Net Worth of Character

by Dr. Franklin Santagate

We are limited by three things in life:
1- The knowledge, understanding, wisdom and skill we possess in our minds.
2- The principles upon which we build our lives and make our decisions.
3- The net worth of our character, which is what we do and say, which is rooted on our integrity, which is who we are.

To determine our net worth, we must build the asset character traits and eliminate the liability character traits.
On a regular basis, I will begin posting a short overview of asset and liability character traits for your review. Email me and let me know what you think.

Alertness versus Carelessness

Alertness: A Job WELL Done

Alertness is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as:
1- the quality of being alert; paying close and continuous attention
2- being watchful and prompt to quickness in observing and acting;
3- briskness, activity, nimbleness.

The word is formed from “alert”, which comes from the Italian “all’erta” (on the watch, on the height; 1618)

While at work, it is easy to simply go through the motions, particularly if the job entails menial repetition. However, the quality of that work will not be as valuable to an employer as the work done by an alert employee.

You are not a machine, machines cannot reason, solve problems, or create without human imagination. Being alert at work means that your focus is on the task at hand, and the majority of your mental capacity is focused on the completion of your to-do list.

What is the difference between the work of an alert employee and the average employee?
The difference is the end result.

The alert employee can:
1- evaluate the work process, seeking better ways of doing things.
2- can effectively communicate what needs to be done to others.
3- hear instructions, understand and follows through effectively

Is it possible to be productive and delivering what your supervisor requests if you are not alert enough to read an email thoroughly? What about calling someone if you have questions, and asking good questions? These are all things that require extra effort on the part of the employee, but will be sure to make you an invaluable coworker.

In essence, the alert employee gets things done, and can help others to do them better.
This person is obviously an asset to any company.

Carelessness: A Job Poorly Done

In an age where precision is expected from nearly everything, whether it is the new Blackberry that your company bought or smart weapons deployed in war zones, there are people still stuck in the rut of mediocrity.

In fact, you probably work with them. It is easy to picture carelessness at work. Perhaps a coworker prints a 700 page report and fails to refill the printer with paper? Maybe you can think back to an email to a client that had a major spelling error?

Professionalism and alertness are obvious antonyms to carelessness.

Specifically, the detriments to being careless at work include the following:
1- Taking sufficient care; negligent; a careless security guard
2- Lack of forethought or thoroughness; a careless mistake
3- Lack of consideration; a careless or thoughtless remark
4- Indifferent or heedless; careless of the consequences

Carelessness leads to accidents, theft, and sloppiness because there is not an adequate attention to detail given to the assignments. (28% of Americans are careless with reciepts.” Paymentech Study 2002)

In addition, products may be presented haphazardly making clients less likely to commit to purchasing something that appears to be supported by a company that employs mediocre workers.

Carelessness leads to distrust amongst co-workers. The fact that someone may not be trusted to follow through/do something right the first time will certainly affect the way you are perceived, especially by supervisors.

Carelessness will limit your success in the workplace. It will damage your character. Employers will not promote someone whom they cannot trust to strive for precision in their assignments, knowing that they will have to have someone edit/redo whatever was assigned. This is how carelessness leads to inefficiency. Having to rework projects a second or third time will decrease the value of the final result because of the resources wasted on sloppy or incomplete work.