From the Desktop of Gordon Phillips, Chief Risk Officer (CRO)
One of the aspects about working life that I enjoy the most is being part of a team that feels like family.
When you genuinely enjoy the company of your teammates, you may even find that you actually (I know this is hard to believe, so brace yourself) look forward to meetings.
There is a shared energy and a strong sense of team synergy that gives credence to “the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.”
Unfortunately, too many of us have all too often found ourselves in working situations where this wasn’t remotely the case.
Which leads me to ask, why does this happen?
Why aren’t all work environments places of camaraderie, collaboration, enthusiasm, and adventure?
Many would say it’s because employees don’t “step up to the challenge” or bring their “game face” to the job.
But I think that misses the mark.
People are pretty much the same everywhere.
We all want to contribute, to be acknowledged and rewarded for our efforts, even if with just a kind word of appreciation.
And when we make a mistake, to be encouraged and not criticized.
So why is it that so many working environments are so lackluster, even to the point of drudgery?
Is it because the work is tedious, the compensation inadequate or the hours too long?
I would say that the missing element in the majority of these situations can be pinned squarely on management.
You see, there are supervisors and there are leaders.
Supervisors help steer your workflow, while leaders help steer your life.
Yet both get to call themselves managers.
My very first job as a young man was parking cars on the ferries that go out to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket island off of Woods Hole on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
The work was hard, very hard.
We parked cars all day long in an open parking lot in the direct glare of the summer sun.
Sometimes it would reach 140 degrees (F) inside those cars, and we would spend all day clambering in and out of them.
I remember coming home one evening with a rash all over my body from the heat and dehydration.
And I loved every minute of it.
The other guys were a little older than I, several of them on college summer break, and the puns, witticisms and practical jokes made the hours fly by.
The boss was a zany and often frenetic Lithuanian in his 70s named Wally who spoke broken English and pushed us like a taskmaster.
At the end of each shift Wally would sit us down and pay us to listen to him tell stories about his childhood tales of hard work and perseverance.
To this day I remember some of the timeless principles about dedication and integrity that Wally’s speeches instilled in me.
He would end each day with, “Now get the (deleted) out of here and don’t show up late tomorrow!”
We all loved Wally.
He worked us like dogs and didn’t pay us very much, but we took pride in parking those cars so close together that we’d often have to clamber through several cars just to get out.
The more cars we could pack into the lot, the more money Wally made, and the more we got in tips!
I couldn’t wait to get to work every day.
It was one of the best jobs I ever had.
And here I am today at The Pisano Group as a member of an incredible team of outstanding entrepreneurs who work hard every day, expect the best from each other, and never forget to acknowledge and celebrate genuine effort.
Of course, we also never forget to add a pinch of “Wally” to the work environment.
After all, if it isn’t fun — and even a little zany once in a while — maybe you’re doing it all wrong?
Don’t tell anyone here at the office, but I’d park our cars for free any time.