Positive Psychology at Work:

3

Positive Engagement and Performance

As a naïve 16 year old I got a temporary Saturday job in Boots the Chemist in our local town. One of the regular full-time employees was a woman called Dot. She was old enough to have grandchildren and had worked on her feet in retail most of her life. Dot was a confirmed smoker. Dot was also tired. Dot didn't believe in unnecessary energy expenditure.

Dot could get me to do anything for her, for example, running to find things in the stockroom; stacking the low shelves so she didn't have to bend down; covering for her while she spent 10 minutes having a cigarette in the toilets. I didn't mind at all; in fact, I was only too pleased to do these things for her. Why? Because she knew how to make me feel good about myself. Because she allowed me to feel helpful. Because she enabled me to feel competent and strong. Because she was appreciative of these small things I did for her and it was obvious the appreciation was genuine: I could see it in her face. Because, although she could order me to do things, she never did. She always asked, ‘If you've got a moment and don't mind, could you possibly ...?’, to which I would invariably reply with a willing ‘Of course’. Because she said ‘Thank you’, as if I had done her a favour when I had only done what the job demanded. Dot was an excellent supervisor who knew exactly how to get the best out of me.

A life in retail was not for me. A few months later I happily gave it up to revise for exams. Yet in my ...