When you’re a High Performer, productivity is not just about ticking things off your “To Do” lists; it’s about focusing on your higher purpose and whether or not you are living your mission – and encouraging, inspiring, and leading those around you to be a part of its accomplishment.
Is your workday all about getting stuff done? Getting stuff done is good, and necessary. But we must never lose sight of the importance of asking ourselves if each action we take is serving our greater purpose and if it is the best thing for those we care about as well as ourselves, both at home and at work. Is your day spent moving yourself forward on what really matters?
Our teachers in hospice, those people whose lives are measured in months not years, understand what productivity looks like for them: deepening relationships with loved ones, asking for and granting forgiveness, creating memories that will last longer than they will.
Real productivity requires taking a longer view of your responsibilities than just checking those boxes; it calls for standing back and seeing the bigger picture of how your organization works, and what greases the wheels or slows it down. It means learning to delegate properly; it means helping those around you to be more focused on their goals and accomplishing them; it requires that you look over your shoulder at the upcoming generation of leadership, and help them to understand that there’s so more to the job than simply ticking the boxes.
After all, we’re not producing widgets; we’re helping dying people have a better, more positive and life-affirming end to their days. And while our jobs may also require us to keep track of visits, schedules, regulations and budgets, we must never lose sight of that primary and ever-urgent mission: caring for the dying and their loved ones.
