Let me introduce Josh whom I have known since his graduation from high school. I don’t have a picture. He would be embarrassed to be the centre of attention. So I will share my reflection and preserve his anonymity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After trying a few post-high school jobs, Josh settled into what has become a longer-term career in consumer sales. He never expressed any leadership aspirations. Yet, as I have observed him on the job over a number of years, Josh has developed into not only a good employee but also a growing leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seeing him a few days ago is what motivated this reflection. A new employee was having difficulty processing some details surrounding a customer’s purchase. I watched Josh enter the scene with a smile, gentle words, clear directions, and a minimal amount of hands-on example to illustrate what needed to be done. His entire presence was a nurturing context. I was proud of him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also watched the new employee. A fine-looking young man, nicely groomed short beard, contemporary glasses and hairstyle. Probably a university student on his way to a professional career in a few years. If there was any tendency for him to resist ‘being told’ what to do, or any feeling about the possibility of ‘looking stupid,’ he didn’t go there. He didn’t need to. Josh came in with a precursor of respect and patience. The newbie listened closely, asked a few questions, and settled in to finish the transaction. No damage to his hubris. Just another positive brick in the building of his own competence and confidence. And, hopefully, his own ability to nurture rather than demean those who would be under his purview in the coming years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I was leaving the building, I had another look at Josh – standing at an employee station in the midst of customers who were coming and going in all directions. There he was, upright in posture, an inviting expression on his face, fielding questions from customers left, right, and centre. People approached him without hesitation as if one look told them it was okay to do so. I was proud of him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I couldn’t leave without speaking to Josh. I shared my observations from the informal ‘training’ session with the new employee. I commented on how he looked as he responded to questions at the employee station. Josh kind of hung his head sideways, smiled a bit, and ‘sluffed it off’ as nothing for me to get too excited over. He said a few things about how there are many levels of detail in that business. And how it takes time to develop the ability to respond to more situations more effectively in less time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I grasped his hand and squeezed his shoulder, I told him how proud I am of him and what he has become as a young man (also married for several years and he and his spouse longing to have a family). And I turned away before he could see the moisture welling up in my eyes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Josh has spent years thinking that he ‘fell’ into his present job and ran out of time and options for anything else. I so desperately wanted him to know how important he is to his organization, to his fellow employees, and to customers (like me). How sacred all work is. How it is possible to find a sense of personal vocation in any occupation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With gratitude, I affirm the many Josh’s (and Jane’s) who show up each day, faithful to their current placement in life, and bring sunshine rather than shadow to the lives of everyone they touch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Let me introduce Josh whom I have known since his graduation from high school. I don’t have a picture. He would be embarrassed to be the centre of attention. So I will share my reflection and preserve his anonymity. After trying a few post-high school jobs, Josh settled into what has become a longer-term career…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/miles2go.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/miles2go.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/miles2go.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miles2go.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miles2go.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/miles2go.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":323,"href":"https:\/\/miles2go.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222\/revisions\/323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/miles2go.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miles2go.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miles2go.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}