What is most desirable in a co-worker?
Not loyalty.
There is a recent poll on LinkedIn collecting opinions on what qualities people want to see in their colleagues. The interesting part is not what people do want, but rather in what got zero votes so far: loyalty.
- Jane Prusakova's blog
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I am a participant in that
I am a participant in that poll. Pretty low numbers, so far, in responses. Not statistically significant but it is interesting.
Loyalty -- probably assumed as "loyalty to the company" by poll participants -- is apparently not very desirable as a trait in co-workers. That might poll differently among managers and executives when asked about their direct reports ;~)
Excessive "loyalty" in a co-worker may be interpreted as "anything I say inadvertently or otherwise that could be construed in a negative way is going straight to my manager."
If participants assumed, on the other hand, that loyalty means "loyalty to your co-workers," then the results may be telling us that personal loyalty is insignificant in our working relationships compared with intelligence, humor, and being on time.
Analyzing poll results -- especially when categories for answers are open to broad interpretation -- is more of a parlor game than a fact finding mission ;~)
Just thinking out loud...
William W. (Woody) Williams
Senior Project Manager
Software Development, PMO, IT Governance
My door64 Blog
enweave
Loyalty is what people think
Loyalty is what people think it is. If participants assume that loyalty means "anything I say inadvertently or otherwise that could be construed in a negative way is going straight to my manager." - than that's what loyalty is in the eyes of working professionals..
If the question is addressed to managers and asks about direct reports - that is a more formal poll, and the answers will likely end up more political and strategical (and more buzz-wordy). And less honest.
Jane Prusakova
Software Architect & Developer
My blog
As an experiment, I created
As an experiment, I created a poll with the same options addressed to managers, asking about their direct reports. Lets see if this is indeed a parlor game.
Jane Prusakova
Software Architect & Developer
My blog
Awesome: Let the games
Awesome: Let the games begin!
William W. (Woody) Williams
Senior Project Manager
Software Development, PMO, IT Governance
My door64 Blog
enweave
Actually that seems pretty
Actually that seems pretty reasonable. I don't need my fellow employees to be loyal as much as those other things. If they are honest and intelligent then I have to respect that they will do the right thing even if they need to go elsewhere in order to make their careers succeed. I might not have felt that way 10 or 15 years ago, but after weathering the .com crash and other storms along the way I don't feel like I should be offended if my co-workers are more loyal to their own careers or their families or whatever than they are to my employer or myself.