[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Time for strong performance with the new Galaxy Watch Ultra.
[00:00:04] [SPEAKER_01]: No matter if you are a sportsman, a training junkie, a freestyle athlete or a real sportsman.
[00:00:11] [SPEAKER_01]: And no matter if you are a jogger, a trail marathon runner,
[00:00:15] [SPEAKER_01]: who wants to dance through the night or go on tour de France.
[00:00:19] [SPEAKER_02]: Get the best out of here with the new Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra with Galaxy AI. Let's go!
[00:00:30] [SPEAKER_00]: It's Not the Bottom, its the Foundation by Seth Godin of Seths.plog.
[00:00:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm your narrator Dan and we're going to jump right into our post for this Wednesday
[00:00:38] [SPEAKER_00]: as we optimize your life. It's Not the Bottom, its the Foundation by Seth Godin of Seths.plog.
[00:00:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Organizations are built on the work of people who don't get paid very much, don't receive
[00:00:54] [SPEAKER_00]: sufficient respect, and are understandably wary of the promises they've been hearing
[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_00]: for years. Calling these folks the bottom of the org chart doesn't help. Imagine that
[00:01:03] [SPEAKER_00]: throughout your career you were paid as little as legally possible, the last to be hired and
[00:01:07] [SPEAKER_00]: the first to be laid off. Imagine that the boss gets more vacation days, doesn't have
[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_00]: to clock in and out, and is actually given control over how he spends his time. Why
[00:01:17] [SPEAKER_00]: is it surprising to bosses then that some workers respond to this arrangement by doing
[00:01:21] [SPEAKER_00]: as little work as possible? Here's the thing, people actually want
[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_00]: to do a good job. They want to be proud of their work. They appreciate being
[00:01:29] [SPEAKER_00]: engaged. They thrive when they have some measure of control over their day. Too often, though,
[00:01:34] [SPEAKER_00]: the optimistic leader meets the pessimistic front line and distrust undermines all the
[00:01:38] [SPEAKER_00]: good intent. The boss loses patience and reverts to the test and measure trust no
[00:01:43] [SPEAKER_00]: one scientific management tradition of dehumanizing the very humans who make the whole project
[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_00]: work. And so back to being mediocre. Back to high turnover, low trust, no care. Back
[00:01:55] [SPEAKER_00]: to workers who don't believe and bosses who are now cynics. Mostly back to an ordinary
[00:02:00] [SPEAKER_00]: organization that's like so many others. There is an alternative, but it's a process,
[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_00]: not an event. Step one, a commitment from the top that this place is going to be different.
[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_00]: The commitment is open-ended. It involves leading and showing up and keeping promises
[00:02:16] [SPEAKER_00]: for months and years into the future. It's non-cynical and it views leadership
[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_00]: as an opportunity, the possibility of serving customers at the very same time you inspire
[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_00]: and enable employees. This is going to take a long time and it's not going to be the cheapest path.
[00:02:31] [SPEAKER_00]: It turns out, though, in industries where people matter, which is more and more of the work we do,
[00:02:36] [SPEAKER_00]: that this path pays for itself eventually. Step two, hire for attitude, not for learned skills.
[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_00]: You can teach someone to do just about anything. It's far more difficult to build
[00:02:48] [SPEAKER_00]: an instinct to care. When you hire trustworthy people who are willing to trust you,
[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_00]: you have an opportunity to build trust which enables communication, which allows you to teach,
[00:02:58] [SPEAKER_00]: which upgrades everything. If you are in a hurry to assemble a group of people who can
[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_00]: do the work, you will end up with folks who merely needed a job. On the other hand,
[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_00]: if you're willing to invest in people who are enrolled in the journey you're on,
[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_00]: you will end up with a team. Corollary, fire for attitude, fix for skills. The attitudes you put
[00:03:19] [SPEAKER_00]: up with will become the attitudes of your entire organization. Over time, every organization
[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_00]: becomes what is tolerated. Step three, be clear in actions and words about what's important.
[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't do any good to hire for attitude but only reward for short-term results.
[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_00]: If you reward a cynic merely because he got something done, you've made it clear to everyone
[00:03:39] [SPEAKER_00]: else that cynicism is okay. If you overlook the person who is hiding mistakes because his
[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_00]: productivity is high, then you are rewarding obfuscation and stealth. Who gets the employee
[00:03:49] [SPEAKER_00]: of the month parking space? Who gets laid off? People are watching you. They're not listening
[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_00]: to your words as much as they're seeking to understand where the boundaries and the guard
[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_00]: rails lie because they've learned from experience that people who do what gets rewarded
[00:04:02] [SPEAKER_00]: get rewarded. Hint. If you tell people something is important but fail to give them
[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_00]: the tools and the support and the training that they need to do that important thing,
[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_00]: you've just told them that it's not actually important. Step four, be clear and consistent
[00:04:16] [SPEAKER_00]: about how we do things around here. It's going to be a long time before people
[00:04:20] [SPEAKER_00]: act like they own the place. After all, you own the place and you don't even act like you do
[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_00]: most of the time. This job is important. It feeds my family. It pays the rent. It's
[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_00]: connected to my self-esteem. I will act in the interest of my family, not your invisible
[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_00]: shareholders. And step five, your problem is not their problem. The people who build the
[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_00]: foundation of your business have plenty of things to worry about. Your narrative about
[00:04:45] [SPEAKER_00]: your day is not one of them. Over time it's reasonable to expect that an engaged and
[00:04:50] [SPEAKER_00]: respectful working environment will lead to ever more big picture thinking. But it's naive
[00:04:54] [SPEAKER_00]: and self-defeating to expect a 20 year old who's been on the job for a week to make
[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_00]: a connection between the customer who just walked in, your big wholesale account,
[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_00]: the loan that's due soon, and the espresso he just pulled. Every day you're going to be tested
[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_00]: on these five principles. Every day there's going to be a moment of urgency, a shortcut
[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_00]: presented, a confusion. And in that moment, the first principle is going to come into question.
[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_00]: But this is the foundation. It's not the bottom. This is the source for all your possibility
[00:05:23] [SPEAKER_00]: for the change you seek to make. Isn't it worth it? You just listened to the post titled
[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_00]: It's Not the Bottom, It's the Foundation by Seth Godin of Seths.blog. This show is sponsored
[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_00]: by BetterHelp. We all have non-negotiables. Maybe you never skip leg day or have to take
[00:05:44] [SPEAKER_00]: your morning walks. But when your schedule is packed with kids activities, big work projects,
[00:05:49] [SPEAKER_00]: and more, it's easy to let your priorities slip. Even when we know what makes us happy,
[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_00]: it's hard to make time for it. Therapy can help you reclaim control of your time and
[00:05:59] [SPEAKER_00]: values. And make no mistake, therapy is for everyone. Whether or not you've been through
[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_00]: significant trauma, therapy can be a great tool for setting boundaries, learning positive coping
[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_00]: skills, and ultimately becoming the best version of yourself. If you're thinking of starting therapy,
[00:06:14] [SPEAKER_00]: give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible,
[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_00]: and suited to your schedule. Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed
[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_00]: therapist and switch therapists any time for no additional charge. Never skip therapy day,
[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_00]: with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com-workdaily today to get 10% off your first month. That's
[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_00]: BetterHelp, H-E-L-P-dot-com-slash-workdaily. And thank you so much to Seth for giving us
[00:06:43] [SPEAKER_00]: permission to narrate from his blog. Seth is a really popular writer, he's got 19 best-selling
[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_00]: books, and he's also the creator of Alt MBA which is an online leadership and management
[00:06:52] [SPEAKER_00]: workshop. Now Alt MBA uses digital tools to engage with small groups of 120 students
[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_00]: in an intense four-week process. It's been going on since 2015 and has transformed the
[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_00]: lives of more than 4,500 people in more than 70 countries. And a little bit more about Seth,
[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_00]: he's been writing daily on his blog for over a decade now. More than 60,000 people have taken
[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_00]: his online courses and he has five TED talks, so his site is definitely a wealth of information
[00:07:18] [SPEAKER_00]: worth your time to check it out. You can find the blog but also books, podcasts,
[00:07:22] [SPEAKER_00]: speaking, and so much more right there on his site which again is seths.blog.
[00:07:27] [SPEAKER_00]: But that's it for today here on Optimal Work Daily. I appreciate you being here as always and
[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_00]: I'll see you once again tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.