Yesterday morning my 17 year old decides to shake up her routine a little. She’s up at 6:15 am – out for a run and ready to hit the bus for school at 7:45. Her 13 year old brother, who is usually the one waiting for her, has the tables turned on him.

My daughter sits at the kitchen counter waiting for younger sib. Irritated by his homework spread over the surface she comments that she had never realized how annoying it is when someone (?) leaves papers and binders in the common area.
Her brother is tardy – she goes to the bottom of the stairs to give him a yell.

“Gosh mum”, she says, “I think I now understand why you get frustrated with me when I’m late.”

Eureka!

There is nothing like experience to help people learn important life lessons. All too often we expect employees to get it when we tell them, when in reality the best lesson will be the one they take from their own experiences.

Memo to managers: We need to get out of the way and let our employees learn from life. Our role is to help them make the connections.