EP. 35 Work Ethic
Welcome back WITHOUT A DOUBT, the podcast where we celebrate living life authentically and organically as ourselves. We are the ones who believe in creating our own paths and living our truths out loud. Join in on honest and open conversation about self-discovery and growth.
Im ya girl Mad, your host, im a freelance entrepreneur, a cycle breaker and a human being that has never exactly done what was expected of me. Im here to remind you that its okay to do life different . That you don’t have to be what is expected of you.. and that your happiness matters.
This past week has been a grind. I side hustle alongside my eBay business. The side hustles tend to rotate and change but for the last 6 months ive been working with a catering company that I used to work for years ago. If you know anything about the catering, even food service side, you know that these can be laborious and long hours.
Ive had the pleasure to work alongside the owner of this catering company and she’s a badass. She not only runs a very successful company, woman owned, she has more repeat clients than most people I know. She manages an event studio, kitchen staff, catering schedule, but she still will mop the floor and wash the dishes. Her work ethic is admirable. She says at least once a day “ in my next life I better be rich..” But even if she was she would probably still work.
But lets talk about what is actual good work ethic.. Harvard business review states that “employers want to see your motivation, can-do attitude, and commitment or dedication.”
Research suggests both nature and nurture play key roles. Genetic factors and individual predispositions and interests can play a role in how our work ethic presents in later life, much like a natural talent for learning languages, a preference for sports, or having a good sense of humour.
I think work ethic is something learned. Its shown through generational cycles, through your parents and grandparents. Farming is one of the best examples. Most farms are generational or have plans to be passed down. Think of the show Yellowstone. The grandparents created a home/ farm for themselves and made a living off the farm. They envision their son to be a cowboy and run the farm, and then pass it down to his son or daughter and keep the farm in the family. These families are taught work ethic, grit, and perseverance.
When you think about worth ethic, do you believe yours is good? Has anyone ever told you that your work ethic is great? Do you show up for work, do your job, maybe a little better than you should, and always attempt to lead with the best foot forward in correlation to what would be best for the success of the business or company.
Growing up my mom never called in sick. I was one of those kids with basically perfect attendance, never late, and maybe even was a teachers pet. My mom had legit rules about skipping school and it was along the lines of .. if I wasn’t throwing up or had a fever, I had to go to school. Once when I got my period, like within the first year, I had horrible cramps, still do… but I knew my mom wouldnt pick me up.. so I called her then boyfriend, who is now my step dad.. and he picked me up from school. 3 Motrin later and back at his office I was fine.. my mom was livid. She knew I had abused the system and her rules.. and I was never ever to call John again to pick me up. I knew these “rules” about going to school from the time I was in 1st grade. I called her to pick me up and lied that I threw up so she would get me. I was 6 then and honestly I think thats the only time other than my period cramp story that I was picked up early for “ being sick.” My mom was a single parent so thinking about her having to leave work to pick up any of us kids from school was difficult. As a kid I thought she was tough, but now I realize its because resources were limited for her. It also taught me to show up, do the work, and not make excuses.
I told you that ive been grinding this past week. So much so I had to reschedule a podcast interview. I find that I do like to work, being helpful, and I like feel like I have purpose. I was 2 minutes away from not getting this episode out because I am just fried. Mentally and physically. But I made a promise to myself and YOU that id get out an episode a week for the next year. And hello #35. But im here and doing it and I think I have to accredit it to my work ethic.
But what makes good work ethic:
According to the Harvard business review written by Tutti Taygerly
What is work ethic? What are qualities of good and poor work ethic?
“Work ethic refers to a set of moral principles, values, and attitudes around how to act at work. While this may vary depending on your organization and company culture, there are a few universal qualities of both good and poor work ethic. Throughout my 22 years in tech, and now, as an executive coach who teaches leaders how to scale their teams, I’ve identified four qualities that exemplify good work ethic:
- Reliability and dependability: You need to meet deadlines on time, act appropriately in virtual and in-person meetings, and navigate different communication styles. You need to regularly deliver on these behaviors.
- Productivity: You need to consistently navigate your priorities and find smart ways to use your time, complete important the tasks, and deliver high-quality results.
- Ownership and autonomy: You need to exercise initiative, and show that you can take direction from others, learn, and improve.
- Collaboration and team support: You need to have the foresight to look beyond your individual role and establish positive working relationships with others. Support the responsibilities of your team and act as a team player.
All four qualities demonstrate professional integrity, or the practice of showing a strong commitment to ethical behavior at work.”
Now, I ask you, did any of this ring true for you? I think each place of work, has different environments but how you show up, do your job, and present yourself is how you’ll be able to make the magic happen in work ethic.
I dont know if this is a generational thing but the gen z working crowd really irritates me. They wear their AirPods, even if your work place allows it, I can’t stand this. We recently went to eat at a little burger joint and the cashier had her AirPods in and couldn’t even hear an excuse me. She was not attentive and honestly was just a body at work. I find most gen z in the work place lacking excitement, professionalism, and honestly they barely can communicate. Side note, they also can’t give back change. We have digitialized so much that counting back money in change is like asking them to read Chinese. Now if youre a get z listening to this and this isnt you.. I apologize. however, I can’t tell you a time ive been assisted by a gen z worker and been like this service is sooooo good.
We work to make money, I get it. Not everything we do at our jobs or businesses is going to make you move and jump to get it done, but having a solid work ethic is how youre going to get the job done. Good comes with bad, Negative comes with positive, ying vcomes with yang. Having a positive can do attitude, even with the shitty parts of work, is how we can push through these lows.
What if youre not someone who currently has good work ethic? Can this be improved? Totally. Like I mentioned earlier the environments we work in can dictate the boundaries around work ethic. Some companies will be more professional and some won’t. For example, I cater for a Luxury boutique caterer but we call certain napkin folds, vaginas. This isn’t a crazy professional Job in the back of the house but when youre serving and passing and bartending, you are at level 10000%. Now how you can switch those to work for you at work is on you, but maintaining a positive attitude and opting in to learn, adapt, and grow, is part of building your work ethic.
One of the main tips I find is most helpful when you work some place is almost believing you owned that work place or you are the CEO. You’ll put more effort, love, and energy into your work. When you own something you want it succeed. When you work somewhere you should want it to success, hence treating it like you own it. That doesn’t mean argue or talk back when you think something is stupid, its more about providing solutions to problems or issues. Treat any work place like you own it, and I guarantee people will also ask you if its your company. I love when I get this question. It happens a lot when im working at the catering company. It happened when I was a server even at the chicken wing place I worked at. Its like loving your place of work, knowing why you actually work there, and being able to provide in the work place.
Before you start saying you think you have great work ethic, but hate your job.. this is my opinion.. you’ll never do the best at something you hate. If you hate being at your job, id say reroute, listen to my podcast episode with career coach Lucy Todd. You dont have to LOVE you job, but I do think you need to feel like you have purpose there. If you do, then you’ll provide the work that needs to get done. But in order for you to have that work ethic im talking about that comes with delivering your tasks on time, being supportive, being reliable and dependable, and taking ownership. Being accountable. Even if your project fails or doesnt come out the way you anticipated. You can still continue to put one foot in front of the other to deliver what you want, even if success isn’t on the first try. Success and work ethic arent necessarily even correlated. But, success is more likely to prevail when you have a solid work ethic.
Society tends to look down on certain jobs. Hell, I even worked at Kentucky fried chicken and was slightly embarrassed that I was working there and didn’t wanna tell anyone, but it wasn’t because I had to work there. I got an opportunity to make some good money. You might be judging saying.. oh she did fast food, but at one point I was making $20 an hour. Not even a manager, just as a line packer. I didn’t want anyone to know I worked there, as I was a fitness coach. Working at KFC wasnt embarrassing. But I was making more than most people who sit at admin job do. Your job doesnt define you, how you do your job does. Some of the hardest working people are the ones who pick our fruit here in America, wash your dirty asss dishes at restaurants, clean up shit from nasty bathroom goers, educate your children, clean the floors you walk on, and there’s a boot load of jobs people think less of. What you do for work is not that same as how you do your Job for work.
Here are some tips for improving your work ethic:
- Minimize distractions, time block, turn your phone on DND. We are goldfish with a 3 sec attention span.. you deserve to get some focused time.
- Set goals, blah blah. But formal. Fuck the timeline. Focus on the steps, focus on the path, focus on what you’ve learned from the movement and let it help you get to those goals.
- Take notice of how you spend your time.. are you using your work time to work, can you invest in yourself to level up a new skill… I have a killer example. My friend Emily is a marketing content genius. She recently invested into a course for instagram reels, which made me giggle, because she MAKES CONTENT and ADS for a living, pretty sure she even was part of editing a Super Bowl commercial. But she is using her spare time to level up how she can create content. Taking the steps in her free time. She def has killer work ethic, but this made me think, like even her free time is committed to her craft. Her free time is invested in her! Damn that work ethic!
- Stay organized, agenda, journal, apple calendar. I write everything down like im in 2001 with my planner.
- Practice balance, rest, work, eat, repeat. Rest. Revitalize your mind and soul. You can’t grind 24/7 youre not the energizer bunny.
- Believe in what you're working on. BELIEVE. Fun fact I have this word tattooed on myself. Believe in fucking something. YOURSELF. Your project. Your work!
- Manage your time wisely.. distractions and life really can get in the way but time blocking like I mentioned can be a tool to help you get stuff done. And getting stuff done is how we can prove to be dependable and reliable leading to building a solid work ethic.
- Maintain a positive attitude, this is hard. Sometimes we are put into situations where youre like wtf. No. Sometimes things arent going your way. I promise you a big breath will be more beneficial than a temper tantrum. Noone wants to work with a baby. Im all for a second to cry it out too, im a cancer sign, so crying is my release.
- Show respect to others.. entry level, ceo, doesn’t matter. We are all humans on this planet. We can all learn something from someone. Your position doesnt make you better, what will make you better is your ability to make someone feel seen and teach them how to level up if they arent quite where you are.
Work ethic essentially will lie in how you are perceived in the world. Noone wants to be the lazy girl. Noone wants to be known as someone who isn’t helpful. You can build and add into your work ethic, as this is a learned skill set. The good news is, if youre not great with work ethic, you can learn how to be better.
I also want to end this episode with the reminder that work ethic is also not a 24/7 grind. I mentioned above how important rest is. You can’t go go go. At some point you have to recharge. Your work ethic isn’t going to get blown up because you got some down time.
We are humans, not robots. You can evolve, change, grow, and nuture who you are in order to find the truest most authentic version of yourself.
I thank you for being here, this episode was a toughie to get out considering I need rest and im running low on gas. But this episode as pulling at my heart this week as I watched my boss wash dishes and mop the floor. She inspired me.
I ask kindly if you love the show, share it. Nothing shows me you love this more than sharing it with the people you love. Drop a review, hopefully 5 stars, and make sure youre following along on Ig and YT at without a doubt the podcast.
Final reminder,
You are without a doubt a badass, dont you fucking forget it.
Xoxo mad
Sources:
* https://hbr.org/2022/09/how-to-develop-a-strong-work-ethic
