Speak Well of Him
Written By Grady Brown
Early this summer, I took a trip overseas. As we flew over the Atlantic Ocean, I looked out the airplane window at the vast seascape of dark blue water below. My thoughts reflected on early European explorers who sailed on the waters below me, fishermen with their nets in search of a catch, passenger ships, and of war ships with their various military assignments. I readily admit that some of this thinking was to distract my thoughts from feeling helpless and vulnerable, while at 30,000 feet above such a large ocean.
One of the ships that sailed in the waters below me was the RMS Lusitania. This was a British passenger ship that first set sail in 1906 and could carry 2,000 passengers, and about 850 crew. Like the famous Titanic (sunk three years earlier), she symbolized modern engineering and international travel. In May of 1915, the Lusitania was attacked by a German submarine and sunk in less than 20 minutes, ending the lives of 1,198 passengers including 128 Americans. Two of those Americans were, Elbert Hubbard and his wife Alice.
Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915), was a writer, publisher, philosopher, lecturer, entrepreneur and businessman. I likely wouldn’t remember Elbert if not for his stirring quote that I saw many years ago. It reads:
“If you work for a man, in Heaven’s name work for him; speak well of him and stand by the institution he represents. If you must growl, condemn, and eternally find fault, resign your position and when you are on the outside, damn to your heart’s content. But as long as you are a part of the institution, do not condemn it.”
Elbert Hubbard captures an important concept here that is often lost in our busy professional and personal lives. I’ve been spending my days in the field of human resource administration now for nearly 35 years. Most of these years have been in executive roles which have provided good visibility into the comings and goings of many employees. Employee separations are the result of many, and varied circumstances. Some are performance related, many are driven by changing personal circumstances, and others come because of a changed work environment that creates ill-suited conditions. I don’t think all employee turnover is bad. In many cases, an employee’s professional growth and capacity to contribute to the organization outpaces the company’s ability to provide a suitable position. When employees leave for this reason, the company should use this opportunity to celebrate the growth of the departing employee and examine if any more could have been done organizationally to create a longer lasting role. Back to Elbert’s observation, when employees are overly critical of company leadership and decision making, they weaken the very ties that connect them to their employers.
Not long ago, I visited one of our remote office locations. Once there I found many committed and hard-working employees, as well as some who seemed to only have complaints about their employment. It seems fair to me to ask the penetrating question of this latter group; why are you still here? If you are showing up each day and being paid for your time, let that time be spent in support of, and advancing in some way, the goals of the organization. Now, I encourage all employees to speak up and give their input about better and more effective ways of doing their jobs. Cost savings suggestions, efficiency ideas, and supportive input are always welcome. But to continually harp on the negative is not helpful in the least. I favor the adage and perspective of being part of the solution to problems, of building rather than tearing down, and assuming positive intent rather than negative intent. It is in these ways that employees become truly woven into the fabric of their departments, organizations and the companies where they work.
One last thought on this subject. When the inevitable organizational changes happen, it will be these employees who find themselves still tethered to the company. Though Elbert Hubbard met an early and untimely death, his admonition, “If you work for a man, in Heaven’s name work for him; speak well of him and stand by the institution he represents,” remains as true now, as it did then.
