“Bad leaders believe their team works for them. Great leaders believe they work their team.” -Alexander den Heijer

I’ve been thinking a lot about leadership lately. I feel like I am in a great place to be a great leader, and that’s a lot coming from a guy who many would probably consider a staunch follower.

I really didn’t live and plan my life with a lot of direction. I was (and still am sometimes) a very emotional guy and let me emotions control many of my decisions. I didn’t have a strict career path to follow. I always wanted to be a creative worker, and I took day jobs just to pay the bills, but my heart and passion were never really in them.

One thing that process showed me was the difference between great leaders and bad leaders. There were some jobs where I thrived at because I respected the people I worked for. And there were some jobs I despised, because I didn’t respect the boss.

Respect is huge to me. From a young age, I remember watching my Grandpa Jim and my Father conduct themselves as men every day. They both were pillars of respect. Do your job, do it well and do it for those who would do it for you.

I was pretty irresponsible with my finances as a young man. I was smart enough to know how to live within my means, but I never had the drive to plan out my career because I wanted to be a writer, a speaker and a musician. With that attitude, I didn’t feel the need to be cog in the wheel where I didn’t find my work was being appreciated.

If I felt like I was just a number, my give-a-fuck level would plummet. If the head-honchos showed a genuine interest in their employees, I’d work myself to the bone for those people.

Now, I’m not going to name names one way or the other, until the time comes to write this book and I get proper permission. But I will tell a few stories that meant a lot to me on each side of the spectrum.

I worked for a local company in my hometown in my early-to-mid twenties, and I absolutely loved it. At the time, I just needed a job and I always knew I could labour. I considered it getting paid to be active. I was trying to play music for a living, but it wasn’t paying the bills.

I’ll never forget how one of the employees was a Filipino man who had worked there for a few years and he told me how the owners were really good to him and his wife. It was his birthday and the owner gave him a hand-written card with a $100 gift card to The Keg Steakhouse. Right then I knew I would really love this place. That’s an owner who doesn’t just see his employees as a number. He understood that these people are what make his business work and he appreciated them for all they do.

As soon as I heard that, I made it my mission to reward that owner by exceeding my day to day efforts. I worked many different areas at that job, and only left it when my ex-wife and I had to move to her hometown for her job.

When we moved to her hometown I got a job at a mill a mere 45-minute drive away. It was shift work, which was something I had never done before. Long 12 hour days. I was green and nervous, but the wage was vastly more than I had ever been offered before, so I sucked it up. I was so nervous when I had my first day and introduced myself to my team lead. He seemed like a roughneck and tough-as-nails old school guy, so Immediately I was judging the cover of his book.

My first day of the second shift, he genuinely seemed interested in how I spent my days off. Then he asked me what skills I had from previous jobs so he could put me in a position where I could succeed. Over the next few months, I worked really hard and he noticed. Then one day while we were having some mechanical failures, we had to process a bunch of boards manually. Instead of having a team lead who barked orders, my team lead was getting his hands dirty right along side us. He didn’t just expect respect from his employees, he earned it.

To this day I refer to him as my mentor. He showed me exactly who I wanted to be in any workforce and I will forever be grateful to him. He’s offered me jobs a couple times since he left, and if the timing was right I wouldn’t have taken a second to say yes. He eventually left because he felt he was being undervalued by the head-honchos, and when they wouldn’t meet the price he was asking for to stay, he walked. He’s a badass and I will always follow his moral code.

At that same mill job, I worked my way up to a management position in the shipping office. I went from working alongside my shippers, to being their boss. This is where I found out what kind of leader I would be. I asked a lot of my guys and girls, but never asked them for something I wouldn’t do myself. They knew I had done the job and they knew they couldn’t get away with excuses with me. I think I upset a few of them from time to time, but I don’t believe I ever lost their respect.

I left that job after my marriage fell apart, but it wasn’t the only reason. The big bosses didn’t seem to notice the extra efforts I was putting in and that was the last straw. I worked Christmas day to make sure we wouldn’t have to shut the mill down. The previous CN switch was missed and our mill was almost at full capacity. It wasn’t my fault, but I took on the responsibility. That’s what a great leader does right?

My day shipper and shift shipper both had taken the day off, so I had to find somebody who would work on Christmas day from 7am to 7pm. A pretty tall order. I found a backup shift shipper who would do it, and him and I loaded all 16 rail cards in the 12-hour shift. I bought the 22-year-old kid a case of beer as a thank you off the books.

When I came back to work on the 27th, it was like nothing happened. My direct supervisor slightly mentioned “oh wow, good job,” but that was it. That was it??? Are you fucking kidding me? We busted our asses on fucking Christmas and that’s all we get? We saved the company six figures and that’s all? I was soured big time from that experience. The only good thing to come of that was the fact that I use this story in all my job interviews as an answer to the question; Can you tell me a time you went above and beyond?

Today, I am ready to embrace a role where I have more responsibility. I will take on a lot and go above and beyond when I’m working, but if I feel like i’m not being appreciated or recognized for the value I am putting out, I don’t care as much. That’s the problem with a lot of bosses and companies nowadays, they don’t appreciate their grunts the way they should.

I love teaching, and in many of my roles I have taught a lot of people. I don’t just show the tasks, I show the ethic. I believe teaching a worker the job is also about teaching the person. I stand by the idea that I don’t want to be listened to if I haven’t first earned the person’s respect.

I recently updated my resume, not because I am actively looking to leave my current job, but because I am getting the universe ready for what the next step is in my career path. I’m ready to take on a leadership role, and if that is not available or the right fit for where i’m currently at, I have to put it out into the universe.

My updated resume begins with a summary where I vehemently state that I’m looking for a managerial opportunity where I can flex my strong work ethic and leadership skills. I believe I am going to be a great asset to the company that gives me a chance. It’s already mine.

If you read this and you’re in a position of power, I encourage you to think genuinely about what your employees think of you. If you’re a boss and you’re fair, they will probably say great things about you, but if you think your employees bitch about you and hate you, YOU need to make the change. Not them.

If you read this and you are an employee, I encourage you to think about how you feel treated by your superiors. If you do your job well and work hard and don’t feel like you’re being appreciated, you need to do inventory on if you are fine staying in that struggle.

The workforce is a big part of our lives, and we don’t have to have our livelihoods consisting of stress and displeasure. We all have to work, and we should be able to do our jobs with pride and without animosity.

Nobody is gonna save you, you set the standard, and you should want to be a leader. We need more great leaders in our world.