A Letter to the Employee in All of Us

Most articles about difficult workplace behaviour are written for leaders. How to spot it. How to manage it. How to deal with it.

I want to write a different one. I want to write to the employee. Gently. Honestly. As someone who has been one, who leads them now, and who has picked up a few things along the way that I really wish somebody had told me earlier.

Because so much of what we call workplace culture is, in the end, just the sum of small personal choices. The kind of professional we each quietly decide to be, on ordinary Mondays, when nobody is watching.

Let Us Start With a Truth

It is okay to leave an organisation if you are not happy there.

Nothing in this life is by force. Employment certainly is not. If the values no longer line up, if the growth has stalled, if the chapter is genuinely closing, you are absolutely free to go and write the next one elsewhere. With dignity. With proper notice. With grace.

But while you are still here, it is worth asking honestly what kind of employee you are being.

Not for your boss. For yourself.

The Quiet Habits That Hold Us Back

Some of the habits that quietly limit our careers are not dramatic at all. They are the sort we do not notice in ourselves until much later, sometimes not until we are on the other side of a decision that did not go our way. Let me name a few I have learned to watch for, in others and, honestly, in myself.

Forgetting to justify the pay. I once had a colleague who would say, every single morning, “I need to justify my pay today.” That one sentence has stayed with me for years. It is not harsh. It is grounding. Am I bringing value today that actually matches what I am receiving?

Arriving and departing without leaving a mark. It is entirely possible to spend years in a role without anything around us being meaningfully better for our presence. Sometimes the employer really is the problem, I do not want to pretend otherwise. But often, even inside real constraints, there is still room to make a difference. Many of us have. Many of us still can.

Choosing politics over contribution. Flattery is a tempting substitute for results, but it does not age well. The relationships that last are built on what you actually bring, not on how skilfully you perform proximity to power.

Treating the work as though it does not have your name on it. My father used to say, “How you take care of other people’s things is how you will take care of your own.” That one sentence has guided me through every role I have ever held. How we steward what has been entrusted to us, especially when it is not ours, is one of the most honest pictures of who we really are.

Complaining without contributing. This one is the easiest posture in any workplace, and quietly, one of the most damaging. It is the frustration that finds its way to every colleague except the one person who could actually do something about it.

None of these habits will ever make headlines. But over time, they shape careers, and not always in the direction we were hoping.

The Seeds We Are Planting

Here is something I wish somebody had told me earlier.

Every workplace behaviour is a seed.

The way we treat colleagues. The way we serve customers. The way we handle responsibility. The way we leave a role. All of it. Every single choice is a seed.

And seeds have this funny habit of not sprouting where you planted them. They sprout in a future job interview, when a former manager is quietly called for a reference. They sprout in a deal that almost happens, until somebody in the room remembers your name. They sprout in opportunities that come, or do not come, for reasons no one will ever explain to your face.

We may not reap on this job. But we will reap. And mostly, when we have stewarded well, we reap in beautiful, unexpected ways.

What I Have Learned From Strong Employees

The best people I have worked with across my career all shared a common posture. They were not perfect. Nobody is. But they were grounded.

They asked, “How do I add value?” long before they got around to asking, “What am I owed?”

They were kind to colleagues, not because they were being watched, but because they had decided a long time ago what kind of professional they wanted to be.

They took their work seriously. Not because they loved every assignment, honestly, some of it was tedious, but because they understood a job is not just a paycheck. It is a season of formation.

They were dedicated, not because they felt like it, but because dedication is a discipline, not a feeling.

A Word From Scripture

There is a parable Jesus told in Matthew 25, about three servants entrusted with their master’s resources. Two of them multiplied what they were given. The third buried his, and had a whole explanation ready.

What strikes me is not the rebuke. It is the principle. The talents, the roles, the platforms we hold, none of these are actually ours. They are entrusted. And how we steward what has been entrusted to us shapes what comes next.

Final Thoughts

So, this is my gentle letter to the employee in each of us.

If you are unhappy, leave. Gracefully. Honourably. With your head high and your bridges intact.

But if you are staying, stay well.

Justify your pay. Contribute beyond your job description. Be kind to colleagues whose paths may one day cross yours again in rooms you cannot now even imagine. Treat the work as though it has your name on it, because in a quiet way, it always does.

In all your getting, be kind. Your network is your net worth. And the seeds you are sowing today will be harvested in seasons you cannot yet see.

Be your best, not for your employer alone, but for yourself. Because at the end of every season, the question is not what the role gave us. 

The question is what we gave it.

About Author

Wola Joseph-Condotti

Wola Joseph-Condotti is the CEO, Eko Power Limited. She is a Harvard-trained lawyer and passionate advocate for faith-driven leadership, gender equity, and energy transition in Africa. She writes from the intersection of power, purpose, and personal growth.