I don't know if I originally came up with this phrase yesterday, or if it's completely unoriginal, but it does completely and accurately describe my situation.
Anyone that I have ever looked up to professionally has had the following things in common:
1. They love their job.
2. They care about other people, especially those below them.
3. They work really hard to do an excellent job.
If you don't have these things, then I have a hard time respecting you as a professional, especially if I have to answer to you. So, let's talk about these things.
1. You love your job.
I understand if you work at a job you don't like to get by for awhile, but I then assume that you are working hard to find a job that you like or are figuring out what it is that you want to do. If you love your job, your quality of work is better and your attitude is better. Nobody wants to hear you complain about your job, and nobody can respect you if you're not trying to get yourself out of this job that you hate.
2. You care about other people, especially those who work below you.
Everyone cares about the opinions and feelings of their boss, but it takes a really good person to care about somebody that works underneath you. Without those people working for shit money doing shit tasks, you would have to work and extra 40 hours a week doing those shit tasks for no extra money. Paying attention to them and letting them know that they're appreciated will help them remember that they're important to the company. They will respect you so much more if they know that you respect them.
3. You work really hard to do an excellent job.
I don't understand the people that are more obsessed with other people doing their jobs correctly than doing their own job correctly. If you aren't doing your job, no one else is going to do it. Trust in your co-workers and make sure to converse with them appropriately if you feel like they may not be doing their job.
What does that entail, you ask? For instance, if you feel like they didn't do something they were supposed to do, ask them if they did it. Then, ask them if they knew that they were supposed to do it. Then, if they answer the questions accordingly, go ahead and tell them off. 90% of the time, it was a misunderstanding.
Meanwhile, make sure that everything you are asked to do is done efficiently and excellently. Making sure other people do their jobs well still doesn't reflect well on you if you aren't doing your own job well.
The main reason I love working at Taillight so much is that I can genuinely respect almost every person that I work with. I wish more offices ran the way that this one does. Have I run into a few people that I don't respect as professionals? Yes. However, you would think that it would be more than the two I can think of, especially being in the entertainment industry.
I've never met so many humble, hard-working people that love their jobs and love everyone they work with. Even though I'm an intern that does those shit jobs as described earlier, I love coming in to work every day.
I just hope I can work in a office like that when I need to find a grown up job.
