The Patient Organization by Walt Brown

INTRODUCTION: ENGAGEMENT, DISCOVERY AND THE MILLENNIAL MYTH ENGAGEMENT It is told that Distinguished 17th Century architect Sir Christopher Wren, shared a story about Employee Engagement. Yes, there was interest in employee engagement in the year, 1678. Wren, who was highly regarded for many of London's finest church designs, was visiting the job site of his St. Paul's Cathedral project in London. His visit took him to the stone mason's pit. He came upon a mason and asked: "What are you doing?" the worker answered: "I am cutting these stones to a certain size and shape." He asked the same question of a second worker and the worker answered, "I am cutting stones for a certain wage." He came to a third mason and asked the question again. This time the worker got up from his work, straightened himself and replied: "I am helping Sir Christopher Wren build St. Paul's Cathedral." This story hits my heart every time I think about it because it is exactly the world and situation I am trying to help my clients create. I want their folks to stand tall and say, "I am helping John build the best company he can, I am not anonymous or irrelevant." On the scale of engagement, who would you say was the most engaged mason? In our world of ICI (instant competitor imitation*), the one thing that cannot be instantly copied are engaged employees. You know who they are, they are your folks who believe in your vision, assume accountability, live in a productive reasoning mode, are not fearful and defensive; who stand up, hold their shoulders back and say I am part of the team and we are doing this. I train owners and leaders in the use of tools that allow them to consistently hire and motivate employees who stand tall and think of their work as more than their job. They are teammates on a team driving to a common vision, a common goal. * ICI - Instant Competitor Imitation: I lived in this world, my company, Layline, was the industry thought leader and what came with this were imit