Issue #42

In this issue:

Word to the Whys

"The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they allow disrespect for elders and chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants..."
Socrates

"The choices that make a significant difference in our lives are the tough ones. They're not often fun or easy, but they're the ones we have to make, and each is a deliberate step toward better understanding of who we really are."
Alexandra Stoddard—author and lecturer

"Take a seat, young man. Keep your mouth shut and your ears open. You just might learn something."
Mr. Davies to a 16-year old lost kid named Eric

Sow a thought, and you reap an act;
Sow an act, and you reap a habit;
Sow a habit, and you reap a character;
Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.
Unknown

"Life is a sort of splendid torch which I've got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."
George Bernard Shaw

"Don't concern yourself over whether or not you will make a difference; you will. The question is, what kind of difference will you make?"
Mark Sanborn—author of The Fred Factor

"If you define cowardice as running away at the first sign of danger, crying and screaming and begging for mercy... then yes, Mr. Brave Man, I am a coward."
Jack Handey—author of Deep Thoughts

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I Quit! (Anyone Really Feel Like Working Today?)

I don't feel like writing this article.

I don't feel like wearing a coat and tie. And to be honest, I don't really feel much like working today. I'd much rather be snowboarding at Vail or at an afternoon matinee.

Just the same, here I sit, writing material, answering email, making calls, booking presentations and working deals. I've got so many piles sitting on my desk; I'll probably work right through the lunch hour—again.

Somehow it's been engrained deep into my psyche to work when I feel like it, and even harder when I don't. I'd like to think this is encoded into the DNA of all baby boomers, but I know a lot of people my age who don't share this predisposition. Further, there are many people—both older and younger—who work even harder, and many more hours per week, than I do. So obviously, generational boundaries are not the sole determiner of a person's work ethic.

I do know, however, who taught me to work. My father was a depression era baby who took nothing for granted and never took a day off from working. As his only son, whenever I was not in school, I was his steadfast assistant and trusty "gopher." When I got to high school, I enrolled in a vocational business program where I learned the principles of free enterprise, marketing and management and where I was also given school credit for applying this knowledge as a salesclerk in a retail clothing store.

Through the consistent coaching, counseling, prodding, and mentorship of my dad and my high school business teacher, Brent Davies, I developed a solid work ethic. So much so that if a crisis struck tomorrow forcing me out of business, I'd be delivering pizzas or driving a cab by the end of the day. I simply don't know how not to work.

Today's teens and twenty-somethings are smarter, more street-wise, and much more tech-savvy than I ever was back in the day. Yet surprisingly, the most common complaint business owners and managers have when talking about their young front-line workforce is their lack of work ethic. Somehow in the process of getting them through to adulthood with a lot of talent and skills, we've failed miserably when teaching them how to work.

Should we place the blame on parents, many of whom no longer take the time to apprentice their children and teach them the value of a full day's work for a full day's pay? Should we castigate our schools—many of which have cut vocational programs in favor of teaching every student how to fill in the correct corresponding bubble on a standardized academic achievement test?

The short answer is yes, but the buck doesn't stop there. And while we try to sort it all out, the old-fashioned roll-up-your-shirtsleeves, keep your nose to the grindstone, give your all—even if you don't feel like it work ethic that made this country great continues to erode.

My latest book, Getting Them to Give a Damn—How to Get Your Front Line to Care About Your Bottom Line (Dearborn, 2005), is being released May 1. I wrote this book to provide employers with insight into the mindset of their young emerging workforce and to give them the management tools to instill within their young charges a solid work ethic—buy-in, if you will. I'm confident that it will turn the lights on for boomers and Gen X business leaders, but that only addresses one side of the equation.

That's why I'm equally proud to be in the final stages of editing Bring Your 'A' Game to Work, a video-based training program that will help teenagers develop and commit to a set of seven workplace values that will impact their careers, regardless of what path they may choose. This program is very humorous and entertaining, but more importantly, it will impart to teens the fundamental work ethic values that they need, and every employer desires. (Visit www.TheAGame.com for more information.)

You work hard everyday, even if you don't feel like it. It's a part of who you are. And I bet you can name the people who taught you how to work as a teen. Call them and thank them before it's too late.

I lost my father eighteen months ago. And just last week, my high school business teacher, Brent Davies, an extraordinary educator and mentor to thousands of young people over his distinguished 32-year career, passed away. I don't know if he ever knew how much I loved, admired, and appreciated him. I was humbled when Mr. Davies' family asked me to deliver the eulogy at the funeral. While this was incredibly difficult for me and I really just wanted to grieve with the others, I knew it was something I had to do.

Even though I didn't feel like it.

Whys Cracks

Chill, Baby, Chill: An unnamed worker at the Salt Lake Regional Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, admits he slipped a tranquilizer into the coffee of an unnamed female employee because she was "too hyper," he says, and it would "calm her down." The woman had a bad reaction to the drug and was off work for two weeks. When confronted about the seriousness of slipping drugs to unsuspecting people, the 22-year-old man is said to have replied, "At least she would have already been at the hospital." He was arrested and charged with "surreptitious administration of a substance," a felony. (Desert Morning News)
At least he was already at the jailhouse when his crime finally dawned on him.

It's, like, totally bogus, Dude! Bay County (Fla.) Sheriff's Office say John Douglas Sheetz, 18, and Misty Ann Holmes, 17, called them to report a theft—of their marijuana stash. They let officers search their house for evidence—and were then arrested for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. "They're America's dumbest criminals," a sheriff's spokesman said. (AP)
Yeah, maybe. Or perhaps someone secretly slipped a tranquilizer into their morning coffee.

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