February 15, 2021
I’m going to bring up one word that will divide this moment of thought. A word that business leaders feel is of importance while those serving feel increasingly horrible about. A single word that’s going to crash our souls because we’ve spent a year out here keeping the company alive without having to make the drive. Evaluation. I’ve never understood why we visibly have to live up to an expectation that may be great today but a total weakness tomorrow. An evaluation is judgment. A free pass to show the weight of the mass making the calling. It’s nothing more than an opinion. Wait! This isn’t a boss bashing! Each and every one of us are extremely guilty of keeping the definition of evaluation alive. I judge an email before opening it. I see a coworker or department head out in the real world walking in my direction carrying a frumpy frail sense of body language and I dive completely off the path of success. You don’t need me to remind you of how social media has turned us all into takers. If we don’t like what we chose to receive we’ve got no problem to evaluate it. On a personal level it’s always been very difficult for me to digest an outsider’s point of view. They weren’t living in my shoes. We’re instantly poisoned. Shaken up. Frozen in time. While the giver walks away like nothing has happened, you’re stuck feet first in a jar of nothingness because the evaluation is tearing up your inner source of energy. Sadly, I must ask. How many evaluations from the 1980’s and 90’s are you still carrying? There are things my father said when I was a kid that keeps me from reaching forward 50 years into the story. Evaluations. What will the business world look like post Covid 19? We’ve already proven we can do it on our own. How valuable is that to the next generation company? I’m blessed with the opportunity to be on the frontline eight to twelve hours a day six days a week. Blessed because I’m watching you. Is this an evaluation? I hope you don’t feel that way. My choice is to listen not invite judgement. To say, “You’re doing better than you assume!” Is that an evaluation? If so, then mentioning, “I’m proud of you for being the Mayor of your inner city environment. Working from home with a house full of kids struggling to be students.” I see value in your steps. I offer no evaluation because your worth to world is priceless. This is the dawning of a new age. Stop the evaluations. The world stopped in March of 2020. Picking it back up requires equal respect and behavior.