For me, the title of this blog is a continuous reminder of my first job. However, the lessons go much deeper.

As a 16 year old ride operator at Kings Island, I learned first-hand the importance of treating people with respect, even when they were not reciprocating. Whether it was working with the little kid rides or the biggest coasters, the emphasis on guest service was the same. Safety was 1st, always. Following that essential commitment, providing good guest service was the highest pillar we needed to achieve.

Those lessons continue to serve me well.

It was with some bemusement this summer when I had a chance to watch my son experience his first job. Asked recently what he learned, he replied that he learned he did not want to perform manual labor for the rest of his life!

For some others, the lessons included:

“I learned that people are not always upfront and honest”

“Having the right tools makes things easier”

“Corn leaves can be sharp”

As you continue through your work, take a moment to think back on your first job and reflect how a lesson learned continues to help or influence you today.

What class (in high school, college, or grad school) influences you now in a way that you did not anticipate at the time you originally took the class?

There have been so many great classes with so many good lessons. How can I settle on just one?

Thinking back to high school I could go with my biology classes (some inspiration from last week’s post,) my English classes for the writing skills they inspired, or even my time in band, which is still the only part of high school I would be willing to experience again!

College brought more fabulous classes. For majoring in biology though, the memorable or impactful classes had nothing to do with my chosen field of study. The personal finance class taught lessons I use to this day while my interest in political science can be traced back to Dr. Hershey and the class I took from her my junior year at IU. Environmental law, limnology, and my risk assessment course are also contenders.

However, after much thought around impact, I think I find myself finally deciding to settle on one of my graduate school classes. Introduction to Systems Thinking brought to clarity some of the factors I had always thought about. I could finally put words to the influence of one event upon another as well as the creation of both virtuous and vicious cycles. We experience these systems in all aspects of our lives and being able to apply the tools of systems thinking (primarily through the work of Peter Senge) has made me a better leader and HR professional. Being able to graphically and verbally explain what is happening to a group or process and the presenting some options to consider a change are now essential tools in my own leadership and consultative approach.

The base elements of systems thinking, the archetypes, have become more ingrained as I use them and rarely does a day go by when I do not think through a situation from a systems perspective.  Judging by impact, the systems thinking part of my grad school curriculum has provided me with not just theory, but a practical approach that I use in my HR world as well as seeing the larger scope of public education (my current industry) through a whole new set of lenses.

Thank you Claudia (my instructor) for providing a solid foundation that many other elements of my MBA were able to build upon.

Who is someone who greatly influenced you in your early career?

As I think back to my first “real job” after college, it takes me back to Cincinnati and my time working as a theme park consultant with International Theme Park Service (ITPS). When I was hired in September of 1995, I was fresh out of college with work experience that consisted of being at a theme park (Kings Island) mostly working with people my own age and behaving as one would expect young twenty somethings to do!

Enter Mrs. Jackie Renner!

Jackie was the VP of Administration for International Theme Park Services. I credit her for teaching me what being a professional looked like. I learned much from Jackie including the right way to communicate with people from around the world and other cultures, how to be complete in my preparation for client presentations, and how to be a loyal employee to my organization.

As my tenure at the organization increased, I found myself working more closely with Jackie on new business development. Her ability to judge people and know them quickly was something I admired.  When I did not understand the reason behind a process we followed, she was able to explain the why behind it and how the process made the business better. This is a lesson that I’ve never forgotten; always be able to explain your actions and how they can impact your business.

It’s really been over the last few years that the lessons I learned from Jackie have become even more important. My opportunities to interact with and show the next generation what professionalism means have increased. Each time I am complimented on how I handled something professionally or ensured some detail was taken care of, I think of Jackie and say a silent ‘thank you’ to her.

Now, I can say it aloud; thank you Jackie for showing me what being a professional should look like. It is something for which I am very grateful!

The first of these questions:

Who is someone who greatly influenced you in your early career?

While I love and miss Bloomington and so many people in it, there is no doubt that our decision to move was the best decision for our family. We have been very fortunate to land in a community (Portage/Kalamazoo) that is vibrant, found schools where our children can thrive, and remain close enough to see family and friends on a regular basis.

Our home requires us to embrace winter!

In this age of instant communication, remaining connected to my larger network is still amazingly easy. I’ve come to realize that people who some would only regard as HR colleagues or associates are truly my friends and a constant source of support. While that network has not grown in a local way as much as I wish, being able to reach out to friends in Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Virginia, California, and many other states gives me stability that others may not have.

Yet, there is still a feeling that there is more to be had by moving forward. It’s the pull of the unknown and the desire to add to my own life experience. My relentlessly positive outlook, while challenged at times, still tells me that moving forward is not only inevitable, but the best way to go.

Of course, there are limits to what can be done by any one person at any one time and part of progress involves letting go of the old in order to grasp the new. This recent trip to my old home, more so than others I’ve taken, has inspired me to examine what must go so that I can move ahead to the amazing things that await in the months and years ahead.

Several concrete steps are in process now. First, my home office, which I allowed to become a room to collect junk, has been rehabbed and is again a functional space. This post is being written while I enjoy being surrounded by the things that have molded me in my professional career.

Second, on a more personal note, is the execution of the kitchen remodel my wife and I have talked about since we moved to Michigan some two and a half years ago. Our cabinets are on order and a large check was written to get the process going.  We are both excited about this and look forward to modernizing the one area of our house that needs it desperately.

There will certainly be more change and growth to come and I look forward to the future and the promise it brings!

As I sit listening to these stories, the family history (both known and unknown) is fun and funny. Inevitably during our gatherings, something comes out that wasn’t previously known! Usually this results in hilarious times and lots of laughs. Getting to share memories is priceless and is important to perpetuate how we see ourselves and even can provide insight into how we view the world.

These lessons do not just apply to families but to organizations as well. Part of knowing the business is understanding the background of the decisions that have led to the current situation. Do not rely solely on what is happening in the present, but take a moment to grasp the bigger picture of the situation. One of the things that happens in poorly managed organizations when a project fails or a situation turns out poorly is a turn to blame and a focus on the bad result. To learn from this, it is important to look at the history of decision making that brought us to the current time. Bad results frequently are not the result on one bad choice or decision, but of a poor system or a series of mistakes.

Learning from mistakes first requires a willingness to admit something is wrong. It then takes the ability to step back and look at the entire process. History is important and learning from it is essential to making future decisions the most informed and best possible choices.