I recently had a parent teacher conference.  My eight year old daughter is doing well.  She improved from the first conference this year.  What struck me is a discussion we had with the teacher about behavior.  The list of behaviors of behaviors evaluated are:

• takes pride in work,
• works independently
• does neat work
• positive attitude
• uses class time effectively
• completes work on time
• good listener
• shows respect
• talks at appropriate times
• works cooperatively
• follows directions
• participates actively in class,

These behaviors are more important than the performance data for reading, writing, math and social studies.  The comment was made, “If the behaviors are there then the rest follows.”  Juxtaposing the conference with recent activities at work, the same holds true for us as adults.

When we focus on behaving well at work, our job performance rises. The actions we take, the attention we give and the attitude we express are the primary means we connect with others, perform our work and integrate with the systems around us.  Our actions, attention and attitude directly affect our self control, self awareness, situational awareness and situational acceptance.  It is these aspects of ourselves that determine much of our success.  When we have good self control, distractions don’t lead us away from the activities to meet our goals.  When we have self awareness, we are more independent and can withstand the daily onslaught of change.  When we have situational awareness, we respond to the needs of our environment with appropriate actions instead of applying too much or too little force when needed.  When we have situational acceptance, we understand how the past affects the present and what we need to do next to bring about our vision for the future. Our self control and awareness coupled with situational awareness and acceptance are the foundation of self-reliance and add value to our selves as well as the systems we integrate with.