Why You Shouldn't Hold Your Cards Close to Your Chest

Makes sense in poker: not to reveal your intentions, not to give anyone a cue what you are up to. But at the work place, this sounds like a risky proposition. I learned that under unexpected circumstances more than a year ago.

One Monday morning, I walked into the bathroom like any other day, and noticed blurry vision in my right eye. I did not have any symptoms or anything that felt abnormal on the days before. I just had a bad eye out of the blue. I went to see my eye doctor thinking it was a matter of getting a new prescription or at worst, getting a small procedure done. But that appointment on Monday afternoon was the beginning of a journey through fear and uncertainty.  The condition got worse in a matter of days and could not be diagnosed easily. Referrals to specialty doctors were followed by their orders for blood work, deeper eye scans, MRI scans and infusions, until eventually severe worsening conditions sent me to the emergency room. That was the beginning of a three-month sick leave that no one saw coming. 

Fueled by my sense of responsibility, I started to think of all the things I had left behind at work: pending conversations, unanswered voicemails and emails, clients awaiting proposals, project reports that would soon be past due, invoices that needed to be reviewed, meetings postponed indefinitely, and other things on a long to-do list. At the same time, I knew I had to do first things first: I needed to take care of my health, follow doctor’s orders, and do whatever I needed to do to heal and recover. Work was relegated.

While battling health problems and being unable to work, I learned a lesson or two: unexpected things may (and in my case did) happen. You need to be ready for the unexpected. (Short-term disability and health insurance are great benefits.) And although you may think that the part of your world you are forced to leave behind is going to stop or fall apart, that indeed is not going to happen.

I learned that a good team will cover your base when you are absent. Those who like soccer may agree that a team playing with ten men can be more difficult to defeat than a full squad because all players left in the field play harder and cover more ground to make up for the role of the ejected player. The same philosophy should apply in the workplace. One or more members of your team should be able to fill a gap; one or more coworkers should be as capable of doing a task as you are. That is the importance of mentoring and coaching. Please, communicate, talk, and share discoveries. I was surprisingly pleased to see my direct reports preparing permit applications that I had just started, finalizing reports, and moving projects forward. It helped me that Walter P Moore hires people who are motivated to take additional tasks. Those that are hungry if you have read Patrick Lencioni’s Ideal Team Player.

Another lesson from my sickness: There should not be any hidden secrets in the things you do at work. Someone should be able to pick up a pending task and finish things for you if need be without asking too many questions or digging deep through files. Holding the cards too close to your chest is not good. It does not help to have a team ready to help if they don’t know where to start or where to go.

One last positive thought: People will understand special situations and support you during adversity. If you have been responsible and responsive, have been taking care of your people, and are on good terms with your peers and clients, they will certainly will support you in case of an unforeseen condition. Being out sick and not knowing what the outcome would be, I much appreciated the support coming from family and friends: hospital visits, meals being delivered home, gifts, offers to help me with my kids, offers with household chores, rides, and many other details. I encourage you to foster relationships with your group day after day. It will not only make your work place more friendly, but will strengthen the support to each other during adversity. 

In case you are wondering, my health improved over time. I did recover to be able to go back to work and have been doing just fine since then.