Coaching: Off the field and into the office
Jack Balousedk, former president and CEO of True North Communications, said, “Learn, earn, return — these are the three phases of life. The first third should be dedicated to education, the second third to building a career (or business), and the last third to giving back to others — returning something in gratitude. Each stage seems to be a preparation for the next one.”
The third stage is one that our team is becoming more and more interested in as we work on our “going-forward plans.”
Are your employees actually working for you?
A speaker I heard recently told a story about two railroad men, Joe and Burt, putting spikes in for a new rail line when along came an elegant railroad car carrying the company bigwigs. All of a sudden a voice called out, “Joe!” and the train stopped. A man jumped down and hugged Joe and they had a wonderful visit. Joe and the man had started working for the railroad in the same kind of job, on the same day, many years before. After the brief encounter, when the train pulled away, Burt asked Joe, “So how come you two started working on the same day, on the same kind of job, and now he’s the president and you’re still putting in spikes?” Joe replied, “Because I joined the railroad to work for $1.65 an hour, and he joined to work for the railroad.”
