If I were to ask you what the value of this is, what is your answer?
Pretty simple – it’s $100. A nice crisp brand new bill. You would be able to give me one-hundred $1 bills, five – 20’s, or any other combination to come up with the magical $100.
Now, look at this picture …
What’s it worth?
This isn’t a trick question; the answer is the same.
No matter how wrinkled, crumbled, dirty, worn out, or torn, the value is still $100. Before you exchange it, you may need to stretch it out, maybe even wipe some of the dirt off it, in the end – it might never be as crisp as a new bill, but the value is $100.
This is where it gets interesting. Take a look at this next picture, and tell me the value.
Yes, wrinkled, crumbled, dirty, and maybe a bit worn out. But in the end, the value is the same as any other human on the planet.
As leaders, you will have a wide variety of people on your team. Some of them will look like that crisp $100 bill, others may be a hot mess. It is up to you to iron out the wrinkles and clean them up. Why would you value one over the other? Is it because one of them requires less work?
When you assess your team be objective. They all have the same intrinsic value. As a leader, it’s up to you to not only find that hidden value but then to enhance it.
There is a famous story about Andrew Carnegie. Along with the vast wealth that he created, at one time 43 Millionaires were working for him. Millionaires were quite rare in the 1800s. A reporter asked Carnegie how he had hired 43 millionaires. Carnegie responded that those men had not been millionaires when they started working for him but had become millionaires as a result.
The reporter's next question was, "How did you develop these men to become so valuable to you that you have paid them this much money?" Carnegie replied that men are developed the same way gold is mined. When gold is mined, several tons of dirt must be moved to get an ounce of gold, but one doesn't go into the mine looking for dirt - one goes in looking for the gold.
Each one of you is sitting on a mountain of gold. It’s up to you to sift thru the dirt and find it! It’s hard work today, but with the Kole Performance Group by your side, it will lead to a better tomorrow.