Thoughts

Adam * walked into his office at 7:15 the first day after the holidays. A quick glance at the flashing phone message light brought back all the resentment he had for the excessive work demands placed on him. Turning his voice mail on it said, “You have 22 messages.” The first message was from his SVP; it said, “Hi, Adam! Be sure to check your e-mail. The Boss has called a lunch meeting to update Q1 revenue commitments. I told him YOU WOULD be ready.”

After a depressing review of his voice mail Adam turned on his e-mail. He always checks his e-mail and calendar first thing in the morning. He says, “You never know what snakes are hiding in e-mail.”  As usual a flood of e-mail and back-to-back meetings were forecast for a hectic day.

It was almost 9:30 when Adam opened his door to get his 4th cup of coffee. Several people were waiting to see him.  In his good humor he yelled, “OK everyone; take a number and don’t block the hallway. It is against fire regulations.”

Standing in front of the coffee machine he remembered a question Eve Wise challenged him with at the Board of Trade party. She asked, “What important roles do you play in your organization?” His reply was, “I am the corporate controller.” She graciously said, “I did not ask you for your title, Adam. I asked you for your important roles.” The discussion that followed helped Adam realize that he was a victim of “Title Imposed Roles”.

Most of us are hired into the organization using job titles. These are short on defining the high value roles we are expected to play.  As a result, the demands placed upon us by virtue of our titles are totally based on varied needs and assumptions and historical experiences of a variety of individuals and groups. Each demand, once fulfilled, becomes a de facto part of the job title and is added to the ever-growing to-do list.

 *The names and titles are changed. The experience is based on participants in our Overcoming Overload Workshop.

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