What example are you setting?
Yesterday morning I had the opportunity to volunteer with impactbrevard.org at the Brevard Zoo, working on the oyster restoration project. To be honest the work isn’t glamorous. We drilled holes in oyster shells then used zip ties to attach them to plastic mesh mats that will be laid in the Indian River Lagoon.
Beyond the stench, and it was strong, one thing in particular really struck a positive cord in me.
There was a father with his two children there to volunteer with us, and the oldest son was fulfilling a requirement by his school to do 20 hours of community service per year. Initially I thought that was pretty neat that we are putting genuine requirements like that on our kids as they grow up, but then as the day went on something deeper hit me. The requirement for the children to fulfill volunteer hours is great, but the example being set by his father is what made it stick out to me. He could have very easily dropped the boy off and told him to call him on his cell when he was finished.
In business we, as managers, place quantitative metrics on items that are to be accomplished, similar to the 20 hours above. We, as workers, are programmed (via performance plans) to accomplish our goals so we get our raise. However, do we stop and think whether or not the true objective of making people volunteer is being accomplished? Don’t we want people to see how fulfilling it is to give to someone or something else when it is unwarranted? If this is the case are we marginalizing the objective by putting metrics on it? Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational would probably say yes, and I agree. Children have the uncanny ability to mimic their parents behaviors and social norms as they grow up, so if we really wanted the children to give back and want to serve, then should the mandate be on the parents?
If so, then in business and as leaders shouldn’t we be putting the emphasis of giving back to the community and serving our customers on ourselves with the intention of having a more profound affect on those that may be looking to us as the example?
Therefore in addition to setting hard metrics for those who work with and for us, we need to be also leading by example for the more genuine goals.
I am a new father (2 week old baby) and I want to set the right example for her and for those who are paying attention in the business world. The seeds that are being planted now may reap much more than we can imagine down the road, like that father volunteering with his two kids.
The best gift that we can give is not the action of giving itself, it is the continued return from those around us that look up to us for an example of how to live.
