- Wall Street (subway stop, not the film)
Remember Gordon Gekko’s “greed is good” speech in the film Wall Street? Michael Douglas played Gekko, whose credo got etched inside us in the late 80s when the film about corporate excess was released. We were reminded of it recently at a lecture on raising compassionate kids, during which the presenter used video of Gekko’s outburst as context for the world we live in. The most memorable segment went like this:
The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed — for lack of a better word — is good.
Greed is right.
Greed works.
Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.
Greed, in all of its forms — greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge — has marked the upward surge of mankind.
And greed — you mark my words — will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA. Thank you very much.
Cute that so much money surrounded a paper company, no? Gekko’s thesis — greed is good — was outrageous, mostly because greed has negative connotations. If we accept his digression “for lack of a better word,” we see he’s really talking about desire. And desire is good — desire for life, for money, for love, knowledge, all of it.
Especially in the workplace. The problem is, at work, as in life, we often fear our desires. What if we want so much, a.k.a. what if we get greedy? And what if we don’t get what we wish? It can seem easier to avoid the disappointment of not getting what we want, even if it comes at great cost.
We are better people, and better professionals, when we are grounded in what we want. And simultaneously don’t dismiss our thinking ability. Meaning, we know what we want and can think critically about those desires.
What kind of workplace desires are we talking about? Introducing the “D-List at Work,” the most common desires we silence in ourselves on the job:
- Be in the inner circle
- Love colleagues more / love more colleagues
- Gain more access
- Do good
- Earn more money
- Be the boss
- Have more energy to work
- Reveal our true nature
- Learn more
- Be seen as an expert
- Create something
- Feel less angry
- Become more visible
- Love work more
- Be accepted for who we are
- Feel fueled by work
- Know more
- Make something
- better
- faster
- smoother
- less costly
- more workable
- more fun.
By the end of the list it becomes clear how organizations would benefit from your pursuit of what you want. So what’s stopping you? How do you get on the “D-List at Work?” Start by naming your desire(s), without wondering yet what it will require to take action on these feelings. The task is simply to generate awareness in yourself of what you want, period.
Coming up (although not quite) next: How to Leverage Your D-List for More Fulfillment on the Job
What do you want at work? Let’s expand the D-List, in the comments below.
Photo of Wall Street via
