I ran across a quote that really made me stop and think recently. It isn’t a new quote from someone in the current age but it still applies, I think. Actually, that is what made me think more about it. I was impressed by how many years later it still applies to our modern lives.
The quote was by Marcus Aurelius, “Don’t get caught up in trivia or pettiness; appreciate your life within a larger context.” Think about it…”Don’t get caught up in trivia or pettiness; appreciate your life within a larger context.”
Initially, I thought about the quote from the my own viewpoint. How well do I stand back and look above the fray to see past the details of day-to-day life? I asked myself if I am using my talents to my highest potential and in the best way possible to contribute to my family, friends, and society. I’m still thinking about how I can adjust things to get to that “best place” to use my abilities to their fullest.
Next, I thought about the quote from a business perspective. Are the companies and training organizations that I’m involved with and work for using our talent (people) to their best abilities? Do we need to do some reshuffling to put people in jobs that utilize their full potential? What do we need to do to get our talent operating at full potential even if it seems they are in the right position?
I think many companies may need to ask themselves these questions. Sometimes we get very possessive of our specific jobs/positions instead of looking at the big picture of how the company operates. Is there someone else who has the talents/abilities to do the job better? Or, have we found out what each person does best and then put them in that job/position? Do our employees need some retraining to get to their full potential?
These are some very hard questions for companies to ask themselves. I know that I’m not suggesting something that can be easily done. However, in our current economic environment, companies now more than ever need to figure out how to work smarter without increasing their budgets. One way to do this is to make sure they have the right people for each position and, if not, reshuffle their employees to find the job where they fit best. Then, companies can see what training needs to take place to help employees achieve their full potential.
