Newly Corporate

I have a paper weight that sits on my desk in my office. It was a gift from a mentor at my last job. When I first left the job, I didn’t think more of the message on the paper weight than it being an inspirational message. It says, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” Maybe it took me so long – 7 months – because its a great sentiment but I didn’t think of it in terms of the workplace. In the past few weeks, I’ve done some thinking about the impact I can have on my piece of the puzzle at work and those that I interact with. It all started with a book I read given to me by a co-worker called Fish – the book not the co-worker. The book is all about attitude and how each day we choose what our attitude is going to be regardless of what happens during the day. It seems like a simple concept choosing to be rather than , but in practice it’s not. In times of economic, workplace and personal stress we often resort to complaining instead of reaching deep into our guts and pulling ourselves out of a funk.

In Fish – A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results, the main character goes through a life altering loss of her husband and in the process loses her ability to take chances. After meeting a group of enthused and inspired fish mongers at the market she is able to turn her attitude and the attitude of her team of zombie-like workers into the envy of the office. The book inspired me to change my attitude at work and the way I approach each day and project and the past few weeks my general happiness level with life, my job, my co-workers, and my projects has increased. So the question is, tomorrow when you arrive at work, how will you choose to approach the day 1) like a toxic dump of lack-luster attitude and motivation or 2) the employee that can make tossing fish across an open air market every day an exciting and fun experience for your customers and co-workers?

So back to my paperweight, what a great message – you choose to be the change or not be the change you want to see in your work and your life.