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Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Little Happier: More Great Advice from My Father—About How to Succeed at Work

Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Gretchen Rubin / The Onward Project

Education, Health & Fitness, Self-improvement

4.713K Ratings

🗓️ 18 November 2019

⏱️ 3 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When I got my first real job, my father gave me some advice that has proved to be very true. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin Get the podcast show notes by email every week here: http://gretchenrubin.com/#newsletter Order a copy of Gretchen’s new book OUTER ORDER, INNER CALM here: http://outerorderinnercalmbook.com Leave a voicemail message on: 774-277-9336 For information about advertisers and promo codes, go to happiercast.com/sponsors. Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts—Do The Thing, Side Hustle School, and Happier in Hollywood. If you liked this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Did you know choosing the train over your car can cut your carbon footprint by up to two thirds?

0:06.0

So, one family outing at a time, one little adventurer at a time, one trip to the museum, one dinner in the city, one nap on the way home at a time.

0:18.0

One train journey at a time can help create a greener future.

0:24.0

So when will you take your next trip? Find out more at nationalrail.co.uk slash greener.

0:30.0

I'm Gretchen Rubin and this is a little happier.

0:33.0

On the happier podcast, Elizabeth and I often quote our mother and father because they both give terrific advice.

0:39.0

I think often of something that my father told me when I got my first real job.

0:45.0

He said, if you take the blame when you deserve it, people will give you responsibility.

0:51.0

I've found that to be very true. Difficult but true.

0:56.0

In my experience, until someone in a group, in a job, in a family, accepts blame, everyone stays very anxious and focused on fingering the person at fault.

1:07.0

If you're a fan of the TV show's succession and you watch the finale of the second season, you saw this phenomenon in action around the table.

1:15.0

I found that once I raise my hand, if appropriate, then everyone else can relax and focus on what needs to be done because no one is worried about being unjustly criticized or blamed.

1:27.0

I remember a time from years ago when I was still working as a lawyer, at that time as a senior advisor to the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

1:36.0

I was working with a team of people who were creating an important report.

1:40.0

The document came in and later at a meeting of senior people, some people severely criticized the report.

1:46.0

They said it wasn't done correctly. It didn't address what it should have addressed and so on.

1:50.0

Now, I had directed the people who created the report and I had reviewed it.

1:55.0

And I have to admit that for a moment, I did consider staying silent and just directing the conversation to how the report had to be changed in the next draft.

2:05.0

In this room of senior people, I was the least senior and I didn't want to call attention to my mistake.

2:11.0

But I remembered what my father told me many years ago. So I spoke up.

2:16.0

I gave this team their directions, I said, they didn't get it wrong, that's on me. They did a good job doing what I told them to do.

2:23.0

So let's talk about how the report needs to change so I can give them better guidance.

...

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