StrictlyExecs

I grew up in Hereford, Texas. Yes, there were more cattle in the county than people. We were outnumbered 250,000 to 16,000 and with those numbers it simply did not matter which way the wind was blowing. I recently visited my hometown and was reminded of my first job as a 14 year old. I worked summers in a feedyard to make money to buy a car and the important task at hand for this young man was literally moving piles and they were not comprised of dirt. I bet you can ’smell’ my work right now.

I moved piles from under the big scales they used to weigh the cattle and from around water troughs where they drank. It was dirty hard work and became a great motivation to get a college degree and move to the city. As I reflected on that time I remembered the reward of a job completed, of seeing my work- moved piles. The job did not matter one iota in the scheme of things but needed to be done and I was chosen to complete the task, so I did and I’ll not forget the positive feeling at the end of the day. The ‘67 Camero I bought the next summer was the icing on the cake.

As executives we have important jobs that touch many people and at times we get wrapped in the importance of it all. Take a step back and remember that no matter what you do, you are moving piles. Take a look at the end of the day everyday, no matter the work and find a sense of reward in the completion of tasks. And remember, whoever is moving whatever pile, respect their work and applaud their accomplishment. They are just as important as you…in the scheme of all things that is.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 28th, 2009 at 7:06 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.