What standards
are important in my life? This question made me stop and reflect on my life
starting with my childhood, and my childhood does not bring back fond memories.
I came to the realization that the standards I hold myself to are most
likely a result of my not so great upbringing. The two standards I found
myself coming back to were reasonable and reliable. When it comes to
these standards it took me a little while to figure out exactly what
each meant to me, but I knew right away what they didn't mean.
I acquired
these standards as a result of my disappointments as a child from my mother.
I unconsciously vowed to treat my children better than my mother
treated me. I want my children to grow up to be independent
and self-sufficient adults, something I was never taught or allowed to be.
I want to model for them what a successful adult looks like. I
would like to be the same role model for members on my team at work. I
want to give them the skills to solve problems and succeed
on their own.
To be a
reasonable person one needs to have good judgment and an open
mind. I want to be a reasonable person in both my personal and professional
life. I want my children and team members to feel they can ask
me questions and will in turn receive answers that are in good judgment
and well thought out. I also want to be thought of as being open-minded
and approachable, not bias and inaccessible. Being
reasonable doesn't mean that every request or suggestion should be
accepted but that it should be at least considered.
Being reliable
is very important to me and always has been. I know the
disappointment that comes from being told someone will be there and then they
do not show up. I would never want my family, friends or coworkers to
feel I was not there for them when they needed me. Reliability to me
has a two-fold meaning. One meaning is to be dependable, to be there
for people when you say you are going to be. Along those same lines it
means people can trust you to be available to answer questions they may
have, and if you don't know the answer you will know how to work on
finding the answer. The second meaning of reliable is to be accountable.
When things do not go as expected, people need to know you will step
up and take claim to the mistake instead of passing it off. There is
an old saying that a person is only as good as his/her word, I find this to be
very true. I want people to know they can count on my words and not have
to worry about disappointment.
Being reasonable
and reliable has been important to me for as long as I can remember. Over
the years what it meant to be reasonable and reliable has changed but
the foundation has not. I have thought more about these traits over
the past few years within my supervisor role, it surprises me almost daily at
the lack or reliability there is out there among employees.
Some of the antics I have witnessed I would never have even thought
of pulling on an employer. The even more disturbing reality is some
employers expect and tolerate these behaviors. I'm not sure if it is
a generational phenomenon, but it seems to happen more with the
younger employees around me. Not showing up for work, showing up unprepared
and showing up considerably late regularly are not things I would ever
have done, yet it happens routinely in my job. These issues
have made me more determined to finish my degree in hopes to change things.
Nosich, G. M. (2012). Learning to think things through: A guide to critical thinking across the curriculum (4th edition). Boston, MA: Pearson.
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