When thinking about working efficiently, the two characteristic that are going to be discussed in this article are discipline and willingness to listen:
1. Discipline allows people to live with rules. These rules will help employees to live efficiently and effectively. When there are no rules then there is chaos, each doing whatever they want. There is no accountability for the work that is done if there are no rules.
2. Disciplines will require sacrifices. Sometimes small and sometimes large, they are nonetheless required. This is needed for the present functioning so that it can affect the future results of the sacrifice that is done now.
3. Discipline creates habits. Habits are aspects you work on to make it happen more regular in your schedule. Habits will in turn make routines. Routines are what will help you to develop this as a daily part of your life. This will automatically determine who you will become eventually.
4. Discipline needs to be worked on, if not worked on it becomes weak and of no use. But if it can be looked as a muscle that needs to be trained, that to has to be trained regularly. This is like all muscles; the more it is worked on, the stronger it becomes.
Consider a sport, when a disciplined team enters the arena, they will be together. They will be able to see the big picture and not react at the failures at hand. Each one will be accountable to the other. This discipline has to be developed over many years. Consistent and organized practice will help in making it a natural process.
Let’s look at a poem that will help us with the importance of Habit:
I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am completely at your command.
Half of the things you do you might as well turn over to me and I will do them - quickly and correctly.
I am easily managed - you must be firm with me.
Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons, I will do it automatically.
I am the servant of great people, and alas, of all failures as well.
Those who are great, I have made great.
Those who are failures, I have made failures.
I am not a machine though I work with the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of a person.
You may run me for profit or run me for ruin - it makes no difference to me.
Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet.
Be easy with me and I will destroy you.
Who am I?
I am Habit.
Let’s look at the second characteristic - When you talk about listening, there are two types of listening. There is active and passive listening. Active listening means listening and hearing what others have to say. Intently listening to what the speaker is saying is important as it helps to understand what is being said. When in doubt, it is important to ask for the thought or idea to be repeated. Passive listening is pretending to listen when the information that is spoken to is not listened to intently.
Barriers to listening actively:
1. When the listener has something on their mind, then it is difficult to keep that aside and listen intently to what the speaker is speaking.
2. When the environment is not conducive then that can also affect the listening process.
3. If there is some issue with the person who is speaking then the issue will be more prominent than what the speaker is speaking.
4. If there is pending work to be done then listening can be difficult.
Discipline and willingness to listen plays an integral part of working efficiently.
Catch the rest of the characteristics in the next article: Click here.
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