Your best?

Tuesday, June 4

“Everyone is trying their best.”

It’s a popular phrase you see online and hear on teams. It’s well-intended, implying that people are trying their best, so give them some grace. Certainly nothing wrong with that.

But I had a discussion with someone recently who argued that no, people are not giving their best. They weren’t trying to be a jerk, just honest. When Gallup studies suggest that 59% of employees are Quiet Quitting, is that people giving their best? Another recent study suggested 38% of Millennials are Quiet Vacationing (taking time off without telling their bosses). Is that people giving their best? When people do what’s best for them instead of the team, when they dismiss feedback, when they don’t collaborate well, when they gossip. Is that giving their best?

I’m not here to argue about toxic workplaces or feeling overworked or whatever (I’m also not dismissing them).

Because at the end of the day the question still remains: are you giving your best? Be honest with yourself. Don’t get insecure and start blaming people or situations, even in your own mind. Just be real.

If not, what does your best look like? Your best mindset, your best communication, your best leadership, your best effort, your best focus, your best collaboration. As a side note: if you aren’t giving your best, you absolutely cannot hold others to the expectation of “best.”

What would change for you if you actually gave your best?

What if today, no matter what excuses you can find to show up with average effort, you decided to give your best?
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Keep chopping wood. 🪵🪓

-Kevin