Source | LinkedIn | Scott Hoover | CPA, Pastor, Writer
What is the key to being a star employee?
Hard work?
I live in Central Wisconsin. My friends and neighbors are hard-working farmers. I get tired just listening to the stories of working 36 hours, sleeping a few hours, and climbing back in the tractor or combine. In my neighborhood, it’s a high honor to get to Friday and say you slept 12 hours the whole week.
Is working like a farmer the key to being a great employee?
Not really. High-octane workaholic employees can be hard-to-please time bombs who eventually blow up and leave. Even if they’re not that way, they usually operate in an atmosphere of stress and pressure. If they leave, their poor boss doesn’t know how life will go on, but there’s a strange sense of relief.
Hard work is not the powerful trait I have in mind.
Technical expertise?
Good IT people amaze me. “Oh, you want to see all the customers from Chicago who spent more than $500 last year? Sure, let’s flip over to SQL here (warning sign pops up), oh that stupid thing!, ex-out that…tap, tap, tap….how does this list look? (dump to Excel as an afterthought).
Unbelievable! You just saved me an hour hunting and pecking, copying and pasting. Why don’t you just take over the world while you’re at it!
