This is
necessarily a short blog post. First, it
is past my bedtime. Second, it has been
a long month and a half of very large amounts of work and problem-solving and
we are very near the end, which leads me to desire nothing less than a
rest. Third, if I stay up too late, I
will drink more wine, eat things that are not good for me and feel ill in the
morning.
Tonight I spent a little bit of time reading
some posts on Facebook. Some of the
posters, okay most, are just there for laughs or are sharing the meal portion
of their lives (why do people on Facebook always want to show us what they are
eating tonight?). Some are my children
who share children pictures.
Occasionally,
I read a thought-provoking comment that causes me to wander into the
philosophical or political arena.
Tonight, Mike Rowe posted a good commentary regarding a response he made
to a Bernie Sanders ‘Tweet’.
Okay, an
aside. Mike is absolutely right. Any political, moral, opinion-based or
supposed factual statement that is made in one hundred forty characters or less
is not subject to anything less than straight interpretation. If an ambitious politician and his or her
staff want to use something like Twitter to further their campaign, the phrase ‘What
I meant was…’ doesn’t count at all.
Bernie’s
tweet: “At the end of the day, providing a path to go to college is a
helluva lot cheaper than putting people on a path to jail.”
I’m going to refrain from making a
comment on ol’ Bern’s twit. Or
Tweet. Whatever.
Mike Rowe responded. He used Facebook because his response
required more characters than Twitter would allow. He was lambasted for it, apparently by
Bern-folks. They felt the need to do the
‘What I meant was…’ thing on the presidential hopeful’s behalf.
I digress.
My own personal thought was
this.
After considering higher education
and college degrees, neither of which are possessed by most of those who work with me
(I have a tough time calling them my employees), it occurred to me that one
thing, above all else, is important.
If you encourage thought by providing
an environment where all thought is rewarded, people will think. They will, in fact, prove ingenious. They will develop their own systems, their
own methods for control of quality and their own standards. They will improve. They will better themselves. They will become involved. It is a fact as truly as is the statement
that “you know it’s cold outside when you go outside and it’s cold.”
I am proud and happy to work in an
environment where people think. My
primary job is to encourage them. I don’t
consider myself a manager as much as a coach whose primary responsibility is to
see that decisions are made, that people learn from those decisions and that
they contribute to the growth of their company.
This year we did well. Sales grew.
People grew. Those who showed
initiative were rewarded. Some made
detrimental decisions and those choices were pointed out. They were never derided, though. They were always encouraged to try
again. And they made me very proud.
It is a tough thing to hold back from
telling people what to do. It is even
harder to ask for advice, to voice a thought without telling someone how he or
she should respond, especially as a manager or a leader. There are some amazing rewards, though. A
smile or a conversation with a thoughtful employee is probably one of the
biggest.
Merry Christmas and Happy
Holidays. Spend some thoughtful
time.
