Dorrier Underwood

Today, after connecting on many points with a fabulous candidate for our team, I asked him:  “Harry, what would take me a long time to find out about you, the good and the bad?” Without hesitation, he told me about his music career and his deep abiding love for his parents, his love of cooking and holding dinnertime sacred with his family, and the Friday night Seders where everyone comes, even the teenagers. When I said, “And the bad,” he said without hesitation: “I don’t write things down. In the moment, I am not thinking of the future moment when I will need the information, and that has gotten me in trouble. I’m also more afraid than I look like.  I am filled with fear.”  He said it with a little catch in his throat, being afraid as he said it.  It was totally authentic, and I got it. I shared that I too was afraid. And I shared that, as consultants, we know it’s universal; it’s not personal, and it is everywhere. And we pretend it is nowhere. “So write this down,” I say,

Love at work Not the kind like on Mad Men, which isn’t love, but sex and drinking on the ad men’s couches.  Back in the 1960s. Now 2013. Love like we are in this together. We are in this moment together and we can’t say it, can’t give it a name. Love like I WILL brief you generously and be transparent and tell you everything (vs. hide bad news from you, hide my contrary ideas from you, hide my input that I am afraid will get me in trouble). Love like I WILL hold you to account and correct you and raise my voice but never will lose respect and regard for you.  I respect you. I value your opinion, especially if it is different from mine. Love, like I WILL apologize. Love like, I love coming to work here. It is difficult and challenging and not a cake walk for sure, but it is where I belong, where I am listened to, where I can make a huge difference and have a great job. Love like I see you. Welcome, come here and lift your pencil, Or fix that machine Or sell those fan