Show Up Early and Stay Late

One of the most valuable lessons that I learned at work was to show up early and stay late. No one taught me this lesson, I just learned it through experience. This has helped me in every job I have had.

I have heard it said that being early is on time, being on time is late, and late is unacceptable. Managers expect every employee to be punctual and dependable. That means that you come in when you are supposed to and on time. That is the minimum expectation, but good employees exceed the expectation.

Working on Tasks You Don't Like To Do

The difference between tasks you like to do and tasks you do not like to do is your attitude.

Have you ever bagged potatoes? 

I worked in a grocery store where bagging potatoes was a daily task. Everyone hated to bag potatoes. The first day on the job, I was trained on how to bag potatoes. The potatoes came from the warehouse in huge 100 pound bags. The bags were heavy enough, but they were also bulky and hard to grab. The potatoes were dumped into the "bagger" which held 4 or 5 hundred pounds of potatoes. From the bagger, we would weigh out 5 and 10 pound bags, staple them closed, then stack them in the stock room for later use.