Ambition
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I'll never be a C-level executive, at least not in any large company. I guess I might end up the CSO for my wife's horse business. That's Chief Scooping Officer for those of you not familiar with rural corporate structure.
I saw this article last week about Microsoft's purchase of TellMe, a speech software company. Apparently Steve Ballmer missed the Super Bowl to negotiate a deal.
As much as I'm a professional and I understand there's a time to work, I also believe there's a time not to work. I don't think I'd miss the Super Bowl to negotiate a deal. It's an event and the deal would still be there in 4 hours. Just like not every crisis is a crisis and needs you to drop everything and go.
I wouldn't miss a birthday, anniversary, or any important family event unless something was really critically broken. And most of the times I've been called or paged, it wasn't for something that required immediate attention. Unlike lots of ambitious people I've worked with.
I have worked above and beyond when it's needed. However I've also refused more than my share of times because things were not critical.
I wouldn't tell anyone not to work if they feel they should. I just hope that most of you learn how to tell the difference between when you're really needed and when it can wait.
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I worked in military electronics for 20 years and most times everything was an emergency, especially on ships. But, in my 9 years working IT for a mid-size not for profit I've learned to slow down and respect family time. It seems though we become more relient on email, phones, etc. and some people can't work if their device is not working.
I'm not sure if the computers serve us or vice-versa!
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I agree that there are times to "not work". Personally, the Super Bowl would be one of those times. Not that the Super Bowl is necessarily important in itself, but it only happens once a year and is the last pro football game of the season. For someone like myself who enjoys watching the NFL, I can't imagine too many work related items that would come before the big game.
Regards,
Scott
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So, I would be willing to not watch the Super Bowl, I miss it most years. However working on a Sunday is an issue. What about that day of rest?
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Ambition, hmmm... don't you think this is a better description of Ambition?
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I agree with Steve. I've been in the industry for 14 years and rarely do I miss personal events in order to work. In the few occasions that I've made an exeception, I've missed minor events and I've made certain that it was worth my while financially to miss the events in question. I can't count the number of managers that I've worked for that have made promised incentives that they didn't deliver.
In no case would I consider selling out my family just to make an extra buck.
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I was called in to work on a project when I was home sick.
The project could easily have waited a couple days until I was well. 
I resented for years both the department head who insisted on it and my boss who couldn't or wouldn't say no. I won't do that again and my current boss wouldn't ask me to. -
It is all about 'balance' in one's life. I have been way 'out of balance' at times in the past (15-20 years ago). Sometimes by choice sometimes not. Now I find that a cool head and sound thinking eliminates most 'out of balance' conditions. There are two other factors that also help one regain balance. They are being comfortable with oneself and not living in fear. These things kind of go hand in hand. If you are comfortable with yourself, by this I mean who you are, what you do, how you live then fear does not even attempt to run your life. You say fear, hah ! Let me explain this thing fear just a slight bit as it relates to comfort. If I am comfortable with myself, and the facets mentioned above, I am not afraid of what others think in either my personal or professional life. I can then live my life as opposed to exist in someone else's.
RegardsRudy KomacsarSenior Database Administrator"Ave Caesar! - Morituri te salutamus."
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It depends on company expectation. I worked for a company, even the CEO thought that I was doing a good job. However I had to pick up my son from daycare at 5:00pm everyday. The manager used this excuse not to promote me even he admitted I did a much better job than the person he promoted. But he said the other person could stay after 5 was a very important factor !!! What a BS!!!!!
I joined another company (a bank top 10 in US) for eight month. The review was based on fiscal year. By the fiscal year came, I was with the company for eight month. During the eight months, I worked average 50 to 60 hours to get the project into production. In my review session, my manager said he would like to give me 'Exceed expectation' or 'Above average', but the company 'policy' said if the employee was with the company less than a year, the highest grade they could get was 'Average'. I was so upset. I told him he should tell me eight months ago about this policy so I would work 40 hours a week instead working liked crazy.
Even you have ambitioin, you need 'luck' to get where you want to be.
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I worked for a 24x7 manufacturing operation for 7 years where I had to be part of a rotating call schedule. When I started off-hours calls were limited to problems that meant we could not produce or ship production. By the time I left it included times when someone could not get on the internet. I actually got a call 7 am on a Sunday from the corporate controller because he could not get his email. I fixed it, but I also told him there was no good reason he should be working at 7am on Sunday and that I shouldn't have to either since the mill was still running fine.
Jack Corbett
Consultant - Straight Path Solutions
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Uh, if you refused to meet with me during the Superbowl you would not get the deal. Business is clearly more important.
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I'd pass on the deal then. No reason that the deal can't be made on Monday.
Rest and balance are important. The more I deal with "crisis" in corporate situations, the more I've learned that most aren't critical. Another few hours doesn't make a difference.
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Today most companies don't expect their employees to have a personal life. Even since the economy goes down, they feel liked you should be graceful that you have a job. So you have to do anything they say.
Superbowl ! They expect you miss your own wedding if there is an important business deal.
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I would miss the Superbowl for just about anything. But, that's me.
As for anything else, I would suppose I could pitch in if I were needed. But again I try to go above and beyond "as needed." Of course, this need really requires an understanding of one's business. There are cases where the process isn't really needed, or the issue is the result of someone else's careless handling or lack of deadline observation. In those situations, I will generally draw the line (unless the customer is not usually inclined to such behavior).
By not helping out, I feel would be contributing to the rising level of mediocrity in today's workplace. I don't want to be a part of that movement.
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I wouldn't refuse to work outside of hours. Heck, I could refrain from drinking during the Super Bowl and go to work afterwards if I was needed.
But it's an event and doesn't have the same meaning later. Same with a wedding, kids birthday, etc. The events are more important often and more time critical than most business meetings/problems/issues.
Steve
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