Stassen on Being a Part of the Team

We’ve watched two national political conventions, and now we’re watching two sets of candidates do everything they can to win the ’08 presidential election.  Although Harold Stassen isn’t mentioned much any more, he was for a long time when the parties were choosing their candidates. 

After being Governor of Minnesota, he ran for the Republican presidential nomination nine–yes, nine–times, beginning in 1948.  He was considered a somewhat serious candidate the first two times, but after running over and over again with no chance of winning, his name was the source of derision.  I suppose we can say he was persistent and he learned how to lose.

He said a lot of things over a long period of time.  I came across something that probably wasn’t meant for the workplace when Stassen said it, but his words speak loudly to workplace leaders.  Your employees want to be part of the team.  They want you to treat them as part of the team.  They want to know what’s going on.  They want to have a voice in what’s going on.  Employees at all levels of an organization have ideas–some of them brilliant.  But they’re not asked.  They’re not included.  They’re told they’re part of the team but know they’re not.

Here’s what Stassen said that places an exclamation point on being part of the team:

“I don’t care to be involved in the crash landing unless I can be in on the take off.”