...My Futures So Bright, I Have to Wear Shades

I was having a conversation with a small business owner and she was saying that she had to have a discussion with someone about attitude.  Not the typical you have a bad attitude discussion.  This was about how the person saw themselves in the future and how being patient now would pay off with a brighter future.  We were talking about how some people were never taught to look to the future or to build a career.  They had no idea how to plan for the future. 

Interesting concept.  We can work and influence people to help them see that sometimes a job is just a job but sometimes, a job can lead to a career.  It’s our job as employers to help our employees see a future. A future with the company or a future in that chosen field.  What it does for our companies is help keep employees and can turn mediocre employees into great employees. 

Sometimes we have to help people see that what they are doing today may not be what they are doing in ten years.  We need to help them grow and expect to have a better future.  Is this easy to do? No, far from it.   There are people who have spent their whole lives being told they wouldn’t amount to anything or that they were stupid or worthless.  Overcoming the voices from their past may prove to be more than we can help with. But sometimes, there might be that one employee who sees that they can have a brighter career path and make it with a career instead of a job.  

Where each of us was ten years ago is probably not the same place we are in now   Teach an employee how important it is to have that patience to see the brighter future and sometimes you just might grow a mediocre employee into a great one.    

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