You’ve been working hard and smart, putting in long hours and making the right calls. You’re doing whatever it takes to get the job done, and don’t think upper management hasn’t noticed! Sooner or later though, the day is going to come your when your job requires you to do something with which you are not entirely comfortable. I'm not talking about cleaning the bathrooms, and I'm not talking about making your first major sales pitch.
Unless you’re extremely lucky, there’s a big possibility that at some point in your career you’ll be expected to carry out orders you may not be happy about. You may not always see eye to eye with your boss, or buy into your company's new strategy, but you DO have to do your job. Assuming that you’re otherwise a good fit for your position, what do you do when directed to carry out activities that make you uncomfortable?
It depends a lot on what exactly you’re doing. If you’re in a position to impact the job security of other people, this can weigh heavily on your heart. It might be that you have new standards for productivity that you have to roll out and don’t feel your team can live up to. Possibly you’re in charge of conducting SOP audits on your former peers and you know that your findings will hinder your colleague’s career progress. Maybe you’re in the unfortunate position of letting someone go based on their performance and you don’t agree with the standards you’ve been given for rating them.
Good leaders are usually open to feedback on their processes and decisions and you may have a say in whether or not this uncomfortable mission goes forward. It’s just good stewardship of the organization to only roll out processes that make sense, standards that aren't arbitrary or unreasonable, and rate employee performance on the fairest possible system. Hopefully if you’re a manager you’re doing what’s best for your company; hopefully if your manager is the one requiring you to execute on something you don’t agree with, he or she is willing and able to explain the reasoning behind it. Even after you understand where your expectations are derived from, however, you may still not feel good about imposing those expectations on your own team. And after pushing back, you may still be expected to move forward with your duties.
Exercising sound management principles is important. Even more important, however, is doing what you feel is right. When all is said and done, you alone are the judge of what will sit well with you. If you're not able to reconcile your duties with your values and absolutely cannot go through with this task, what are you going to do about it? Are you in a position to effect a change, and instill your own values on this process? If not, are you willing to suffer the consequences of being held accountable for your inaction?
Are you willing to look for a different role or position, or even a new job, where you don’t have to be put in this position? Again, you are the person best suited to answer those questions. Please understand that I’m not advocating for running away from tough choices, but sometimes recognizing that your current role is not the best fit for you is better not just for your organization, but yourself.
Have you ever found yourself struggling to get on board with a tough decision? Please feel free to contribute to the discussion in the comments section! If you’ve enjoyed spending a few minutes reading “The Boss Perspective,” subscribe and share this site with your friends, Like me on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter @BossPerspective.
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