Happy Friday!
Happy August! It’s hard to believe we’re cruising through summer so quickly! At Amazing Workplace, August is the month of “Work Hard.”
For this newsletter, we had planned to talk about the concept of “work smarter, not harder.” But then at our morning meeting, the idea of “hard work beats talent” came up. Thanks, Mike, for bringing up this idea!
So, what does “hard work beats talent” mean?
Through dedication, perseverance, and yes, hard work, anyone can accomplish the same amount of success (if not more) than those who are naturally talented. People who are naturally talented may be at an advantage, but this doesn’t guarantee success. Even the most talented person will be limited in what they accomplish unless they choose to work hard.
Those talented individuals who do choose to work hard and continue developing their skill have the potential for near-unlimited success.
Consider Michael Jordan, the professional basketball player who had a career so successful it seemed like there was nothing he couldn’t accomplish. We all know Michael Jordan as one of basketball’s greats, but Jordan didn’t start out that way. As a sophomore in high school, Jordan was cut from the varsity team. Instead of giving up, he chose to work hard and improve. This commitment paid off and he made the varsity team in his senior year of high school, then went on to play college ball at the University of North Carolina. In 1984 Jordan was the third pick in the NBA draft.
The hard work didn’t stop once he was drafted. Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships, winning MVP more than once. He led the league in scoring ten times and was an excellent defender. All the while, Jordan was practicing three to five hours a day, seeking out practice partners who were the best at helping him sharpen the specific skills he wanted to improve. Hard work is how Michael Jordan defied the limits of what was possible for a basketball player to accomplish.
Imagine if he had quit when he was cut back in high school.
Everybody has talent, but ability takes hard work. – Michael Jordan
Let’s work hard this month and turn talent into ability.
Our best,
The Amazing Workplace Team
Did you know…
The Amazing Workplace client success team is always here to help?
When you call or send us an email, you’ll reach a real person every time. Our client success team is ready to assist, whether you need something in our People Platform, HR Made Easy, or just have an HR question and don’t know where to start.
So, don’t be shy. Say hi to delivery@amazingworkplace.com.
Employee Handbooks
You have one, but do people actually read it?
It’s a lot of work to create an employee handbook that covers all of the required information. Then when you give a handbook to a new employee, you know they might not actually read it. They might read it, or they might skim it and never look at it again. That’s not good when there is so much information employees need to understand.
With HR Made Easy, we create an employee handbook with you to cover all the bases, reduce employment risks, and fit your organization’s individual needs. Then we give you the power present your handbook in an engaging, online portal with video guidance and an easy-to-understand format! No skimming, just understanding.
Amazing Insights
Happy employees simply work harder
Employee Happiness® isn’t just a nice-to-have. Happier employees are more dedicated, more innovative, and bounce back from challenges better. But there is more. The University of Oxford studied the positive impacts of happy employees and concluded that employees are 13% more productive when they are happy. The results of the study showed that happy employees work faster, complete more tasks each day, and succeed at their tasks more often.
We often say that Employee Happiness is the foundation of a truly successful organization. The research backs it up, because the happier team is always going to outwork the competition who doesn’t value employee happiness.
Have you done an Employee Happiness Conversation with Amazing Workplace yet?
