Lyndon: The Next Generation
It must have been about 2 years ago that Lyndon, one of my more long-lived former employees in my old department, revealed to me just how he came to work for me…
As the story goes it was my first year working for the company I’m with now and I was headed to the bus. Apparently I had a huge smile on my face, which makes sense. He was working in Patrol at the time and commented on how happy I appeared to be. It seems I stopped and told him that I was in a good mood because I really enjoyed my job and I went on about how great it was.
Well it seems the encounter stuck with him. Back then you had to work 2 years before you can request a transfer, since it was his first year he waited one more year and then transferred into my department. Our brief chat was still memorable enough to motivate him to change departments 2 years later. He’s still there 8 years later and still enjoying it.
When he told me this tale it definitely struck a chord, the story sounded familiar but what got my attention was how such a brief encounter that I had almost completely forgotten could have such a profound and positive impact on someone else.
Too bad I didn’t have a blog back then.
So a couple days ago I’m on the bus coming home from work, in uniform and tapping out another blog entry into my PDA, when this kid sits down next to me and very nervously asks me if he could ask me some questions. Turns out he had just completed his training for Patrol and, like any good 15 year old about to start his first job, is full of questions.
I set my blog aside and happily tell him to fire away. As the conversation progresses he mentions that he wants to work a longer season. Unfortunately Patrol doesn’t have longer work term positions so I tell him all about the transfer procedures and also mention that I will likely be hiring soon as well.
Now the chat was nothing to me, just passing some time on the bus ride home but as someone once said “It would be interesting Captain, to return to that world in 100 years and learn what crop had sprung from the seed you planted today“.
I can hope that, even if none of the information or advice I gave him turns out to be useful, that a manager on a bus willing to stop what he was doing to happily answer some questions made some kind of positive impression about the company or even the working world in general.
I’ve ushered literally hundreds, if not thousands, of young kids into their first job and the work force. If there’s one message I hope they get from the encounter it’s that work can be fun. It doesn’t have to be drudgery-filled. You don’t have to settle for a job you hate. You don’t need to sacrifice nearly a third of your life on the alter of capitalism. Quality of life is measured in more than dollars.
And if they’re able to retain a second lesson I would like that to be that a sense of humour is an important asset in the business world, not a liability.
I’m not a religious man, I’m not out to save souls in the traditional sense. But when I think of the unhappy masses stuck in dead end jobs simply accepting their lot in life because ‘conventional wisdom’ tells them everyone else does, that’s the way life is, and there’s nothing they can do about it it makes me very sad. I mean it, the thought almost brings me to tears.
I may like to think of myself as an effective and successful businessman but in my heart is an inner Marxist who wants them to be free. But I am also a pragmatist and we need to enjoy the lives we’re given.
‘Conventional Wisdom’ seems to tell us the only way to improve our lot in life is to get a better paying job either by going back to school, working yourself into the ground, or sucking up to the boss.
Granted school and sucking up can be effective if done properly and I’m the last one who should talk on the subject of working too hard but let me ask this: if you hate your job and the company you work for, will a promotion make you happy or just slightly less miserable with more responsibility and a bit more money?
Happiness isn’t about how high on the ladder you climb but knowing you’re on the right ladder.
