Doing what needs to get done rarely leads to immediate reward. Ask any mother on this planet about this idea you will get a variety of responses. They might range from penetrating stares that say, “you have NO idea what I do for my kids”. You might get an emotional outburst of crying, laughing generally followed by a string of stories that would make a young bachelor blush. Commonly you will find a simple and humble acknowledgement that important things are rarely acknowledged and their fruit is seen in the future not the present.
Pick any industry, any field or discipline and you’ll find this to be case. What leads to success is not what gets your name in lights today but a dedication to the craft or a love for something greater than instant and quarterly results. I’ve heard it said that maturity is consistent application of basic concepts. Simple, direct and easy to understand. There is no end to ideas that will make the world a better place. I have a few of my own for sure. Yet I will only propose one more for this article, vision or perspective.
Recently, around 30 people came to the office two to three hours earlier than usual and got to work. This time we weren’t staring at our laptops and iMacs but carrying brooms, shovels, and bags. We were tackling a stretch of road that we traverse daily to and from homes and other appointments. After 2 hours of sweeping, shoveling, picking, and pulling trash and overgrown vegetation we had quite a collection of piles to conquer. It was fun to work together. Seeing engineers that usually have eyes glued to screens with handfuls of trash and shovels was a reminder of the fact that we all have an obligation to make the world better in simple ways regardless of our titles and roles.One moment struck me with an appreciation for the complexity of the challenges that we face. The streets have gutters or trenches about half a meter deep that usually flow with water and waste of varying and questionable nature. After our efforts they were running clean, no trash in sight….for a few mins there was a picture of what life could be without this blight on the community. Then the trash returned. We had worked hard and certainly broken a sweat. Some soft hands were hardened with baby callouses after today. Yet these simple actions alone are not enough to solve a much larger issue. It will take vision and perspective of the challenge at hand to make these efforts lead to lasting fruit.
Was it a waste of time, certainly not. These activities will certainly be needed again and again regardless of how clean we live. Yet none of us should stop here. We must enjoy the moments and successes that come along the way, but not lose sight of the big picture. Learning to walk today must turn into leaping tall buildings in a single bound...next week. What the world needs are super men and women that have the fortitude to carry out their work with excellence while keeping an eye on the horizon.
Pretty big talk for a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company based in Nepal. Nevertheless that’s who we are. We believe that we can employ 1 million leaders that will be transforming everything in and around them for the better. We are constantly looking upstream to ensure that our success today will last and inspire others to do the same. So here’s my challenge to you.Put your work gloves on, get busy, and keep your head up. We’ll be looking for you.
Evan Kubicek, VP Workforce
Image credit: Kxhitiz, Header image via threesistersbake.co.uk
