I must profess: This American Life is the most amazing media outlet that exists today. Period. The stories are moving, insightful, fun, and educational in a gentle way. I love TAL so much, that I listen to it at the gym. I listen to it when I go for walks. I listen to it when I’m on a long drive in the car. In fact, one of the few times I don’t listen is when it normally airs (I love technology).
Anyway, I went for a walk today and listened to about 1/3 of this fantastic episode from August 12th.
It’s the story of a young man who grew up loving amusement parks, and is now a manager at one. If you want to see what passion for a job looks like, look at this guy.
For example, he does this great training videos:
The guy has one of the hardest jobs ever: managing teenagers. And he does it. Flaw-less-ly.
One of the hardest things to do at times is being enthusiastic, and revving up your employees. But revving them up is only part of the story. What makes this guy so great is that he also empowers his employees while also setting boundaries. His incentives are in line with the amusement park’s brand, which makes it all so darn perfect.
It really got me wondering: How am I going to empower (and rev up) my employees?