Just read two interesting articles by Thomas Delong over at the Harvard Business School:

• Stop Ignoring the Stalwart Worker
• Searching for Professional Significance

To be honest, I’ve pretty much always seen two types of workers, performers and under-performers, so reading these has opened my mind to a few new thoughts.

The first article on Stalwart workers debunks 5 myths:

• Stars are smarter than Stalwarts.
• Everybody is the same.
• Everybody wants the same thing out of work.
• Everybody wants to be promoted.
• Everybody wants to be a manager.

It reminds of a saying that has had a lot of significance for me personally:

I am unique. Just like everyone else. We all have our strengths. We all have our weaknesses. That is what makes us unique.

Everybody does want the same thing. That is happiness. They way we each get there is somewhat different.