless and they can’t fly. At least the cockroach can even fly. So do you now get why the bite advises you to be like the Eagle? Just be a consistent performer and stick to the main things.
Bedbugs can’t even think of bringing down a cockroach, let alone an Eagle. Real corporate bugs are time wasters sometimes never-do-wells in the office. They are not exceptional performers which is why they have a lot of time scheming against performers. Eagles don’t creep. They soar. They dominate and never get weary. Which is why Eagles don’t see bedbugs in their scheme of things.
Often times, people do ask, so how did bedbugs get into my home and into my bed? Don’t bother much. Sometimes they get in before you settle in. Same questions are asked in the office. So how do you avoid bringing them into the office or better still avoiding them in the offices? You just can’t totally avoid them. It rather calls for control and it calls for management and leadership, if not wisdom. Allow them to function because they actively form part of the corporate composition. Just be wise.
At least, keep these answers as antidote to the questions above. Learn to be clean when dealing with bugs. Don’t stop cleaning up. Confront dirt and stinking habits and keep offices and teams clean. Bugs abhor clean environments. Keep clean. Second, move beds and furniture away from walls. Corporate bugs should be kept where colleagues can always see them. Not in corners and congested areas.
Knowing that you are the leader, always be transparent with the corporate bugs because they shy away from truth, clarity, fairness, professionalism and transparency. Don’t let corporate bugs mentor junior colleagues. They kill talents. Bugs meddle in anything. A lion won’t eat the hay being prepared as fodder for cattle. The bug will. Stand clean. Stand confident in truth and the word is focus.
Don’t smash corporate bugs when their deeds are deemed as negative and are also exposed to the team. Press them and take them out before you crash them. They stink and dealing with stinking bugs is like killing a strong negative attitude which still has a tendency of infecting a good team. Attitude is strongly infectious especially when it’s not worth catching. The workplace sometimes has no menu. You get served what you deserve. Don’t let corporate bugs ‘ruin’ your career. Manage them. Stay a performer and if you do this, you shall sail amidst the bugs. There is still a party at the workplace. Let no bug ruin yours.
