Attitude vs. Skill

EXCERT from The Christian Executive © 1998 by Ronald Rainson:

Employee's Attitude - Employees should bring two things to the job: a set of skills and the desire to use them. People don't often fail at a job because of their skills; those things are usually well defined and properly documented. An accountant doesn't fail to add or subtract correctly or even decide which account to charge to incorrectly unless he lied about his training. You don't need me to tell you what to do with someone who falsified their credentials. Failing to apply themselves is another matter.

Good Skills & Good Attitude - If a person has the appropriate skills and the desire to apply them to your projects, just get out of their way and let them do their job. If they have neither the skill or the desire, why did you hire them; let them go. You have a responsibility to the shareholders to properly manage the company. You also have a responsibility to the employees. Having determined that a person with skill and desire should be left alone and a person with neither should never have been hired, you're left with only two types of employees that need your attention.

Good Skills & Poor Attitude - You may have some employees that have great skill sets but bad attitudes. They won't apply themselves and they corrupt others. I will work with them at least long enough to find out why they aren't willing to support the firm. It could be some misunderstanding. If you can't figure it out and they won't tell you. They need to go. I have found that most often bad attitude and an unwillingness to support the company's objectives results from their being under-challenged.

Industry can hire a person with a BS in Engineering for almost the same as an electrician and they do so even if they don't need an engineer. Many graduate engineers are assigned to work that a technician could not only do better but he would be proud of the work and excited about getting up everyday. I've seen a lot of engineers in technicians jobs and I've seen a lot of Ph.D. Chemists doing routine lab work. Not only is it a waste of money it is a waste of spirit. Make sure your employees are challenged; make sure they have to stretch to get the job done. Can you imagine how the Apostle Peter felt? One day fishing for fish; the next fishing for men. He was challenged and he rose to the occasion. Had Jesus asked the High Priest Caiaphas I wonder what kind of an attitude he'd have had. You certainly couldn't have told him much yet he certainly had the better resume.

Poor Skills but Good Attitude - The person that needs a little work on their skills but really wants to do a good job is the one I spend serious time on. I have, for example, found natural leaders among organized labor and though they lacked the formal training that would make them a logical choice for management, they have been promoted, given some additional training and done a great job. Remember, leadership can't be trained into you anyway.

There are few compensations for a manager today but one of the best rewards for me is the discovery of a diamond in the rough - you have to find them and reveal them to the world.