Misplaced energy ….that’s what I would call what I would like to discuss today.

As professionals, we may at times become so engrossed in the pursuit of particular objectives that logic, respect, and other behaviors essential to preserving integrity escape us. In such circumstances, our language may shift from the professional standard to something unrecognizable within the workplace.

Personally, I have experienced instances where things like rank and file as well as comradeship have been momentarily forgotten in the haste of “sorting out” something.

Those who I have had the privilege to lead may have heard my “kitchen theory” which I will endeavour to expound here!

I love being around what I call “my kitchen” because I spend the most time in it, and I am almost compulsive obsessive about where I would like things positioned and what works for me. When my kitchen was being renovated, I was so particular about heights and convenience and almost drove my husband crazy with the specifications!

While I can obsess and want what I want in my kitchen, I realise that at work, it is a different ball game. First of all, I do not have the necessary span of control and secondly, it is not about me but the organization’s best interest. It’s not about what I want but what the organization needs in its best interests. It is about considering other stakeholders and professional views. It’s about respect for structures and packaging of communications among the different stakeholders.

Actors who resort to “my kitchen, my rules” way of doing things in a corporate usually fall from grace with a thump! It’s just the wrong place for such conduct.

I propose continuous reminder to self as to where we are situated. Kitchen or corporate?