Slacker Manager

5 things to say at your last team meeting

by Phil Gerbyshak on September 24th, 2007

I watched a clip from a 47 year old professor giving his last lecture, as he is dying from pancreatic cancer. I thought to myself “What would I do if I only had 1 more team meeting to hold?” because I was leaving my company for another opportunity, preferably for an opportunity of my choosing, as a motivational speaker.

You can watch the video below:

Or you can click here to view the source where I found the clip.So what would I, Phil Gerbyshak, tell my team? I’d share 5 tidbits of knowledge with them, that are my core values and things I do my best to live my life by.

1) Play inside your strengths zone, and keep making those strengths stronger. I’ve been working almost 20 years, and I find I get the most joy when I’m in my strengths zone working with people. When I’m sitting quietly alone, or asked to work out something statistical, I can do it, but I don’t enjoy it, and it makes for a VERY long day. So get inside those strengths zone, and hone them to a fine point so everyone knows where you’re great, and make sure they utilize your talents in these key areas.

2) If you’re not enjoying what you’re doing most of the time, quit and find a new job! Life is too darn short to do what you hate for too much time. If you’re completely miserable, and you have been for some time, quit and find something new to do, before you waste too much of your life.

3) Be loyal to people, not to companies. As an employee, you have the power to choose who you want to work with, and who you want to work for. Make sure the person you will directly report to is someone who will care about your well being, and not just her/his best interests. Also, try to find a job where you can work with others who share your values, whatever those are. Don’t worry so much about the name of the company you’re working for, because companies come and go. Working for a great person will change your life, because they’ll help you improve, they’ll help you find new opportunities, and they’ll look out for you long after you part ways and move onto a new job.

4) Never stop learning. If there’s an opportunity to take a class or hear a speaker, even if it’s seemingly unrelated to your job, do it! If you are open to learning new things, you can twist and turn into new roles as your interests change because you’ve shown you’re willing to try new things.

5) Leave work at work whenever you can. The old axiom about “nobody will ever say on their death bed that they’d like to work another hour” is true. Unless your job requires you to be connected 24/7/365, don’t be. Shut off the BlackBerry, disconnect for a while, and enjoy your time with your family and friends, because they’ll be around long after your job is…if you invested time in them up front.

What about you? What would you tell your team if you were out the door? What about your kids? Your spouse? Don’t wait until it’s too late; say it today!

My manager knows where I stand on all these issues, and it’s why I stay working where I do. I love my manager, and my manager’s manager. They care about me, and even after I leave, I expect we’ll still be friends. Don’t worry, I’m not leaving yet :) They’ll be the first to know, and you’ll be there with me.

Thanks to Brad Isaac for recommending we think about this important topic.

[Phil Gerbyshak is an IT manager who wants to leave the world a better place than it was when he came in.]

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POSTED IN: change, communication, looking inward, work life