The Company We Keep

Labor Day

from September 7, 2005

This week began with Labor Day—a day to honor the worker.  And it seems particularly fitting this year, in the aftermath of Katrina, that we honor the police officers, the electricians, the healthcare professionals, the scientists, the reporters, the business leaders and all of those who have expressed, through the generosity of work, their humanity.

Sometimes it takes a tragedy to provide perspective; to remind us that work is a privilege that we cannot ignore.  Today, thousands of displaced workers remind us that we are fortunate to have jobs, to have the ability to provide for ourselves and our loved ones. 

Today those of us who are working should reflect on the amazing opportunity that we have to express ourselves and help others through our work.  Whether you’re an attendant at a gas station, a server in a restaurant, a technician or an academic, you have an opportunity to make a difference today, to spread hope through your compassion, relief through your humor, and support through your effort. 

Some days it is easy to forget that work can truly be a labor of love but not today. 

Expectations about conduct

from August 11, 2005

When you think about the fact that we spend most of our lives between the ages of 25-and at least 50 working, it's really no surprise that weird things happen at work. Take the story of Jennifer Wyatt, the prison nurse who falls in love with an inmate who is reported to have had a "long and violent criminal record" It makes me wonder if Jennifer might not have been working too much. Did George seem to be the most eligible fellow around?

Romances are definitely a challenge for leaders. On the one hand, it's difficult to stop the magic between two people and, usually on the front end of the relationships, it doesn't appear to interfere with work. But I can think of a couple of situations that I've run across where an office romance definitely poses a problem. In the first case, the Vice President of a company falls madly in love with his direct report; all is well until his wife finds out, calls his co-workers continuously to confirm his whereabouts and then drags the company into court when the divorce proceedings begin. Very messy. In the second case, an overnight meeting becomes a rendezvous for two members of a leadership team who have been seeing each other for some time. As the facilitator of the planning event, I can attest to the awkwardness that arose when the couple, I'll call them Jenn & Joan, neglected all of the social events in favor of solitary walks and then arrived to the morning session at the same time and very late. The icing on the cake was when Jenn, dreamy-eyed, described her relationship with Joan as her greatest accomplishment in one of the exercises. You can only imagine the body language of the team after that. So what to do?

Essentially if you are the leader of an organization it is your responsibility to set the expectations about the conduct you expect at work. While you may not be able to curb the appetites of your employees, you definitely want them to understand that work events require them to put aside their personal relationship for the benefit of all.

Welcome

I'm Debbie Heuer.

Since I enjoy writing, I would like to share in this blog my thoughts and provocations to perhaps cause great talent and character to spring forth in others.  Thank you for taking the time to read.

As an organizational development consultant I combine expertise in learning and change management to improve the performance of leaders and teams.  With over 20 years of experience as an educator, manager and consultant, I facilitate the performance of others through:

• Organizational Planning
• Executive Coaching
• Team Development
• Customized Training

I look forward to hearing from you. -Debbie