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What can I do to be the best me?

Posted by Julie Barber on January 2, 2018

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Goodwill Focus on the Five It is that time of year again. A time to reflect on the outgoing year and look forward to the new. What are the things I want to remember? What would I rather forget? And what can I do to improve on this new year? What can I do to be the best me I can be? This reminds me of the “Be the Best You” program which helped participants work to build skills to better serve them in community based employment. Which lead to the “Focus on the Five” to add direction. And although this was started to help participants, on every tour I have given at Goodwill since the posters went up someone has commented how accurate the five are and they wish they could teach their employees these lessons. These are important lessons for everyone regardless of the work you do.

I have decided to focus again on the five and how I see them.

  1. SHOW UP EVERY DAY–people are counting on you. If you do your job better than anyone else and aren’t there to do it, it doesn’t matter. Supervisors need people they can depend on regardless of the task. Choose to be one of these people.
  2. BE ON TIME–people are counting on you. This makes sense if you are working on a production line. If you are late, the supervisor either needs to fill your position, or make others wait. But don’t forget it is equally important for meeting, phone calls and presentations. Fashionably late is not a term that should be used at work.
  3. WORK HARD–people are counting on you. Some days it’s easier than others, but it is important every day. Working hard may mean physically hard, but it also means giving your all to whatever you are doing. Maybe that’s why I like the sayings, “a job worth doing is worth doing well,” and “whatever you choose to be, be your best at it.”
  4. BE A TEAM PLAYER–people are counting on you. I love the stickers on big boxes at the store saying, “Team Lift” that show two people lifting together. Not only is it safer, but it reminds me that together we are stronger and better than we can be on our own. Goodwill’s guiding principle “Power of the Whole” pretty much says it all.
  5. BE POLITE AND PROFESSIONAL– people are watching you. What are you teaching the people you work with? What message are you sending visitors about Goodwill? I have read being ethical is doing the right thing when no one is watching. For me this means always using good manners and treating everyone with respect, regardless of the position they hold.

I hope you have found this interesting and you take a few minutes to focus on the five and see how you can use them in your daily work life.

Written by Julie Barber

Although Julie currently works as a Senior Account Manager in our manufacturing division, she began her career with Goodwill as a supervisor of the day program in Cudahy and she has a degree in Educational Studies with an Emphasis on Counseling from UWM. She spent 12 years working in a variety of different Human Services positions and locations, eventually coming to James O. Wright Center for Work and Training to work in production and become a Cell Manager. From there she decided to try her hand outside of Goodwill and did so for the next three years and learned a lot. Realizing Goodwill was still a great place to work she returned in 2010 and she has worked in Racine doing customer service and inventory management and now in her current position. She likes to tell people that Goodwill recycles and she am just a good example of how well that works.
Find me on:

WISCONSIN
Mission Support Center
Tel: (414) 847-4200

James O. Wright Center forWork & Training
Tel: (414) 353-6400

ILLINOIS
Metropolitan Chicago -
Administration
Tel: (312) 994-1440