TIP

21The TIP Jar (Continued)

Brian sat at his desk, holding the glass tip jar and remembering how he had felt standing outside Crossroads that evening, 12 years earlier. Opportunity. That, he concluded, was the difference maker in his career. He looked at every decision as an opportunity to either prove the value he had, or learn a new skill to upgrade the value he could bring.

Today would be another crossroads in his life. A chance to take on a new challenge. He wasn’t a perfect candidate for the CEO role, just like his first job with the company. He had qualities that someone saw as valuable, qualities that would be the foundation for something more. As he moved up the ranks of the organization, and started to hire his own people, he remembered to hire for attitude. Hire for potential value. We can train. We can add the technical skills. Hire the hungry. Hire those with something to prove.

He thought about that first job. He was so hungry that first day he walked into the hotel in midtown as a corporate sales manager. He vowed never to take a growth opportunity for granted. Whatever it took, he would do it . . . and he did. No one rose through the company as fast as he did. Some would say he should have waited his turn. Others in the organization had more experience and paid their dues. And who the heck was he to even be in the running for CEO? But Brian didn’t care. He wasn’t there to make friends with people who put politics over performance and purpose. He was there to add ...