I feel that I’ve been a little bit too “rant-y” lately so I figured that this week I should give you guys a little bit more than just the inner workings of my brain (you can only handle so much, right?) and instead offer up a little nugget of advice that I want to share in order to help you get ahead.
However, no good story is complete without a little bit of ranting, but bear in mind I’m telling you this as context. Trust me.
Anyway, so here’s the deal. I’ve been working as the editor of my school’s newspaper for the past year and I’ve discovered that it is far more difficult than I could have ever expected. I mean of course I knew that it was going to be a lot of hard work running meetings, writing articles, providing training and finishing layout but there are so many other elements that I didn’t even think about. Namely, the management of my staff.
I’ve been lucky to have some great people on my team. One of my editors in particular has totally taken charge when I’m unable to perform my duties or when we have a crisis (and there have been many) with the printer or filling up space or uploading the issue. She’ll stay late with me on the weekend to make sure that we have a successful issue and even finds time to proactively come up with ways to improve our paper. And you know what? Her hard work and dedication is exactly why she’s my top choice to become editor-in-chief once I graduate. And I’ll fight for her to earn that position because she’s done so much to prove to me that not only can she get her stuff done, but she’ll go above and beyond to pick up on the slack on those who don’t.
Which leads me to my next point. For every few good people that I have on my team, there’s that one who makes me want to pull my hair out. Case in point: the Notorious Article Taker. NAT, as I’ll call her, likes to use each of our meetings as her personal forum to vent about all the things she has a problem with rather than actively participating in our discussion and, reluctantly, takes several articles in between her various rants. The problem? When it comes time to layout all the articles, hers seem to be mysteriously absent. Not only that, but any attempts at contact via email, Facebook or cornered requests in the dining hall results in either nothing or an “I’ll send it later.” (She never sends it in later). Which gives me a huge headache because now I’m faced with gaping holes in my layout with only me and my trusty sidekick to get us through it. So while my editor is going to get a glowing recommendation and a really prominent leadership spot as just a junior, NAT is going to get an angry email from me on a weekly basis and absolutely no chance of moving up leadership-wise in our group.
I think you understand where I’m going here. While it’s easy for people to tell you that “being a hard worker will pay off in the end” I want you to know how exactly that rings true. The people around you, whether it be at school, at a job or in a club, are paying attention to the kind of work ethic you have and it can absolutely determine how successful you are able to be. It may seem like common sense, completing the things you need to get done, but it really does make a difference.
When people are counting on you, no slacking allowed.
Until next time,
Laura
