Empowered. Engaged. Included
Like Laura Bennett, I believe that “[…] everyone needs to be
a follower many times in life […]”. Followers
witness different types of leadership, see/experience which techniques work and
don’t work, and then develop/change their leadership accordingly. I have been a “follower” on numerous
occasions, witnessed good and bad leadership, and have based my leadership
ideals off of what I experienced.
So, when asked to describe an experience when I was
empowered, included, and engaged, made me think of a few situations. I think my first job is a good experience to
share through…
I got my first job when I was 16. I was a dishwasher at a banquet center. Arguably one of the worst jobs on the
planet. Your hands get all pruned
like. You end up soaking wet. It’s just not a good time. At all.
So, you may be wondering, “why was it a good experience when
you had such a terrible job?” Well, my
boss (Leader) was great at making me feel empowered, included, and engaged.
Working in a banquet center was extremely fast paced. There was always something to be cleaned or
put away, but I remember feeling personally engaged whenever my boss would
allow me to train for other positions when work was slow. This eventually led to me moving up in the
company.
As I moved up through the company, I began to feel more and
more included. I was beginning to be
asked what my opinions were on certain matters regarding work, and I was
beginning to lead certain events (supervised of course).
While I felt included and engaged at my job, I felt
empowered the most. As my boss was
training me for different positions, asking for my opinions on certain matters,
and allowing me to run my own events, he was empowering me little by
little. He was testing me to see how I
handled different situations, and in the end, he trusted my judgment enough to
make me a leader of his company.
I think having that guidance and belief that everyone has the tools to succeed is what molds phenomenal leaders. just think of the skills you learned, the time invested and the relationships that were built to get you in that position. Thinking about that in itself is empowering.
ReplyDeleteHey Garrett thanks for sharing this story!
ReplyDeleteAs a workaholic myself, it's always nice to be able to relate to other people's work stories. The best part about working somewhere new is starting at the bottom of the totem pole. Similar to you, that's where I started a few years ago. The fact that we were able to start at the bottom and work our way up is empowering because now we are able to really appreciate where we started and how hard we worked to climb up the ladder.
Sorry if this is really corny but this makes me think of a song by Miley Cyrus called "The Climb". Some of the lyrics are "Ain't about how fast I get there. Ain't about what's waiting on the other side. It's the climb."
So just remember where you started and how hard you worked to get to where you are today and be proud of yourself! :)
Garret! Isn't it amazing when someone completely trusts you to just "make it happen?" Daniel Pink (author of the book "Drive") talks about this idea that people want to do good, quality work, and if we let them know we trust them to do that level of work and then get out of their way and let them do it, amazing things result. Your story is a great example of this. And, the best part is feeling that sense of being "in flow" or "in the groove," where you are doing your best work simply because you feel so connected to what you are doing. That's what being empowered, engaged, and inspired is all about. Nice post!
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