We all have our morning routines. You need to because they set the tone for your day. For me, it starts with a hot shower to shake off the cobwebs, and then I meander down the hall to my wife’s craft room.
Her crafting laboratory is also where our ironing board is located. Every morning of my work week, I turn on this amazing appliance and iron my outfit. Since my daily attire consists of a paisley shirt and jeans, you wouldn’t think that this would be needed. I could skate by with pulling them off the hangar and throwing them on. Honestly, who would notice ?? (Don’t think that on some mornings when I’m dragging, this thought hasn’t passed my mind !!)
Taking a few moments to get prepared for the day ahead is calming. You can focus on getting ready. It allows me to adopt a great mindset to look forward to what’s ahead. I’m not much of a to-do list person, but I do like to contemplate what I think is possible. I know that it could change within a split second because I get to work with humans. We all desire for work to be steady and predictable, but it rarely is.
Each time I iron my outfit, I think of HR. You see, my pants and shirts are in a fairly good state, just as they are . . . with a few wrinkles. By adjusting the iron to the correct temperature setting for the clothes, I can press those wrinkles away so I look good and feel prepared to start my day with a positive look.
We need to think of working with others like ironing. They come to see us mostly good. They really are. We tell ourselves, though, that our job is to “fix” things because what they’re facing is in such a state that MAJOR action is needed. That is rarely the case. People come with a few wrinkles. They need someone who will assess what’s happening, set the right tone and temperature, then iron things out. You may need some steam to work on those deep wrinkles at times. The goal is to get people back in shape so they can perform their jobs.
We can’t fix people. It’s a myth that we continue to perpetuate. In fact, we reward people who are fixers. At times, I think we fall into the trap that they’re doing great work. Honestly, they’re shifting things around to come to a solid conclusion that eases the pressure that they probably started. These folks need more attention, and we need to step in to have those grounding conversations. They have talent and don’t have to keep approaching work as if everything is broken.
If we took this approach of smoothing out the wrinkles instead of being someone expecting to perform triage, then we wouldn’t be so frustrated and stressed ourselves. You see, we come to work with wrinkles too. It’s time for us to lay out our outfits. Let’s step back, calm down, and take a few moments to use our iron in our work. Trust me, it works !!
