
Do you ever think about your job in terms of your competition? Probably not. If you do, you may think only in terms of other employees within your organization, but I'm not talking about only them. I also mean, the people outside of those walls who want your job. People outside of your job who want to show your managers how inferior you are. They exist. Especially in today's world where there are a lot of people looking for work. There are people who think they could do your job better than you and chances are, they may be right. You are not the best person for your job.
Why? Because you have become complacent. You don't have anything new to bring to the table. You have gotten into a routine that you are comfortable with. This person will come in and shake things up. They will use their fresh eyes to see things in a new way...see things that you overlook. Those things will drastically improve the job, the processes, and make many people happy.
You don't think that way. How do I know? Because I speak with your competition. I interview them, I read their resumes, and I can see their hunger. And as they interview, some of them will be hired. Some of them will work side by side with you. Eventually, they will make themselves known. They will pull ahead of you, and you will wonder why. They will eat your food before you even make it to the table.
If you like sports, think about the person on the depth chart right behind you. They are working hard to take your spot. If you don't tighten up your game, they will find out what you lack, and exploit it. Before long, you and your contributions will be long and forgotten.
My HR Guy Perspective
So as you rise to go to work tomorrow, and the next day, and so on, think about your competition. Think about how you can be better than them. How you can be better than them today, and tomorrow. You can certainly partner with them. You don't have to fight them in a head to head battle. But you do have to do things to make yourself better. You have to do things to make your team better. Just showing up does not cut it. Just doing the status quo, will not put you in a position to compete. Without competition, we don't get better. We don't push ourselves. And when working for the same place, day in and day out, we sometimes forget that there is real competition out there. Beyond our walls, waiting to eat our food.