Recently the office managers where I work have started Monday morning critique meetings and the one thing they keep stressing is “Don’t take it personal”. They have been going around the room asking various job related questions of each person and then go on to talk about what you could be doing better. Fair enough.. everyone has room for improvement … always. What I don’t get is this phrase they keep stressing ” it’s not personal / don’t take it personal”.
If I am not taking my job personal then I am just a faceless, nameless body sitting behind a desk churning out tasks. As long as the task gets done, (since I’m not taking it personal) then all should be just fine. Whether or not the task was completed in a well done manner or with any efficiency is mute … the task is complete. End of story.
Now, if I were to take my job personally then I am going to ensure that in all stages of my work …it is done efficiently and with the best care possible because how I do my job reflects directly back on me.
Does this make sense to anyone else? …. Or am I the only one who sees it this way?
It is not in my nature to just do a job for the sake of completing a task. What IS is my nature is taking on any and all tasks that come my way and doing them to the best of my ability. I believe that what we get out of something depends greatly on what we put into it.
It’s not personal?
For me it is very personal! For me, everything I do in life is a reflection of who I am. How I do a job is just one of the many things that is a part of my daily routine. Oh, and might I add … when it comes to our jobs or at least mine… a HUGE part of our lives is spent doing this task… how are we not to take it personally?
Well that’s my two cents and my rant of the day… back to your regularly scheduled reading.
Many Blessings,
Raventalker
The Healing Path of the Raven & Wolf 
This posting really resonated with me.
I think when somebody says “It’s not personal…” they are also almost saying the next part of the saying, “it’s just business.” To me, too, this saying is off the mark. Like you hint at, it is ALWAYS personal. A job has very personal aspects. People either get along with their co-workers, or they don’t. Sometimes they think they do, but not really. Or somebody has a gripe against someone and can’t say it to them, so they finagle around and try to get the person in trouble. Personal relationships are important. Trust can be broken at work. I don’t agree that it is the right thing to do sometimes, but it happens. Is something like that “just business?” Sometimes.
This sort of thing happens in some places, not all.
You can hear about people being laid off, due to lack of work, but you also hear about people having jobs made just for them, because they are valuable and worth keeping.
The same can be said of having a work evaluation. Sometimes you can have great evaluations and still be the first to go in the event of a work slowdown. Why did that happen? “It’s just business.” But not really. Get my drift? Somebody could have been personally more close to someone else and that made a difference. A personal difference. That is my opinion.
So… yes, there is a lot of room for interpretation, but I think that who is saying this (“It’s not personal”) just doesn’t want to hurt people’s feelings. They want to be sure that everyone understands this.
But part of being a person is to have feelings. So I think you are right about that. BUT at work, you will probably not have the option to change anyone’s mind about that. My two cents. I hope this Morning Truth Session is used for good, and not to pick on certain people who are not current favorites of whoever is in power. Because, like you said, EVERYONE can stand to improve.
nodding my head … yep
Everything is personal. They are insensitive, and could be crossing some legal boundaries if they are not careful. I am a Dale Carnegie graduate, and this type of this goes against every one of the 10 principles.
If there is an HR dept, you could speak to you could, but as for me, it might be better for you to move on… My bosses favorite word these days is “unacceptable”, which is what I would use to describe his behavior and language. Since he is not going anywhere, it is time for me to … and that is what I am doing!
Thanks Grandfather for the advice 🙂