There’s a phrase that’s becoming more and more common in today’s workplace: “Your degree and technical skills will land you a job, but your work ethic will advance you.” Work ethic is much more than simply showing up to your job and completing assignments. Our recent alums share the qualities that not only stand out to them, but are often the qualities that are pegged for promotion the soonest!
Transcript
You have to have a hard work ethic to be successful. I think if you take a look a the components, and the skillsets of all successful leaders, the hard work ethic, if it's not number one, it's certainly number two. (upbeat music) Starting on a task, and working on it until it's finished. A lot of times, in our job, because we have so many things going on, you may start something, jump to something else, and there's a lot of different things coming at you all at once, so really staying focused until that task is completed is a big one. A person that I don't have to ask, they just get it done, and I don't have to expect, because I know you're gonna do it. A person that, like, my GAs, they might say to me, I know I worked my 20 hours, but I'm gonna do this anyway, you know, that right there show me that they have a very good work ethic, they wanna get stuff done, and they're not doing it for themselves, they're doing it for the students. I think strong work ethic is someone who's had to battle adversity at some point and anytime we're in an interview setting that's usually something I try to touch on cuz it's, it's very easy to ask someone, are you a hard worker, and they can just say, yeah, of course I am, but you need to understand some battles they've been through, and how they respond. You can have a much talent in the world, but if you don't utilize that talent, and exercise, and implement that talent, through hard work and dedication, it's really gonna go to waste. Work ethic to me is really closely related to integrity, so if someone says they're gonna complete a task, and they always complete the task by the deadline, no matter if they're working at home, or working in the office, or working while they're on vacation, or whatever they need to do, they always complete the task by the deadline that to me is a strong work ethic. Oh man, gotta roll up your sleeves. I think it's very valuable to have a strong work ethic, you know, what's your why, why are you doing what you're doing, what's fueling your passion, what's getting you up in the morning, get what you do to accomplish, what you're trying to do. I think working hard is really essential, and that doesn't mean necessarily working 80 hours a week because that is unsustainable, so working hard is when you get there in the morning, are you to the task, and are you really focused on getting through as much as you can get today, or are you just punching the clock working from eight to five, right, and so, not only am I working hard, but I'm working smarter, and those are the folks that generally get the extra look for promotion, those are the folks I want leading my teams, they're the ones that are both working hard, and working smart.
Download transcript