Yesterday, I covered an early morning expert call. The doctor wanted to discuss the case no later than 7:30, probably before he started seeing patients. That was a reasonable request on his part.
My young colleague was supposed to handle this. He had done everything else with this physician. However, he has a small child and his wife works outside the home. Mornings are kind of chaotic. (It was a long time ago, but I can remember those days.) He asked if I could talk with the expert.
Of course, I was happy to do so.
I suppose you might be reading this and thinking “so what.”
Here is my point: Most of us have lives which are to some degree messy and complicated. Children would be Exhibit A, but there are many other examples. We all need help now and then. Don’t hesitate to ask for it.
This seems obvious, but most of us are wary of requesting assistance. We might be particularly wary of asking our boss to step in. You’re fearful that doing so might make you look weak or that you’re admitting you can’t do your job.
Nonsense.
The mission of our firm is to provide the best service to our clients. We have to work together to do that. That means we try to take care of each other. It’s how we get done what needs to be done.
My colleague clearly understands this. Kudos to him.
If you are working at a firm where you are hesitant to ask for help and/or doing so is discouraged, maybe you should think about working elsewhere.