The Immensity of the Sea

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and assign tasks…teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea…Antoine de Saint Exupéry

This statement represents the essence of good management. Your manager needs to teach you and your coworkers about the immensity of the sea. If he isn’t, don’t expect much concern from him for your career and personal development. He’s not that interested in engaging your passion and talent. Instead he’s just focused on getting more work done.

What is the Immensity of the Sea?

This is the part of work that engages your talents with your passion. It is the area of work where you get meaning from your efforts and your manager gets meaning from engaging you and reaps the reward of your efforts. Not only do you get the internal rewards and meaning associated with work well done, you get internal rewards from helping other people.

The ways in which you help others can be defined in countless ways. It might be the feeling they get when they look into their beautifully landscaped yard, it might be the relief they feel when their computer is back online, it might be the efficiencies they receive from a redesigned kitchen or it might be the relief felt when a plumbing system is working and raw sewage is no longer floating about in their house. Your customers are feeling very good about your efforts and you’re on cloud nine when they show their appreciation.

Your manager needs to guide you and your coworkers towards the immensity of the sea. For on your way there, your spirit and enagement will get more work done for him, more effectively than he could ever dream possible.