A letter from an aging man to anybody who will listen:  Life is not a race but a journey….yes most people are impatient.  God knows I was when I was younger, but as one gains experience you tend to look back and become reflective.  Well here is my reflection.  Everything I have done in my life and yes that includes twirling dough to make pizzas has increased my knowledge base.  So for those just starting out in the 9-5 take pride in whatever you do! Learn from it, attack it with the same gusto as any difficult problem you would in your life.  Because it is in the mundane that true character shows up.  I had the opportunity to work with some great people and one that I remember is a woman who was a Colonel in the Marine Corp and head of HR. I am going to refer to her as Bad Ass Marine (BAM). One day when I got my nerve up, did I mention she was a BAM, I asked her a question and this is how the conversation went:

Me: “Why is it that you only hire college graduates and start them off on the lowest possible spot on the totem pole?”

BAM:  “We like to promote from within and if we give you a simple task and if you totally mess it up how are we going to trust you with more difficult problems. Plus if you mess it up and don’t take ownership it reflects on leadership ability and character.  Everyone makes mistakes it is how they are handled and resolved that matters most.”

Me:  ”But you have all these intelligent people fresh out of college that want to do the hard stuff right away”

BAM:   “Are you willing to do the dirty, mundane, simple work and do it well to get where you want to go?  It goes directly to character!”

Me:  ”gotcha!”

That was 30 years ago….I think it still holds true today.

Signed,

Borg King of the Universe