Shifting your mindset on the things you do—your job, your responsibilities, or your duties—can make a huge difference on how you approach tasks in the workplace and in your personal life.
In 2018, I was given an opportunity to do a leadership rotation in our company. For eight months, I was assigned to lead a few teams in our call center. This was an exciting opportunity for me because I’ve been in my leadership role in IT for over four years. Prior to that rotation, I’ve had 12 different roles in my 18 years in our company. I’m pretty much a workplace vagabond, easily getting bored and always wanting to see “what’s next.”
Everything about the rotation was exciting to me. New bosses, new tools, and new team members. This was a way for me to ‘start from scratch,’ learn new things, and share my experiences with newer leaders.
However, there was this one thing I dreaded in this rotation.
Our call center is constantly onboarding new employees. We have a structured training program, and for me and my peers, we have a specific role in that onboarding. It is part of our responsibility to welcome cohorts of new hires while they’re in training. We go over the background of our organization, some dos and don’ts, and we essentially welcome them to the team. At first, I didn’t mind it. At that point, I’ve been with the company for 18 years. I’m pretty well-versed with our culture and our standard policies, and I have a lot of stories to tell.
Then I started dreading it.
We attract and hire the best-of-the-best in our region. It’s not the people—my peers or the trainees—that bothers me. My Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is INTP (Introversion-Intuition-Thinking-Perceiving). Without going deep into my personality type, it’s safe to say that I’m a hardcore introvert--more interested in new ideas than in social interaction. You can also throw in some keywords, like, critical, skeptical, and detached.
I still have so much to develop in my public speaking, but it never bothered me, especially if I’m talking about novel ideas and visionary concepts. What made me start to dread these engagements is the fact that I have to do the same speech (content and sequence) every time we welcome new hires.
Attending these engagements has become an obligation for me. An unwanted obligation that I have to force myself to do. Though I never let that affect my ‘performance,’ from within, I knew it was unfair to the trainees and the other leaders in the room. I was not all in. I did my job grudgingly.
“Oh, it’s that time of the week, again. I HAVE TO go to this training class to welcome new hires.”
It was not their fault—the trainees, the trainers, and the other leaders. This was all me. I realized that simply ‘showing-up’ is not enough. I need to shift my mindset from looking at these engagements as obligations, and start looking at them as privileges or opportunities.
From I HAVE TO, to I GET TO
Welcoming the new hires is an important task by the leaders in the organization. Our company has been in existence since 1933. It will exist long after I retire. The future of the organization relies upon the hiring and development of new talent. Talent who’ll champion our culture for another 100 years. Our culture can’t be passed on using PowerPoint or inspirational posters. Culture can only be passed at a personal level. It requires human connection.
I started looking at these welcome engagements as a gift. A gift for me to speak and look into the eyes of our future leaders. The future CEO may very well be in that cohort. I soon realized that I now get to share my experiences, I get to welcome the future of the company, and I get to pass along the culture that was passed on to me by other leaders and team members in the past two decades.
Instead of saying, I have to say the same stories every time, I would say, I get to share my experiences to trainees.
Instead of saying, I have to answer the same type of questions every time, I would say, I get to see the enthusiasm in their eyes as they learn more about the culture of the company.
Instead of saying, I have to answer these calls from customers, I would say, I get to help someone today.
From the workplace to home
This shift in thinking doesn’t (shouldn’t) stop at our workplace. The same paradigm should be set at home as well. Regardless of your personal situation, shifting your thinking from obligation to opportunity can make a whole lot of difference.
Instead of saying, I have to play with my kids after a long tiring day at work, I would say, I get to enjoy the company of my kids before they grow old and move out of the house.
Instead of saying, I have to help my kids with their homework, I would say, I get to help my kids gain knowledge and be prepared for the time I wouldn’t be there to help them.
Instead of saying, I have to spark conversations with my spouse after a long day of talking to people, I would say, I get to spend time with my best friend and share stories of what has happened throughout the day.
You’ll start to see the difference
Start making this shift. You may not be all-in in your mind and heart, but when you start using ‘I get to’ more and more, instead of ‘I have to,’ you’ll start to feel the shift in how you feel and view things. You’ll notice a shift in your attitude as well. You’ll start to enjoy life more. You’ll start to appreciate things more. More importantly, you’ll have this aura of positivity that will only affect those around you in an uplifting way.
Crowdsourcing FTW
What tasks do you do on a regular basis that you feel are unwanted obligations in life? Have you tried shifting how you see these things by finding a deeper value or by simply changing how you describe it—from ‘I have to’ to ‘I get to’? Can you share what positive changes you have experienced when you started shifting your mindset?