Who are you top 5 minions?

Since the Beaker project went live, we have been fortunate enough to get a lot of supports from a team of minions. It is both tremendous amount of work and incredibly rewarding to lead a team. Among the minions, there are fresh grads out of high school, college and mid-life crisis. Definitely a diverse bunch with different experiences and skill sets. As such, each of them has their strengths and weaknesses. The young kids are quick learners, but tend to possess poor attitudes. The older folks are thorough investigators, but tend to over-report with unnecessary details.

One day, someone on the core team posed the question: “who are your top 5 minions?”

I thought about it briefly, and a few names came up. My top choices aren’t necessarily the best technical chops in the bunch; but they possess a balance of open-mindedness to help and the ability to get things done. As part of the support crew, the most important measure of performance is the ability to resolve issues in a timely manner in order to ensure patient care isn’t disrupted. On the other hand, as operations stabilize, there isn’t necessarily fire everywhere. With down time on hand, those who show the willingness to get their hands dirty with unglamorous grunt work usually shine through the crowd. For example, there is a 19 year-old who is a fast learner, but is unreceptive to others’ coaching as he thought he knew how to do it all. One time, the team found him complaining to the client about the lack of work. If he reached out with a positive attitude, there would have been other works that could use his help. With that ego and poor attitude, he quickly started carrying a target on his back. A few leads started to perceive him as a poor performer and escalated to his manager several times.

In workplaces, perception perhaps only reflects a part of you, but it is everything to other people who work with you. Every subtle interaction marks your impression in other people’s minds. These little marks accumulate over the years help build relationships, and ultimately will become what you use to springboard your career to the next big level. Tuck in that ego, and think twice before you act.