Some days you can’t help but feel the love!
Fifteen years ago, on a Friday night just like tonight… I was finishing up some work at my office about 6:30pm when there was a knock on my door.
Outside, a chauffeur waited next to a stretch limousine. “Mr. Buelow,” he said, “your presence is requested…”.
Inside was my newest employee and his wife… with champagne and cigars and dinner reservations for four… for the two of them, and my wife and I.
They were thankful… as we, no doubt, would soon become.
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A few hours ago, I ran into this former partner.
Actually, as I said, Andy was an employee… though he would tell you this very minute that I always considered him, and the rest of the team for that matter, partners in my business… and the successes we shared.
And that team celebrated A LOT of successes together.
But Andy’s story was somewhat unique. When I met him he was working as a supervisor in a packing house… a particularly negative environment where cattle arrives in trucks and leaves in small packages.
It’s highly depressing, dirty work… with virtually no future. Neither for man nor beast.
And yet, there was Andy.
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My wife, Kathy, was the first one to recognize his leadership potential… and arranged for us to meet informally one evening in 1994. That meeting would change the course of Andy’s life… and add considerable value to mine.
Later that evening, before we were half-way home… the plot had been hatched!
Kat had it figured out.
“What if we could get him out of that job… away from the noise, the smells, the death?” All he needed, she said, was a chance to see what his life could be like if the setting were changed.
That the dreams that were in there somewhere… could still come true.
She suggested that if Andy could use a few extra dollars, we could use some help in the office during his vacation the following week. To seal the deal, we’d make him an offer he couldn’t refuse, and pay him substantially more than he was making in his full-time position.
After all, she said… he’d be giving up his vacation to work with us.
And work he did. By the end of his five days with us, I offered Andy the equivalent of a “Get Out Of Jail Free” card.
Suggesting he give his current employer a two week notice, I offered him a career move with my company… and his ticket out of a dead-end job forever.
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Though many years have passed, I’ve never doubted his appreciation… nor I suspect, has he ever doubted mine.
“I owe it ALL to you… you made me what I am,” he said as we shook hands today.
But that’s only partly true, and I told him so. There were a number of others who sowed into him along the way… indeed, we all invested in each other.
And… it couldn’t have happened if he wasn’t willing.
Yes, Andy IS successful today… but he EARNED everything he got along the way. He loves his career, he loves his company, he loves his clients… and yeah, he loves my family.
Pretty cool… the feeling’s mutual.
Questions:
What is the difference between Human Resources… and Human Relationships?
Which is more valuable?
Which requires more effort?
Which are practiced at your company?
I look forward to speaking with you.
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