Have you ever been at work doing your job and you see one or more of co-workers doing stuff, but they aren’t working? It’s like they are giving the illusion of the working, moving around, but nothing is really happening. That is something that gets on my nerves. A Lot! I just don’t know how to do it.

I mean, it is absolutely frustrating. You see, I am a pharmacy tech and I work really hard! I have gone in early to get a head start for the team and stayed late to make sure everything gets done. I don’t like leaving anything that I am supposed to do for someone else to do. Although everyone doesn’t feel that way. Some people don’t care how they leave the day and what kind of condition they leave the team in. They will drag their feet until time for them to clock out. And that really drives me nuts! I will work until the time to go and past it, most of the time.

I am just the kind of worker that believes in making sure that there is a plan to execute to complete the tasks. And it’s really troubling when leaders don’t have a plan. We work in a retail pharmacy, and we have a high volume of patients. We don’t have a large number of techs and we don’t have a moment to waste. We don’t have time to play around and not be productive. In addition, we don’t have a set schedule. Most pharmacies have set schedules. Like some techs only work in the morning, while others travel. Then, there are those that will work the 7 on-7 off shifts. For those of you unfamiliar with that schedule, it means working 7 days straight and then you will be off 7days. But our store doesn’t work that way.

There are too many people that want to be in charge and lead, but don’t really understand what real leadership is. A lot of people think being a leader means being bossy, loud and telling people what to do. But what a lot of people don’t get is that the art of delegation is about knowing your team. What is this person’s strength? What are the weaknesses? Which particular thing are they really good at? If I give this person, this task, will they be able to handle it? You can’t get the most out of your team if you don’t know who works best where? If you don’t know how best to delegate, you are going to have a rough day.

And of course, there are going to be people that will call out of work. Now, you have to pivot and figure how to re-construct the day in order to get the work done. Because as everyone knows, the workload will not decrease because there are fewer people working. So, when I see my leaders seeing the day sink like the t Titanic and they don’t have a plan, it makes me sick! I just don’t understand what they are waiting on. I mean, yes, each day is a different day. But the tasks are same. We know what we have to do. And when people are just picking up things and doing random crap that isn’t helpful, that is ‘busy’ without being productive.

Some people can do the bare minimum thing. But it is not me. I need my team to work just as hard. We will do things differently and at different paces. But as long as we are moving together, tasks will be completed. There is a reason why the phrase, “There’s no I in team”, is such a relevant phrase. If it is built as a team sport, then it is going to take everyone on the tram, to make it work. Well, that could just be my answer. Maybe I just need to focus on building my own dreams more, instead of trying to fix a status quo that has been established.

Because I can’t change the people. But I can change my environment.