You’ll often hear people say someone has good “work ethic” if they’re putting in long hours.
But 60, 70, 80 hours a week doesn’t equal work ethic. 60, 70, 80+ hours a week simply equals 60, 70, 80+ hours a week.
Work ethic is about showing up, being on time, being reliable, doing what you say you’re going to do, being trustworthy, putting in a fair day’s work, respecting the work, respecting the customer, respecting the organization, respecting co-workers, not wasting time, not making work hard for other people, not creating unnecessary work for other people, not being a bottleneck, not faking work. Work ethic is about being a fundamentally good person that others can count on and enjoy working with.
Works a lot ≠ has good work ethic.
