Mediocre: of only ordinary quality, barely adequate, rather poor/inferior
Imagine if you eliminated the mediocre employees from your workplace? Instead of an ok company, you’d at least have the possibility to become a GREAT company. The question I come back to constantly is………… WHY WOULDN’T YOU WANT A GREAT COMPANY???? Why settle? Well I’ve come up with some answers.
Imagine a very successful company, that found a niche in the market place that very few others are currently tapping, they’ve established financial credibility, and during one of the worst economic declines in years this company made more money than ever? Would they be looking to change anything? Probably not. Why mess with a good thing right? Of course whether you are the owner of this company or one of the employees would dramatically change your answer.
I believe that in this company referenced above that the owner has become content, the company basically runs on auto-pilot, makes literally millions, and he does not have to interact with the day to day chaos, so why would he want to clean house and start over? He enjoys, dare I say even embraces the mediocre employee, as these are the ones that make the greatest “Yes men”, they would NEVER state the obvious, nor would they ever go against what the owner thinks. The mediocre employee always allows the boss to look like the hero, the answer man, the solver of all the issues. (This also leads the the mediocre employees never being accountable or responsible if they ultimately don't have to make decisions)
Mediocre employees actually cost a company money. They're the lazy employees of the company, they excel at expending the least amount of effort to get something done. Tolerating mediocre employees in a company setting will always lead to discord, and eventually losing the exceptional employees. If there is tolerance for mediocrity in the workplace, then a negative company culture has already been established.
Sadly mediocrity in the work place breeds contempt. It systematically destroys the self esteem and confidence of individuals who are exceptional. The extraordinary employees will eventually leave and or lose their drive. Some may even fall into sync with the rest of the mediocre crew. Mediocrity encourages hard working employees to begin to feel used, and eventually the will slack off. Even the most diligent employee who refuses to deliver less than their best eventually will start to feel they only need to put in the minimal effort, since others are slacking off and still being rewarded.
The leaders, supervisors, VP’s are the very core of key people, and if there is mediocrity within these ranks, it is best to clean house. They are making high salaries, and need to be held accountable. If these are the people who are mediocre in the company how can it be expected for those employees under them to perform at the top of their game. Why would they? The lowest paid employees actually have the greatest affect on a company’s bottom line as they are in fact the ones interacting daily with the clients.
Wouldn’t it make sense to put extraordinary leaders in place? Wouldn’t it make sense to clean house? Wouldn't it make sense to reward and place value on your exceptional employees?
If a company on auto-pilot is profiting financially, imagine having extraordinary employees and a synergy created enabling it to become a phenomenal company?
Are there jobs out there encouraging and rewarding the dedicated, and exceptional employees? Or as a society have we embraced mediocrity?
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Progressing to the diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome (3)
Wow! It’s strange, but sometimes I start to think that no one gets it, maybe I’m over thinking it, and then I read other parent’s stuff and some re-write and repeat back to me some of my very own history and I keep reminding myself that I am not alone…. More parents than I have also gone through this.
My son is quite similar and gone through very similar issues as others dealing with the diagnosis of Asperger’s and other PDD diagnoses. The only different aspect he possesses is the rage. He also takes medicine every morning, for depression and anxiety, as he was extremely depressed, and suicidal at 6 years old. Talk about a wake up call. I couldn’t believe it mainly because where does a 6 year old even come up with that stuff. I remember my own childhood and it was awesome, the worse thing that might happen was we couldn’t’ go out to play after dinner. I felt like my world had crashed and that I had failed miserably as a parent. Here was the sweetest, most loving child, and he told me at the hospital, that everything would be better if he wasn’t here. (Crying now just typing it). It crushed me.
He takes medication for rage, and a medicine for focusing and the Zoloft for depression. And he is truly a happy seven year old now. He hums and sings (which he never did before); he smiles (although not all the time – he often will tell me very matter of factly that “just because I’m not smiling doesn’t mean I’m not happy, it just means my mouth isn’t up in the air”)
He is so very literal. It is one of the things we are trying to over come at day care. Here’s an example, there are two balls, My son is playing with one (cause he’s semi-obsessed with bouncy balls all sizes), a younger child wants to play with it, the teacher tells my son to use the second ball and give the younger child his. This is all it takes. My son says why can’t the kid play with the other ball, and the teacher says, “They are the same, they are both balls” OMG – My son can tell you down to the paint color and drawings on the balls that no they are not exactly the same. He throws a fit; he gets time out or punished, or goes into a full blown tantrum. By the time I arrive on the scene he’s hysterical, and the caretaker is pissed, telling me what’s the big deal, he won’t share, blah blah, and Michael is adamant, that “she said they are the same, she said they are the same, THEY ARE NOT THE SAME” God, I keep bringing in articles, paperwork, books some of these caretakers are one step from illiterate and just don’t get it or just don’t care. And to me it’s just hurtful. In my son’s world the balls really aren’t the same, you are telling him and punishing him for something that isn’t accurate or factual. It makes me so angry.
At one day care the director was so angry with my son she pulled him into her office and demanded he apologize for something he’d done, and stood in front of him yelling at him. Needless to say he went nuts, I have no idea what happened, but when I got there, my 5 year old was naked, in a corner of the office that was now trashed/destroyed, rocking back and forth, making a sound like a wounded animal, he couldn’t see me, didn’t know I was there, it was like he was gone but his eyes were open, I had to bear hug him till he finally released and then he looked at me and started crying. I truly almost killed that woman. She told me he needed to be beaten and he was like a wild animal. We never went back.
To this day, my son has never exhibited the rage inside him toward me. He’s only had it happen maybe 5 or 6 times in his whole life, and the last time was when he was hospitalized and I believe that is when we got the medication under control.
He was obsessed with having no father until the medication and now he can rationally state that his dad doesn’t live with us, he knows that I was not married to his dad and of course someday I’ll have to tell my son the whole story. I’m extremely careful not to lie to him. I give facts on a need to know basis, and nothing more.
He is still having issues with auditory input, the likes of which going to McDonald’s on a day when there are tons of kids there make it a very impossible situation for him. He doesn’t like loud, or too much noise, or lots of stimuli… it creates tension that you can see building in him. We are thankfully at the stage where he will actually come to me and let me know it’s too much.
He’s genuinely funny at times also, the other day I had to take an antibiotic that truly did look like a horse pill, and as I was getting ready to take it, he stated, “Mommy that is a freakishly large pill to swallow”. It made me burst into laughter. .
The elementary school that he goes to is phenomenal with us. Matter of fact we went up there tonight to enroll for second grade and the principal came and took him on a tour of the new stuff they got while I filled out paperwork. She went through hell with us last year. Almost everyday there was an incident, running into bathrooms and locking the doors so no one could come in, trashing the library, trashing her office, running to get out, attacking his teacher, etc. etc. He was only having therapy twice a month and we had just started seeing a psychiatrist, and kicked out of three day cares when he started first grade. I picked the male teacher as I thought it would be good for my son, and although the guy is awesome he was way too nice. He couldn’t stick to a routine…. But he worked with us all year, we received an ISP which is an individualized student plan, and it consisted of me, his teacher, the school counselor, the vice principal and the districts therapist. We met all the time and they really were very involved and bent over backwards for us. After my son was hospitalized and he dug in and focused, they realized exactly how smart he was and did a trial run in the gifted and talented program, which he’s now been permanently placed. He also has a male teacher who is upstairs in the building who is his “buddy”, when ever he’s having a problem or needs to calm down or just throw a ball or take a walk, this teacher comes and gets him. They also have a kid life-size log cabin in one of the classrooms, which when he needs calming or some no sensory input time, he goes in there shuts all the windows and doors and takes a breather. He actually after medication made two friends that he actually will initiate talking to (in small doses for small periods of time). He truly wants to have friends, and tries so hard, but his tolerance level is maybe 30 – 35 minutes, and then he wants to be alone and have solitude. And I found it funny that the other kids in his class (as I volunteered A LOT) would reassure me that, “it’s ok sometimes he’s just doing his thing” or “it’s just his thing”…. Instead of being mean and making fun of him, some of these kids (and granted they are only 6 at this point) just figured that’s how he is, they accepted him anyway.
There are only two people I would leave my son with, one is the VP of the company I work at, he and his wife are unbelievable, actually read up on Asperger’s, understand the medicine routine, and in May of this year forced me to go out and have fun and took him for the night. I was kind of lost, and called every hour till they told me they were shutting the phones off and would call me if they needed me. Keep in mind they have two kids of their own and have gone out of their way to me, He takes my son for some one on one guy time once a month or so and my son loves him. The other is my very good friend who just had her first child, so she’s out of commission for awhile, but she’s been with me every step of the journey, and noticed things were off almost before I did…. She’s wonderful, I hired her as my assistant when she was 18 and now she works for my bosses brother in the same capacity as me (which is a Personal Assistant – the most horrific job in the world!!! ) both of these guys are multi millionaires, and it’s like being a private gopher…. But anyway -
My boss has also been a trooper because the three months I had no where to put my son in day care I schlepped him into my office and he was exceptionally well behaved. (Course he was just with me all day and that is always calming to him)
I do have one 30 year old guy who used to work at our company on one of our sites, that takes my son almost every other Saturday for one on one male bonding, they rough house, play, go to movies, he even took my son to the auto show!!! Which last maybe an hour before my son decided they had to leave, but he handled it like a trooper and there were no incidents. He pushes my son a little more than I do, which I think is a guy thing anyway.
We go to medication check ups every three months now, and therapy is now at every 6 weeks.
Our current battle is staying in our own bed till morning. He slept with me right up until being hospitalized (yeah I know), and then up until 3 weeks ago he slept in his own room all the time. Now (and it’s totally my fault) he’s sneaking in every night. I had a REALLY bad dream about three weeks ago, and woke up scared, like sweating, thinking there was impending doom scared, and went and got him to come into bed with me. Now he thinks he’s the man, the protector…. MY BAD. I should have just got in the bottom bunk of his bed and slept but wasn’t thinking clearly so we are once again battling going to bed.
The other thing we are working on currently is my trying to explain that some things have dual meanings. For a child with Asperger’s you must be very careful what you say. I once was frustrated driving because someone in front of me was going much too slow for my liking, and stated they were killing me, HUGE ERROR. We had an entire week where my son was worried I was dying and was that person in the car in front of us going to come kill me…..
We have two more weeks of day care and that’s over till next summer and school starts back 8/23. Which will be another transition and couple weeks of issues.
I’ve been looking on line for a support group to join, I’m a little concerned with future issues of having put this kid on medication so young, will he ever be able to be off them, what will happen when he’s old and doesn’t want to take them, etc. etc.
I recently heard about the new insurance bill that got passed in Massachusetts, and I almost threw up. My son’s hospitalization wasn’t covered ($38K) no idea what I’m going to do with that, and his prescriptions FINALLY are covered cause they total around $1800.00 a month without insurance. Might be all the incentive I need to go home, well that and selling this house, and getting a job…..
So we start the second grade, he can’t wait, he’s bored and restless and looking forward to studying and working and learning, and a routine, anything to focus on….. Me, well, I’m praying for a breakthrough year, with minimal incidents……
I would like to get through a day not panicking every time my phone rings….
My son is quite similar and gone through very similar issues as others dealing with the diagnosis of Asperger’s and other PDD diagnoses. The only different aspect he possesses is the rage. He also takes medicine every morning, for depression and anxiety, as he was extremely depressed, and suicidal at 6 years old. Talk about a wake up call. I couldn’t believe it mainly because where does a 6 year old even come up with that stuff. I remember my own childhood and it was awesome, the worse thing that might happen was we couldn’t’ go out to play after dinner. I felt like my world had crashed and that I had failed miserably as a parent. Here was the sweetest, most loving child, and he told me at the hospital, that everything would be better if he wasn’t here. (Crying now just typing it). It crushed me.
He takes medication for rage, and a medicine for focusing and the Zoloft for depression. And he is truly a happy seven year old now. He hums and sings (which he never did before); he smiles (although not all the time – he often will tell me very matter of factly that “just because I’m not smiling doesn’t mean I’m not happy, it just means my mouth isn’t up in the air”)
He is so very literal. It is one of the things we are trying to over come at day care. Here’s an example, there are two balls, My son is playing with one (cause he’s semi-obsessed with bouncy balls all sizes), a younger child wants to play with it, the teacher tells my son to use the second ball and give the younger child his. This is all it takes. My son says why can’t the kid play with the other ball, and the teacher says, “They are the same, they are both balls” OMG – My son can tell you down to the paint color and drawings on the balls that no they are not exactly the same. He throws a fit; he gets time out or punished, or goes into a full blown tantrum. By the time I arrive on the scene he’s hysterical, and the caretaker is pissed, telling me what’s the big deal, he won’t share, blah blah, and Michael is adamant, that “she said they are the same, she said they are the same, THEY ARE NOT THE SAME” God, I keep bringing in articles, paperwork, books some of these caretakers are one step from illiterate and just don’t get it or just don’t care. And to me it’s just hurtful. In my son’s world the balls really aren’t the same, you are telling him and punishing him for something that isn’t accurate or factual. It makes me so angry.
At one day care the director was so angry with my son she pulled him into her office and demanded he apologize for something he’d done, and stood in front of him yelling at him. Needless to say he went nuts, I have no idea what happened, but when I got there, my 5 year old was naked, in a corner of the office that was now trashed/destroyed, rocking back and forth, making a sound like a wounded animal, he couldn’t see me, didn’t know I was there, it was like he was gone but his eyes were open, I had to bear hug him till he finally released and then he looked at me and started crying. I truly almost killed that woman. She told me he needed to be beaten and he was like a wild animal. We never went back.
To this day, my son has never exhibited the rage inside him toward me. He’s only had it happen maybe 5 or 6 times in his whole life, and the last time was when he was hospitalized and I believe that is when we got the medication under control.
He was obsessed with having no father until the medication and now he can rationally state that his dad doesn’t live with us, he knows that I was not married to his dad and of course someday I’ll have to tell my son the whole story. I’m extremely careful not to lie to him. I give facts on a need to know basis, and nothing more.
He is still having issues with auditory input, the likes of which going to McDonald’s on a day when there are tons of kids there make it a very impossible situation for him. He doesn’t like loud, or too much noise, or lots of stimuli… it creates tension that you can see building in him. We are thankfully at the stage where he will actually come to me and let me know it’s too much.
He’s genuinely funny at times also, the other day I had to take an antibiotic that truly did look like a horse pill, and as I was getting ready to take it, he stated, “Mommy that is a freakishly large pill to swallow”. It made me burst into laughter. .
The elementary school that he goes to is phenomenal with us. Matter of fact we went up there tonight to enroll for second grade and the principal came and took him on a tour of the new stuff they got while I filled out paperwork. She went through hell with us last year. Almost everyday there was an incident, running into bathrooms and locking the doors so no one could come in, trashing the library, trashing her office, running to get out, attacking his teacher, etc. etc. He was only having therapy twice a month and we had just started seeing a psychiatrist, and kicked out of three day cares when he started first grade. I picked the male teacher as I thought it would be good for my son, and although the guy is awesome he was way too nice. He couldn’t stick to a routine…. But he worked with us all year, we received an ISP which is an individualized student plan, and it consisted of me, his teacher, the school counselor, the vice principal and the districts therapist. We met all the time and they really were very involved and bent over backwards for us. After my son was hospitalized and he dug in and focused, they realized exactly how smart he was and did a trial run in the gifted and talented program, which he’s now been permanently placed. He also has a male teacher who is upstairs in the building who is his “buddy”, when ever he’s having a problem or needs to calm down or just throw a ball or take a walk, this teacher comes and gets him. They also have a kid life-size log cabin in one of the classrooms, which when he needs calming or some no sensory input time, he goes in there shuts all the windows and doors and takes a breather. He actually after medication made two friends that he actually will initiate talking to (in small doses for small periods of time). He truly wants to have friends, and tries so hard, but his tolerance level is maybe 30 – 35 minutes, and then he wants to be alone and have solitude. And I found it funny that the other kids in his class (as I volunteered A LOT) would reassure me that, “it’s ok sometimes he’s just doing his thing” or “it’s just his thing”…. Instead of being mean and making fun of him, some of these kids (and granted they are only 6 at this point) just figured that’s how he is, they accepted him anyway.
There are only two people I would leave my son with, one is the VP of the company I work at, he and his wife are unbelievable, actually read up on Asperger’s, understand the medicine routine, and in May of this year forced me to go out and have fun and took him for the night. I was kind of lost, and called every hour till they told me they were shutting the phones off and would call me if they needed me. Keep in mind they have two kids of their own and have gone out of their way to me, He takes my son for some one on one guy time once a month or so and my son loves him. The other is my very good friend who just had her first child, so she’s out of commission for awhile, but she’s been with me every step of the journey, and noticed things were off almost before I did…. She’s wonderful, I hired her as my assistant when she was 18 and now she works for my bosses brother in the same capacity as me (which is a Personal Assistant – the most horrific job in the world!!! ) both of these guys are multi millionaires, and it’s like being a private gopher…. But anyway -
My boss has also been a trooper because the three months I had no where to put my son in day care I schlepped him into my office and he was exceptionally well behaved. (Course he was just with me all day and that is always calming to him)
I do have one 30 year old guy who used to work at our company on one of our sites, that takes my son almost every other Saturday for one on one male bonding, they rough house, play, go to movies, he even took my son to the auto show!!! Which last maybe an hour before my son decided they had to leave, but he handled it like a trooper and there were no incidents. He pushes my son a little more than I do, which I think is a guy thing anyway.
We go to medication check ups every three months now, and therapy is now at every 6 weeks.
Our current battle is staying in our own bed till morning. He slept with me right up until being hospitalized (yeah I know), and then up until 3 weeks ago he slept in his own room all the time. Now (and it’s totally my fault) he’s sneaking in every night. I had a REALLY bad dream about three weeks ago, and woke up scared, like sweating, thinking there was impending doom scared, and went and got him to come into bed with me. Now he thinks he’s the man, the protector…. MY BAD. I should have just got in the bottom bunk of his bed and slept but wasn’t thinking clearly so we are once again battling going to bed.
The other thing we are working on currently is my trying to explain that some things have dual meanings. For a child with Asperger’s you must be very careful what you say. I once was frustrated driving because someone in front of me was going much too slow for my liking, and stated they were killing me, HUGE ERROR. We had an entire week where my son was worried I was dying and was that person in the car in front of us going to come kill me…..
We have two more weeks of day care and that’s over till next summer and school starts back 8/23. Which will be another transition and couple weeks of issues.
I’ve been looking on line for a support group to join, I’m a little concerned with future issues of having put this kid on medication so young, will he ever be able to be off them, what will happen when he’s old and doesn’t want to take them, etc. etc.
I recently heard about the new insurance bill that got passed in Massachusetts, and I almost threw up. My son’s hospitalization wasn’t covered ($38K) no idea what I’m going to do with that, and his prescriptions FINALLY are covered cause they total around $1800.00 a month without insurance. Might be all the incentive I need to go home, well that and selling this house, and getting a job…..
So we start the second grade, he can’t wait, he’s bored and restless and looking forward to studying and working and learning, and a routine, anything to focus on….. Me, well, I’m praying for a breakthrough year, with minimal incidents……
I would like to get through a day not panicking every time my phone rings….
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