Seeds Require Search and Decision

I had a few things going for me leading into the interview for the behavior-based safety facilitator role: a tremendous work ethic, a willingness to jump at any opportunity that was even mildly offered, and a hunger to advance. That said, there was very little polish to any of it. Couple my rough edges with my lack of actual skills that job required and it’s a wonder I was even offered an interview. And who knows, maybe I only got that because I was so involved in other aspects of the process and the interview team didn’t want to risk losing that involvement by brushing me off - and it likely would have.

Dennis and Terry each provided me with solid feedback on how I performed in that interview, but neither would have chased me down to offer it. Nor should they; had I not asked for it, I probably would not have digested it. I don’t remember as much about the specifics Dennis shared, possibly because we’ve interacted very little since, but Terry’s suggestions stand out to this day. While these aren’t his exact words, here are the three things that resonate more than twenty-five years later: be ready and winning to detail my three strengths, be prepared to discuss what I see as three weakness and how I’m working to improve each - but only offer one at a time, and consistently work to sharpen my saw (my words, not his). He emphasized the importance of constant growth; reading books, studying business principles, interacting with anyone I could who was where I wanted to be. I’ve worked at each constantly since, owning my role I had in that minor failure early in my career and I’ve been able to grow through those steps since.

But even when we’re willing to accept full responsibility for the role we play in our failures, and hopefully find the seeds within them, those seeds still require search and decision. As Ron moved into the facilitator role, I was forced to decide how I’d respond. I could have just as easily allowed rejection and bitterness to control my actions, stepping aside from the behavior-based safety process altogether. In complete transparency, I’m not sure why I didn’t. Looking back, praise God I didn’t! My primary responsibility was still operating a 250-ton stamping press, but I looked for every opportunity I could find to support Ron in his new role. He had many skills I didn’t, but my familiarity with the process helped him get his feet under him. The support I was able to provide him, helping with training where I could and being even more active than ever in all other aspects, also helped sharpen my saw! 

As Napoleon Hill emphasized repeatedly throughout Think and Grow Rich, seeds exist in every setback, but making the best of bad situations demands active reflection to find those seeds and a definiteness of decision to nurture them. For whatever reason, I latched onto a seed from the bad situation and decided to nurture it however I could. Just a few months later, I had the opportunity to interview for my next opportunity and all that I did to support Ron helped prepare me for that. Even then, I still had a few habits that were indeed barriers to long term success. I’ll detail some of that soon. Before that, I want you to think about a setback you’ve experienced. What seeds might (still) be hidden? Identify one step you can take right away to begin nurturing a seed from that bad situation.