You may have heard the term “quiet-quitting” a lot recently thanks to a viral TikTok video …

In the trending video from @zaidleppelin, he says …

“I recently learned about this term called quiet-quitting, where you’re not outright quitting your job, but you’re quitting the idea of going above and beyond,” Khan says.

“You’re still performing your duties, but you’re no longer subscribing to the hustle culture mentality that work has to be your life. The reality is it’s not — and your worth as a person is not defined by your labor.”

Contrary to how it sounds, the motivation for quiet-quitting isn’t really about quitting at all. However, this philosophy as a whole is a dangerous threat to organizations.

He’s right about the fact that our innate value as human beings isn’t defined by our labor … alone.

We all have priorities and responsibilities in addition to our work that demand our time and energy.

As high-achievers it can be difficult to balance it all, but withdrawing from any one of our roles definitely isn’t the answer.

Quiet-quitters are deliberately keeping one foot out the door. They are choosing to disengage from their work … refusing to go above and beyond in their role for the good of the team.

This quiet-quitting mindset is about eliminating initiative to do anything outside the absolute minimum of what’s expected.

Think for a second how it would work if we approached any of our other roles in life with the quiet-quitting mindset …

Giving only the bare minimum to our spouse, kids or friends … Or if we stopped holding ourselves accountable to do the things that keep ourselves healthy and strong, like working out or eating well.

What would happen to our relationships and our physical and mental health? Would we be able to show up as our best selves in all other areas of life? Probably not.

It seems people who are adopting the quiet-quitting mindset are doing themselves a major disservice …

Embracing life from a whole-hearted perspective is what creates meaning and fulfillment in our lives.

Yes, life at times can feel like a balancing act. When we fall out of equilibrium, it feels like everything tends to slide off the scales.

It’s been said, “How you do anything is how you do everything”.

If you’re thinking … “But I’d never do the bare minimum with my family!” It’s because you have standards. You value your family, friends, and health … And those values help define your character — How you think, feel and behave.

Similarly, someone who truly values their work wouldn’t routinely approach it with a quiet-quitting mindset. It’s not in their character.

Quiet-quitting can be a problem at any level in an organization. The antidote is an alignment of values.

It’s about character and culture on all fronts … From the visionary to the leadership team to the tactical team.

At OTS we put a lot of emphasis on our values. We work hard and play hard.

We enjoy giving our all when we’re at work so we can put on our spouse, parent, friend hat at the end of the day feeling fulfilled and confident that we made a difference.

When a person feels good about what they do and believes their work is meaningful, it’s energizing!

Not only does it make our work more fulfilling, but it allows us to show up as our best selves in every other role we play in life.

We urge our team to set and maintain boundaries … And we respect them. This mutual respect helps create the high-trust environment we value so immensely.

And the high-trust environment allows for open and honest communication that leaves no room for a quiet-quitting mindset.

Another one of our values is relationships for life. It’s in our culture to treat every partnership — whether it be with a company owner, co-worker, vendor, etc — like a long-term relationship. Nothing is transactional.

And a relationship we value is one we will want to go above and beyond for day in and day out.

We also believe that growth is life. Tony Robbins says “At the end of the day, it’s not what we get, but what we give that makes us happy. No one can take away who you’ve become.”

Someone who values growth isn’t a person who quietly quits when things get tough. Instead, they rise to challenges, viewing each difficult situation as an opportunity to become better. They continue to give their all so they can grow in the process.

As leaders, we set the example for our teams. That’s why it’s so important that we manage our state as leaders and identify leadership or management issues within our teams BEFORE it becomes a culture problem and leads to quiet-quitting or other detrimental behaviors.

By creating a winning team culture, we have the power to resist quiet-quitting and build strong, engaged teams and leaders who are eager to reach goals and achieve greatness together.