Workplace Dilemma: Whom Should I turn to?

The workplace is a mixture of people from different backgrounds and mentalities; People who have the right to express themselves as their heads dictate to them (so long as they do not infringe on the workplace rules and ethics!).

The workplace, therefore, is a place where you’ll find people of different perceptions, levels of understanding and thinking coming together to make the workplace environment.

There are some people at the workplace who can stand on their own as far as making choices is concerned; there are others who have to depend on others to make choices for them. By making choices I mean deciding what to do and executing it. Those who depend on others to do the thinking for them most of the time do so unconsciously and unaware that what they’ve ‘decided’ to do is really another person’s bidding and choice for them.

Some matters that can and do warrant varied choices are such as:
• what kind of bank account one has to open (and what bank it should be),
• what kind of car (and colour) one has to acquire,
• what to do (and say) in different situations,
• what insurance cover to take for oneself and family,
• what kind of relationship to keep with people at the workplace,
• what attitude to have towards the administration (and what to make of the boss’ words and promises) and
• what courses to take to better one’s career prospects.

People who cannot make decisions on their own especially on the matters such as the ones listed above, usually depend on their counterparts at the workplace to do the deciding for them. And some ‘mentors’ approached, in a bid to be malicious, help their colleagues to make choices that will do them more harm than good.

My take: We should choose mentors carefully and should only resort to advice from second and third persons when we have depleted our own resources. We should learn to think on our feet: clearly, distinctly and precisely.