Saving Starfish

Saving Starfish, that's how we began, now we are treasure hunters.

What in the world does that mean? Well personally as the lead coach for IHI Coaching this journey began with a story I heard back when I was around 7 years old at a school assembly:

A man walking on the beach, every so many steps bends over and picks something up and throws it into the ocean. While the man walks along the beach a young boy watches him; perplexed, he goes over and asks the man what he's doing. The man responds that he is saving starfish. The boy as if for the first time being made aware of starfish on the shore looks around and says, "There are way too many! You will never save them all."

The man responds, "You're right." With a smile he bends over and grabs a starfish and throws it into the ocean. "I saved that one though."

Many people stop the story there but the ending is that the little boy stands there for a few moments, looks at the man, then to the starfish, then finally to the ocean. After another moment he runs and catches up to the man and walks alongside of him and starts saving starfish as well.

I remember sitting in the cafeteria crying horribly thinking that I needed to leave that exact moment and save starfish.

As I grew up, I noticed that I had a talent for seeing what people were passionate about, I called it people's "Come alive point." For me it was if I was watching an EKG machine next to a person and seeing when their heart would start beating. The problem was, I began to notice more often then not, there was nothing about their come alive point that had anything to do with what they did for a living, as a hobby or any part of their lives for that matter. That bothered me terribly. What was worse, I would watch the fire in people's eyes slowly become extinguished one drop of daily life at a time. I couldn't understand how or why this was allowed in the world.

Then I became an adult...

After having gotten into some trouble, combined with a down turned economy mixed with having not finished any college, I was applying for 4 jobs everyday to no avail. After just a month and a half, I was looking at more than 900 job applications. I didn't care if it was McDonald's - The CEO of a bank; If they were hiring, they got my application.

Finally I found a company that built roofing truss (that's the "A" frame under your roof on your house). It was the worst job I've ever had. The work was terrible but that wasn't the thing that was sucking the life out of me. One day I nicked a vein in my hand and was bleeding everywhere. I went to the manager who was the owner's brother and asked if I could go to the hospital to get stitches at which point the manager responded, "Is this going to be a workers comp issue?"

Of course it should have been but I was so desperate for the job I said, "NO! I just want to stop bleeding."

That was the season of my life I learned how so many people could live in the same life-stifling, passion-snuffing cycle everyday.

Fortunately I was laid off from that company and found myself desperate for a job again. After reaching out to a friend, I was connected to a man who owned an electrical contracting company. He had also gone through layoffs so he said he could only offer $10.00 per hour for 10 hours a week. I gladly accepted the offer and began organizing a very large warehouse. I wasn't fond of the work but I loved my job...

Somewhere around 3 months into my job, the senior VP called me into her office and asked me to sit down.

She says, "What is this I hear about your motorcycle tires?"

I responded hesitantly, "Nothing..."

She said, "I understand they are balding? Why haven't you bought new tires?"

I told her they were going to be a little over $700.00 and I couldn't come up with that kind of money at the moment.

Her response changed my life, as simple as it seems, she said, "After work, you are going to go your motorcycle shop and order new tires. You will have them call my cell and I will pay for them."

Dumbfounded I argued that there was no reason for her to do that because I don't drive for the company, and reminded her that they were going to be over $700.00

Her response caused a short circuit in my brain, "You work for us so your safety is important regardless of whether you are at work or driving around off the clock."

This was the first time I experienced an organizational culture that knew the concept, take care of your employees and they will be loyal and hard working.

I decided to go back to school and find out what the difference was between the two jobs and learn how to implement the adjustments everywhere. I have this belief that a person who feel honored at work and treated like a human being will be better at home and in their community. As they are better in those arenas, those they impact will respond well to that individual; "Approach determines response." As a result of the employee being treated well outside of work, they are able to handle greater stresses at work. They will do even better at work as an employee. As a better employee they will be rewarded at work - feel better - go home happier - treat their family and community better- the community and family will treat them better and so the synergistic cycle of growth and effectiveness continues on and on.

I finished my BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Organizational Leadership then I moved on to getting an MS in Organizational Leadership. From there I created Ignite Hope International, an executive coaching and consulting company.

I will be finishing my MA in Executive Coaching and Consulting in the summer.

Based on reasons that are probably obvious from my story, my primary focus is on organizational health. I work one-on-one with employees to help align them with a healthy direction for the entire company.

I used to want to save starfish, now I hunt for the treasure in people and show them how to save starfish.

Thank you for reading, this is my first blog post, if there are questions you have I would love to hear from you and I will work on getting responses posted online for you.