Last night we met with some friends in business to share perspectives, review the year past and to chat about future strategies as 2010 looms ever closer…  As always with these particular folks, our discussions are fraught with new ideas to explore and thoughts to ponder…  stimulating our minds and enthusiasm to learn more!  One of the topics of conversation last evening, focused on a television show that our friend watched, wherein the speaker discussed what makes a good employee…  the speaker turned out to be Howard Gardner, a Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education with the Harvard Graduate School of Business.  Mr. Gardner was asked that very question - what makes a good employee and he called it the "Three E's"…  Excellence, Engagement and Ethics…  

Not being familiar with Mr. Gardner's work, I was already intrigued by the Three E's that he selected and our friend's interpretation of that discussion.  Always with an interest in anything at all relating to good Leadership, our long ride home was interspersed with thoughts on what those Three E's meant to us as employees, as Managers, as Business Owners, and as family…  (albeit I must confess, our conversation was abruptly interrupted for a half an hour or so when our truck and a deer both met with some suddenness and unfortunately neither fared well over the meeting…  but that is a story for another time!)

Before accessing the web to learn more about Mr. Gardner and his work, I wanted to explore my own thoughts on those Three E's and to not just focus on them from a leadership perspective when it comes to "what makes a good employee" but to challenge that thought further and ask "what makes a good company", "what makes a good EMC Member", "what makes a good participant in the Community, on Boards, in School as our public representatives…" and so forth.

It comes to mind that although we each have some degree of the qualities above in our lives and our businesses, there are those people and organizations who truly exemplify these "Three E's"…  you know them as well as I… 

*  They are the folks that you go to to get something done…  
*  They have the opinions that you know will be all encompassing and team oriented and that you can accept as being original and honest and down to earth…
*  They are the people that excite you and motivate you and inspire you to be creative, innovative, original and energetic… 
*  They are businesses that you look at and wonder how or where on earth could they have thought of such a unique idea or the ones that have pushed that boundary just a bit further to capture a market share we did know existed...  
*  They are companies that may be on the Employers Choice Lists because they have engaged their people to such a degree that you want to be part of their team as well…  
*  They are companies that you can learn from but also companies that are willing and earnestly wanting to learn from you…  
*  They give but take so little back…  their pleasure comes in helping others succeed…  
*  They are involved in their Communities, their schools, their Sectors…  
*  They network wherever they go, meeting people, learning where they can, visiting when possible, online and off and they make themselves accessible to others…

Ironically enough, one of my tasks this morning was to connect a Food Sector Company who has some warehousing and distribution issues with some of our Members who may have experiences and best practices to share that could aid this particular Manufacturer.  Once that request was released, almost immediately, I had Members say that they would be more than willing to assist by sharing their experiences…  And every day, as our Field Service Advisors and EMC Canada Team in Owen Sound bring and connect people together, I cannot but help think of Excellence, Engagement and Ethics as those companies we connect demonstrate their excellence in some aspect of business, their engagement in earnest interest in a company not known to them and their ethics in helping another business succeed by sharing their experiences willingly.  Indeed, every one of our EMC Canada Team is honoured and proud to work with our 900 Consortium Members across the Provinces and admire their efforts to "do the work that makes us feel good" and in our case, that directly centres on helping others succeed.

Mr. Gardner authored an article "With Passion and Responsibility:  Why it is not only possible to carry out good work in turbulent times, but more important than ever."  In this article, he discusses work - "the work we want to do, we like to do, and that which needs to be done well."  He discusses what good work is and the fundamentals, of course, are the three E's mentioned above.  He speaks of the importance of "keeping all three E's alive" at the same time and he provides an example for that of a worker and that of a business executive.  It's an interesting article and if perchance you are interested in learning more about Mr. Gardner and his work, you can download an adobe version of his paper at:   http://www.ezifocus.com/content/thefocus/issue/article.php/article/71500013.  You can also catch a 30 minute interview with him on the web site http://bigthink.com/howardgardner/big-think-interview-with-howard-gardner.  

There are so many things that those three words can conjure up in our minds…  so many ways in which they can make an impact on our lives and businesses…  So, how does Excellence, Engagement and Ethics fall into your good work practices, into your daily activities?  What do the Three E's mean to you as an Employee, a Business Owner, a Leader, a family member, a Community, Board or Sector Representative?  How are you keeping those Three E's "alive"?

Watch out for deer on the road!

Have a fabulous week!

Ciao!

Bren