Many of us spent time with our families during the holidays. Sometimes that goes well, and sometimes not so much, but we do it, nonetheless. I’ve always been close to my family, but it’s not always a walk in the park. The thing is, we don’t choose the families we are born into, but most of us try to make the best of it. Plus, as they say, blood is thicker than water which must count for something. That said, there are those who become like family to us. And unlike our family of origin, we choose them, and oftentimes they are closer to us than our blood relatives.
Then we have our work family. Steve Jobs once said, “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking, and don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know it when you find it.”
At GlobalStar, we love what we do, and we have found that by focusing on serving our consultants, partners, and clients that we can take the idea of service to another level. When I observe those who excel in service-oriented jobs, they all seem to have one thing in common, a great love of people. Think about it. Look at flight attendants, the hospitality industry, restaurants, and retail of any kind. Those who excel at those service-oriented jobs inherently love people. And when you love people, whether it be customers, or your co-workers, they become like family to you.
Ex-Chrysler motors CEO Lee Iacocca once said, “Now, there’s one phrase that I hate to see on any executive’s evaluation, no matter how talented they may be, and that’s the line: “He or she has trouble getting along with other people. To me, that’s the kiss of death. You’ve just destroyed the person.” I always think. “He or she can’t get along with people?” Then they’ve got a REAL problem, because that’s all we got around here. No dogs, no apes, only people. And if he or she can’t get along with their peers, what good are they to the company? As an executive or leader their function is to inspire other people to self-motivate. If they can’t do that, they’re in the wrong place.” The moral of Iacocca’s statement is that when people take their professional commitment to a more of a personal, family level, it starts at the top.
