The person who is engaged with his/her work and works hard to finish projects?
or
The person who makes everything look easy?
or
The person who gets paid too much to do nothing?
or
The person who seems so smooth that s/he glides across the floor?
By noticing who you admire, you’ll gain a better understanding of who you are and how to use this information to your advantage.
If you admire someone who makes work look easy – you are probably a very intelligent person.
Now if you admire someone who is tenacious and does anything to get a job done – you are probably a motivated person.
You see your potential self in these people
It’s up to you to bring these positive qualities out of yourself or rid yourself of the negative qualities that won’t help you.
If you admire someone who seems to get by on charm and avoidance, then you may be prone to being this way yourself. You must pay attention. Why do you admire this behavior? Are you wanting an easy life so you won’t have any challenges? What are you afraid of?
These are hard questions.
I admit that I’m prone to procrastination. I used to love the co-worker who messed around all day and in the last two hours rushed to knock out a report that was well done and just under the deadline. He enjoyed the stress. I wanted to be the same way.
The problem wasn’t obvious at the time. I tried the same technique and messed up a big project. I got all stressed out and needed help from the same co-worker to help me finish.
Just because I admired this person doesn’t mean his style was a good fit for me. I liked that this person could focus so intensely for two hours, but when I tried to use the same technique, the stress overwhelmed me. After I analyzed my admiration, I realized that it was his focus that I wanted as my own, not his ability to focus under such intense self imposed circumstances.
Instead of waiting until the last few hours to get my work done, I practiced getting started earlier and finishing a project in the same amount of time, but just in case it took longer, I had more time to work on it. The stress was off, but I still was able to practice harnessing my focus.
Don’t imitate
When you really break down who you admire, make sure you understand which traits you really approve of so you don’t get caught just imitating someone else.
You need to be you. That means knowing how to appreciate other people’s skills, learn from them and infuse them into your working life.
What traits do you admire in others? Let’s discuss in the comments section.
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As you probably already know I’m a big fan of Copy Blogger. A site that helps me improve the little details of my writing. I enjoyed a steller post by Brian Clark called One Big Way to Avoid a Headline Fail. There is so much more to learn in this post than just how to write better.
If you enjoyed this post then please check these out too:
- The Ultimate Guide to Dealing with Anxiety at Work
- The Target in the Bull(y)’s Eye
- How to Build Confidence at Work
Image courtesy of Austin Ziegler.
Hi Karl,
One skill I really admire in others is the skill of taking chances (or…maybe it’s an art). And there can be a fine line here, between careless and genius. And even when it doesn’t work, it’s still something I deeply admire in others. I’ve been working with a young lady recently who is shining at this – and it’s been pure joy to work together! And that’s because she see’s beyond where we’re at today, and was might be possible. It means change, and it means that we find out as we go what worked and what didn’t. As we’re approaching completion of a final product, it’s so good to see how it’s come together – and it’s all because somebody took some chances and looked beyond where we are today…
Hi Karl – I admire people who are truth tellers, not afraid to rock the boat at times. And yes, I do need to pull back some of that projection and be a bit bolder myself. But I’ve also realized I need to be aware of the traits of people who bug me, because I’ve learned that I project that too, and it’s likely more about me than them. Thanks for the thoughtful post.
Friday is Boss Day… Stayed tuned on my site to see who I admire at my office! 🙂
After 8+ years I realized I was trying to fill the mold my boss had in mind for me so he’d appreciate me. But it turns out trying to be someone else doesn’t work. Now I’m in the process of evaluating my strengths and putting them to use instead of trying to be someone else. thank you work happy now.
Hi, Karl!
When I worked in my former job, I admired the leaders of the company who used compassion, intelligence and understanding in their day-to-day activities. The ones who were honest, kind, but really smart about what they did, and HOW they did it. They were the ones who didn’t talk about others when they weren’t around, and who didn’t make excuses for wins or losses. It was always just on to the next task.
I learned from those people, and in time, became my own version of that same type of leader. That’s when I also learned that managing people is tough! Everyone thinks having a corner office and management position is just easy money and breezy days. Not so! (Not for the good managers, anyway.) It’s more work, and more stress… But really good leaders don’t make it look that way, necessarily, and don’t complain about anything. They just do what needs to be done.
What a neat post to read; it really got me thinking about why I liked the people at work I liked… And how I let their traits influence me!
Karl,
When I worked for someon else I admired a person who brought joy to work with her everyday. We worked with street people who were addicted. The recovery rate was very small and the work was burn out city. Patti made the work fun. We learned to be light hearted with the clients. We laughed a lot and taught them to laugh. It was amazing. I moved on after one year and brought the joy I learned to know with me to my next place of employment.
I admire people who can communicate in a way that is firm, authoritative and without arrogance. A true leader, a person people want to follow. I’ve taken several leadership positions of late, and I am really focusing my attention on attributes of successful leaders. Communication is a big part of it.
Hi Karl,
You are so right. We can learn a lot about ourselves by who we admire. For me, I always have admired those who were very dedicated to their work. They would embody their work so much, it was not wory but joy. I have also noticed that they had a great work ethic and never felt tired or overwhelmed. They basically just loved their jobs and that to me has always been something that I truly love and adore.
That’s a good point — that when we admire a quality in someone else — like their tenacity, for instance — we wouldn’t be able to see it in them if it didn’t exist somewhere within ourselves. Just like the negative judgments we form of people, the positive ones are also really our own traits that we’re projecting onto them.