Guest Post from Olivia Telschow, NAFDMA Board Member

It’s that time of year you almost dread. We’ve all experienced it… You get an email, a phone call or worse yet, a car pulls into the driveway and a father gets out and asks you to hire his 14 year old son. You feel obligated to, yet you know it’s going to be an uphill challenge all summer long. 

14 year old boys are tough. They come to you scrawny, wearing ear buds, cell phone in hand with very few skills. He really doesn’t want to work but dad thinks he needs a job. 

That’s exactly how I met Ethan four years ago. I was secretly hoping he wouldn’t show up to orientation, but he did and sat through orientation with the other new hires with a blank look on his face, a baseball cap on with his overgrown bangs in his eyes. I described our values, what goals I had for our new hires and how I expected each one of them to develop leadership skills they would be able to use throughout life. 

 Ethans dad dropped him off and picked him up everyday that summer. After just about every shift, his dad would ask me, “how is he doing?” I dreaded that question but would always answer with, “he’s going to be a great worker.” I never told him that Ethan used 15 gallons of paint to paint a fence that typically only uses 6 gallons. I didn’t tell him that he broke the gear box on the lawnmower by mowing over 3 year old maple trees in the parking lot. I didn’t tell him that he splattered stain all over the side of our farm store and it took him 6 hours and 12 magic erasers to clean up his mess. I didn’t tell him he put gasoline in the diesel lawnmower. I didn’t tell him about countless mistakes his son made, rather I always smiled and gave the same answer, “he’s going to be a great worker.”

 Ethan came back year after year for the next 4 years. Every summer getting taller, stronger, more confident. He required less and less of my time and mistakes were few and far in between. I overheard him one day talking with a customer, he was sharing with them why Dutch Apple Pie was his favorite, it was then I realized just how much Ethan had grown over the years and how valuable he was to our team.

 Ethan graduated from High school this spring, he came to tell me in person that he wouldn’t be able to work for me this summer as he had accepted a job with the county highway department and then would be leaving for college in the fall. I wished him best wishes in his future endeavors and told him I hope he learned some valuable skills during his employment with us.

 Ethan shocked me with his response. “I learned, true leaders always practice grace.” I must have had a strange look on my face, he went on to say, “you never complained to my dad about all the mistakes I made, you always told him I was going to be a great worker, thank you.”

 Ethan taught me so many valuable lessons on how to become a better leader. Last week, I took a deep breath before hosting orientation for our new employees. I looked across the room, this time seeing those young faces as a blank slate with so much potential!