The Contented Cow Blog

Building Workplaces That Work

My partner Richard doesn’t often brag about his kids, but he could. In his younger days he was obviously listening when his mom was passing along valuable lessons about modesty and the downfalls of gloating. I, on the other hand am not similarly encumbered, so I will.

I recently attended the ceremony in which Richard and Christine’s son, Alec was awarded the earned Eagle Scout rank. For the uninitiated, making Eagle Scout is a big deal… a really big deal. In Alec’s case, we’re talking nine (9) years of effort in which one has to attain various preparatory Scout ranks, earn a minimum of twenty-one merit badges indicating successful completion of courses of study in things like First Aid, Family Life, Citizenship in the Nation, et. al., (Alec earned 55), and completion of a significant community service project.

Tougher perhaps than doing all that work is sticking with the program for that long. Let’s face it, teenagers aren’t exactly wanting for distractions. Indeed as pointed out by family friend, Tommy Walter in a speech lauding Alec, the sticking-with-it part is even tougher because, if you haven’t noticed, Scouting isn’t as cool today as it once was. Sadly, in many neighborhoods, we probably have more kids participating in gang initiation than earning merit badges.

Aside from saying a few well-deserved words about a fine young man, there’s a lesson here for the rest of us. Richard and I are regularly barraged with questions from managers about where to find great workers - people who are honest, reliable, willing to work, and will stick around for a while. If you ask me, you may want to include a Boy or Girl Scout troop on your next recruiting trip. While you’re there, say thank you to the men and women who are doing the important and unheralded work of helping these kids grow up right.

Godspeed!

A thought leader in the areas of leadership and employee engagement, Bill Catlette is a seminar leader, keynote speaker, and executive coach. He helps individuals and organizations improve business outcomes by having a focused, motivated, capably led workforce. For more information about Bill, his partner Richard, and their work, please visit their website at www.ContentedCows.com.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.