"self-starter who knew what needed to be done without being given directions"
Recently, I fixed the front door of a U.S. Post Office, and I restored to placement and function, the front doors of an office building.
Not my line of work. Nobody asked me to; I just did it - to get it done. Then, there, just like that. (I did ask the kind lady at the U.S.P.S., if that quick repair would be OK? She smiled.)
When I am in a public restroom in my place of employment, when I see paper towels or toilet paper scattered about the floor...I pick them up.
Not because I enjoy it. I do it because the reputation of my employer rests on the impressions and opinions of people who are our customers that we serve.
It is bad for us to be seen as filthy or unkempt, and hurts us in the eyes of our customers (our patients)
Nobody sees me pick them up. I don’t get any kudos or gold star for doing it. And it is something that is occasionally disgusting and always annoying.
AND IT ISN’T MY JOB.
But, of all the things that make my lost hair stand on end, it is hearing those words out of the mouth of someone I work with. I despise and detest hearing that.
Taking care of the horse is the unspoken job of everyone who rides on the cart.