High expectations. You said it.
Running my firm, I always told my employees, "I expect your best. Always." Most times their idea of their best and my idea of their best were...not in alignment. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to punch them in the mouth. My second to last emp, he used to back talk me. We would get into a row, (in front of others) and then afterwards one time he came to me and said, "You told me you would not dress me down in front of others." My response, "If you were being respectful I wouldn't have. If you talked to me that way as a subordinate in the military, I would have laid you the f*ck out and then had ass sandwich for lunch. In fact I came damn close to doing it here in the civilian office."
The irony is that my military training also set me up for success in the civilian sector. It taught me discipline, embedded a hard work ethic, and pushed me so far beyond what I thought my limits were that I know exactly what I am capable of AND what others are capable of. I think the problem lies in that most civies don't have a clue what these things are, mean, or are willing to push themselves the tiniest little bit...thus my extreme frustration.
The good news for me is that working in the trades, at least these guys (for the most part) know how to work hard. Then again maybe I am just a blue collar at heart...
Running my firm, I always told my employees, "I expect your best. Always." Most times their idea of their best and my idea of their best were...not in alignment. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to punch them in the mouth. My second to last emp, he used to back talk me. We would get into a row, (in front of others) and then afterwards one time he came to me and said, "You told me you would not dress me down in front of others." My response, "If you were being respectful I wouldn't have. If you talked to me that way as a subordinate in the military, I would have laid you the f*ck out and then had ass sandwich for lunch. In fact I came damn close to doing it here in the civilian office."
The irony is that my military training also set me up for success in the civilian sector. It taught me discipline, embedded a hard work ethic, and pushed me so far beyond what I thought my limits were that I know exactly what I am capable of AND what others are capable of. I think the problem lies in that most civies don't have a clue what these things are, mean, or are willing to push themselves the tiniest little bit...thus my extreme frustration.
The good news for me is that working in the trades, at least these guys (for the most part) know how to work hard. Then again maybe I am just a blue collar at heart...
