Ethics are a very common subject for conversations right now. Issues that we face in this country and with our elected officials places ethics on many American’s mind. Me too, though for a few moments I’d like to talk about a different ethic - work ethic.
My father taught me many things over the years. At the top of the list of things he bestowed on me was a strong work ethic. Dad passed nearly eight years ago but the values he taught me and my siblings live on. My two brothers and sister were all very different individuals and on the surface might not appear to have have a lot in common beyond genetics. But everyone of my father’s children possessed a work ethic that has helped them greatly throughout their life and in their careers.
Work ethic to me is more than just working hard. I would characterize all of my siblings as not only hard workers, but devoted employees and possessing a positive attitude towards doing the job. Those are all critical attributes that I think nearly every employer would say were important traits to look for in good employees.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have had some great jobs in my career, including the one I have now. Going to work has rarely been a chore, and once I was there I always poured my heart into the job. Except for one job.
Late summer 1985, I made the decision late to go to college at Butler University in Indianapolis. In high school and immediately after, I was the sports editor for two weekly newspapers. While my friends were paying to go to sporting events, I was getting paid to go and had better seats. But I was giving that up to head to college, and I needed a job.
McDonalds was hiring. Not a lot of other places were, so I swallowed my pride and said yes. I said yes to smelling like grease after work. I said yes to that nasty brown uniform I had to wear. I said yes to mindless work, leaving behind a much more enviable position.
To this day, it is the only position I didn’t give the effort I should have. I was killing time and making a paycheck. Looking back, I can’t believe how poor my attitude was. For instance, I would stand by the time clock and wait until it was about to click over to next minute before I clocked in. I wasn’t about to give them the full minute if I could avoid it. I did the minimum, I’m not too proud to say.
They started me on the Quarter Pounder grill. The plan was to advance, once I master that to make Cheeseburgers and Hamburgers and then the coveted grill, the Big Mac grill. My enthusiasm for the position was so bad, my desire to learn and my willingness to do the job as well as I could wasn’t there. This next fact is not on my resume, is not a part of my LinkedIN profile but still baggage I carry with me still today. I never advanced far enough to make Big Macs. Shameful, I know.
My father would not have been proud of how I handled that job. I feel like I’ve redeemed myself in the years since, not only in my actions but by also instilling a strong work ethic in my son. My son has a different set of obstacles to overcome in his life. School was never easy and my wife and I weren’t sure how well work would go for him. After high school he was placed in a vocational training program, where they were teaching young men and women how to be good employees. In the workplace in this program, he seemed to thrive.
At graduation day for the program, they went around and ask the individuals something that they learned in the program that would help them become a good employee someday. His response, “If you can’t be on time, be early.” I had to laugh at the statement, a statement that he’d heard a thousand times prior to this program. I think he truly learned the meaning of that statement through the program, and it has stayed with him through the years.
For him, it is a statement that shows he is serious about his job, and he understands that the company and co-workers are expecting you to show up, on time and do your work. What I’ve seen with my son is something that I’m seeing happening to people everywhere. Prior to getting his training, he didn’t have a purpose. He was adrift, searching for something with meaning. Like a duck to water, he was able to take the work ethic he was taught and put it to use. Suddenly he had purpose.
No one handed it to him. He had to figure it out himself. My son had the right attitude and right approach for work. While I’d like to think I helped teach him this, I can honestly say he did better with his attitude for his first job than I did. And as bad as I felt making Quarter Pounders was, my son did a variety of tasks from making sandwiches to cleaning toilets. I had the better job, but he had the better attitude.
I just finished the biography of Charlie Daniels. Daniels passed away recently, and I stumbled across an interview of him on satellite radio reviewing his career and discussing his book, “Never Look at the Empty Seats: A Memoir by Charlie Daniels." I regret not reading his book earlier or watching more interviews by Charlie. He truly had an amazing life, and had a view on life that I very much relate to nowadays.
In the book, Charlie tells the history of his music, the life he led and his approach to life and to the music business. And while he offered advise on how to succeed in the music business, the passages that I highlighted would be solid advice no matter what field of work you desire.
The man who had a little attitude while he played the fiddle had a pretty good outlook on the importance of a good attitude:
“If you truly want to make something special out of your life, start with your attitude. If you’re going to be bitter, hostile, uncooperative, and disinterested, you can forget it. Nobody wants that kind of employee.”
While I never had the chance to meet Charlie Daniels or see him in concert, I know people who did. Charlie was definitely a special individual, and made a point of making anyone that came in contact with him feel special too. One story I’ve heard about Daniels was before a concert in Goshen, Indiana several years ago. He welcomed a group of Boys and Girls Club members backstage and despite the urging of many people for him to quickly say hi and move on to this group of kids he didn’t. He refused. Daniels asked them their names and then called them by name. He talked about life lessons and gave those kids a brush with fame that they will never forget. He was the ultimate professional and acted like one too.
“The attitude that is going to get you noticed, valued, and therefore rewarded is to take the job you’re doing seriously, no matter what it is, no matter how humble or seemingly unimportant. With the right attitude, you can use it as a launching point, a stepping stone to better things. Here’s how: If you can’t get what you want, take what you can get and make what you want out of it. Why do some things cost more than others? It’s based on their value. Some things are just more valuable than others. It’s the same thing with employees.”
One of the things that has been weighing on my mind lately is that value of hard work, of having a good (or dare I say it, a great) attitude towards work. Current politics have devalued the value of work, the purpose one gets from hard work. This is evident right now with the recent completion of federal government payments of $600 per week for people who are unemployed, which is in addition to the payments from states. I’m all for helping people who need help, especially now during very trying times amid Covid-19. As I type this, politicians are debating an extension of those payments - while I have had numerous conversations with business owners, friends and unemployed employees who have told me that they are waiting to go back to work once the $600 payments are over. The feeling of earning a paycheck for a hard days work, the purpose derived from being a part of a team and working hard is being replaced by a government check, and I feel sorry for those that are embracing this approach.
“If you claim to be a professional, act like one.”
I only wish that 18 year old Pete had read those passages when I was starting my job at the Golden Arches. Maybe, just maybe then I could have advanced to make Big Macs.
“It all comes down to, if you want to make something out of yourself, make yourself valuable to somebody. Your rewards will be in direct proportion to your value.”
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