POINT TO PONDER
“All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”
- Pablo Picasso
Isn’t the same thing true about employees? New employees come with good credentials, enthusiasm, ambition, high hopes and many with a lot of passion. The challenge is how to keep up those qualities once they get melded in/sucked in to the organization’s systems for a few years.
STORY LINE
A few weeks ago, I received one very touching and wonderful email (rarely seen such nice note) from a supervisor about the employee who was leaving the company. The note mentioned about significant contributions of this person, many beyond the normal job scope. It also stated the high value that the customer, partners and peers saw in this employee. The person’s “can do” attitude, high energy and enthusiasm had influenced and impressed whoever had interacted with her (me included). It was clear from the note that this person had made a big impact on whatever or whomever she had dealt with. I read the note over and over again until it dawned on me that this person that the supervisor wrote such a nice note was with the company for only 20 months (out of school). Now that made it even more powerful that in such a short time the person had made such an impact.
In my 35 years career, I too have been fortunate to have coached and managed many employees like one mentioned above. My experience with such employees is that they are not motivated by money or by positions, but more with constantly new challenges, trust in them to carry on big tasks (not treat them like kids or starters), reinforce their value to the company and provide occasional guidance. They are self-starters and as supervisor/coach one needs to just keep raising the bar. Some will stay some will move on (nothing personal, just that their reach may be farther than what current environment can offer) but whatever time they spent, they will make a big impact, enlighten and inspire others around them. In the words of Friedrich Nietzsche, The surest way to corrupt such a person is to instruct him/her to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently. Give them freedom, trust and encouraging feedback about their value and create a culture where they will thrive.
REFLECTION
From Pablo Picasso quote (applies to any Young* and Restless)
Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again. And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are? We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? You must work, we must all work, to make the world worthy of its children.
*young applies to both in age and mentally young.
One of the many stories I have covered in previous FRs.