Say More About That

13A Short Lesson on Boundaries and Staying Focused on the Goal

Don't take the ball when it isn't yours. In other words, if something is not yours to resolve or address, no matter what happens, do not take ownership of it. Take it as a lesson from me; there are people in this world who operate well within their boundaries. Lots of them are not burned out, they do not feel guilty, and they are not carrying unreasonable workloads. Furthermore, they are thriving, getting treated well, and seeing performance appraisals with high ratings.

Don't take on responsibilities that do not belong to you. Even if you can do it easily. Even if you can do it better than the person whose job it is, don't take it on. Even if you are interested in the work, unless you want the work to be your unpaid job, do not take it on. Here's the thing: when you take on things that are not your role and you do them well, they become your role, whether you mean for them to be or not. Sure, occasionally you may take on something as a stretch assignment to help you get promoted – that's fine, as long as you are in communication with your leaders about why you are taking it on and what the expectations are. But in just about every other case, don't take things on or you will find that whoever's job it really is will be the one collecting the paycheck and you will be the one doing the work. This even goes for asking for support from customer service people or solving a workplace issue that is impacting you and the ...