Let Them Eat Waffles

As the year winds down, our thoughts will often turn to evaluating the year that we have just experienced and what we want to try and accomplish in the year to come.

Even though 2020 has been a very unique year, this same exercise is happening all across organizations of every size and business structure.  

As you are evaluating your year and thinking about what you want to accomplish in the next one, here is an encouragement I have for you… 

Let Them Eat Waffles! 

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Okay, so maybe that needs some explanation…

I was meeting virtually with someone a few months ago. As we talked he described his job in some detail. This guy is a plant manager for an organization that makes all kinds of electronic components. These gadgets go in hundreds of products, he said, everything from airplanes to automobiles to grocery store freezers. His job is to oversee the plant’s manufacturing of these things and to ensure they get to the right customer.  He finished with this…

“Pretty mundane stuff, nothing big.”

That really struck me and made me stop and ask, “Wait a minute…What do you mean nothing big?”

The way my brain works (which is quite odd at times, I admit), I added, “Did you say grocery store freezers?”  

I think you see where this is headed. 

I went on to tell him, “To me, that is a really big deal!” 

You see, the reason that is big to me is that I love frozen waffles. Every time we go to our local grocery store, I take a walk down the frozen waffle aisle to see what is on sale, what is new, and decide what I am going to buy. It is rare that I go to the store and do NOT pick up a box of those delicious frozen treats. 

Then it hit me - what had happened is this guy had lost his vision, his passion for what he does. 

Worse yet, his lack of vision could someday interrupt my breakfast...and I am not okay with that!

Self-Actualization

In the world of emotional intelligence, self-actualization is finding one's meaning and purpose in life. It is the willingness to persistently try to improve and engage in the pursuit of personally relevant and meaningful growth that will lead to a rich and enjoyable life. 

Someone who is self-actualizing acts on the idea that what they are pursuing and involved in actually adds meaning and purpose. For some, it is that they have a calling instead of a job. For others, what they do is an act of service that fulfills his or her destiny as a human being.  It is very much more than what they do, it is about the meaning and purpose they have in life and whom they serve.

I think the myth behind the struggle some folks have is they have lost the link (or maybe it never existed) between who they are and what they do.

If you deliver pizza for a living, what you are doing is feeding a hungry family or bringing joy to a group of people so that they can socially connect. But it is so easy to get lost in the idea that you are transporting a disc of dough with sauce and meat from a store front to a house; and you have to do 100 of them in a night to make any money.

It is really easy for us to lose sight of what we do and become defined by our tasks rather than the bigger vision of who we serve.

You are not delivering pizza, my friend, you are helping cement relational bonds with family and friends. 

You might be trying to discount me right now as being too pollyanna, but I sincerely hope not. I hope you will stay with me and really try to engage in what it is that you are doing with your life.

Who You Serve 

As you are reflecting on your 2020 and preparing for 2021, perhaps as a part of your review you should be asking yourself who it is that you serve and how well you have done that.  Let go of defining yourself by what you do and give some consideration to who you serve.  

The plant manager in my story above plays a critical role in getting component parts to people who need them. Without him and without his team, a poor schmuck like me living in Central Florida would not have waffles in the morning for breakfast...may it never be so

As a leader of people, have you lost sight of the vision and the passion for what you do? The people on your team can sense this. Sure, it has been a tough year, a very different year for sure. But you are a resilient person. You are committed to what you do.

Let's make sure the people on our teams and those around us have a clear vision of what they do and how it links to the people you serve.