Nothing Less Than Your Very Best

 

I use to work inside this horribly depressed, angry, agitated company. 

Ironically, it was a mental health facility. 

***

I’ve never seen so many employees return from meetings with a particularly abusive senior manager crying. This is super duper HR fail. It is a super senior management team fail. It is a super leadership fail. And, it is a super big board of directors fail.

But it was not just this one toxic senior manager.  It was the organization as a whole. I’ve never seen so much inter-personnel animosity. I’ve never seen so much wide-spread demoralization anywhere, at any company I’ve ever worked at over my decades of work experience. 

This was quite simply the worst place I have ever worked. 

The senior manager, although super abusive and toxic, wasn’t responsible for the wide-spread demoralization and hostility throughout the company. He certainly was injecting a ton more yuck into the company, but he didn’t touch all of its moving parts. There was a much larger organizational problem. Ironically, he was screaming at people about not meeting productivity requirements.

#Morale matters. Everything floats on morale. Productivity isn’t improved by yelling.  Morale isn’t improved by yelling.  Employee absenteeism, tardiness, and retention are not improved by yelling.  Just the opposite, in fact.

Nothing is improved by yelling. 

At the time, I was navigating a super stressful life adventure. My wife had died (#Cancersucks) and I was raising our young sons by myself. I was so, so far out of my comfort zone and my zone of competence at home every single day for years and years. 

So, what did I do?  I quit after about three years, but before that every morning before going into work, I sat in my car in the parking lot looking at the office building getting my head straight, getting myself psyched up before entering the building. I did the same thing before every rugby game I played in college. I was determined to only bring positive professionalism into the building - my very best. 

My colleagues deserved nothing less than my very best. 

I did the same thing on the way home from work, letting go of the daily stress I’d accumulated and getting my head straight before going into our home. 

My sons deserved nothing less than my very best. 

Of course, I’m a flawed human so … it didn’t always go well, but when it didn’t I’d regroup, consider where I’d gone wrong,  what the contributing factors had been, and create a corrective action plan.

K. H. Little Consulting Services
Kenneth H. Little, MA
cell: (603) 726-1006

kenlittle-nh.com

Pirate Movie Adventure

 

Pirate Movie Adventure

I started conceptualizing life as a “Pirate Movie Adventure” when my wife was diagnosed with cancer. One minute, literally, life was beautiful.  The next minute, literally, she was informed of her biopsy results.  

Then she came home.  One minute, literally, life was beautiful.  The next minute, literally, I was informed of her biopsy results. 

Within a fraction of a second, our lives - together and individually - changed radically. 

We had it all.  She had finished her medical residency and begun work as a pediatrician, her lifelong dream.  We had purchased our first home together. We had two beautiful young sons. We lived in a beautiful area with mountains, rivers, and lakes all around. 

2.5 years later, my wife was dead. 

Life is a Pirate Movie Adventure

1. Sometimes the weather is warm and sunny with a nice breeze, the seas are calm, we are sailing along smoothly. 

2. Sometimes life is hot, dull, windless.  We are stuck in the doldrums.  No progress is made except through sheer sweat producing, agonizing  effort - pulling the heavy vessel forward.

3. Sometimes it’s stormy. We have to batten down the hatches. 

4. Sometimes, the pirates come and steal your fucking treasure. 

This became my model for life. 

Life is most certainly an adventure.  It’s not always a good adventure, but it’s always an adventure nonetheless.