my only motivation to be there is to earn money and my 401k. So many of my coworkers and management feel offended by this statement.
I’m union. Union lawyer thinks this is a management strategy to try to manipulate me.
Cue BS answer for any c-suite that tries making me feel insecure over this:
well, I’m a terrible liar, that’s why I’m asking you :D
the unfriendly party might be easy: I’m always friendly and direct because I want to work. maybe that?
Of course lol obviously I want a team member that works hard and is motivated, and ultimately polite and easy to work with. But also, people can change. Things happen in their lives that change their motivations and needs.
If they just want money, that’s fine, but I’ve seen and experienced how pushing someone who is working decently (or great, even) can cause their performance to tank if they didn’t want to be pushed in first place.
Managing large teams is less about managing their work and more about managing the people so that they can work more effectively.
Well done for realizing that within three years. It’s true for smaller teams as well, but with a smaller team, it’s possible to get away with managing their work, it just won’t be nearly as effective.
Everything you’ve said here is pretty much the opposite of your initial “minimum job requirements” comment.