As the Memorial Holiday approaches, I began to think of those who are now gone from my life - loved ones, friends, peers, and mentors. Memories of joy, pain, laughter, and conflict. It is a clear reminder that on my journey in life I can choose to live in the past, or live in today with anticipation of tomorrow.
Employee owners in ESOP companies have the same types of memories about their organization, past leaders, peers, service providers and customers. In most organizations there those employee owners who hold onto the past and are in fear or cynical about the organization as it is today, as well as it's future. It is very likely they compare events in the organization today to those of the past with comments such as "That would have never happened in the old days" - "Work was more fun back then" - "They would have never treated us this way back then" etc, etc.... They may have been mistreated, overlooked for promotion, or victim to a variety of other unfair events, but they clearly are living in the past.
I believe that the key to the past is to learn from it, forgive the bad, and re-live the wonderful stories once in a while. This applies to individuals and organizations. To help individuals and organizations achieve this there must meaning in what they do today, a clear link between today's activities and a promising future, and that they have the means and tools for both to happen. There will be many important choices that will need to be made for all of this to transpire, but the most important one is this:
Choose to close the doors of days gone by in a meaningful way, so that all of the doors for today and tomorrow are wide open.
Enjoy your memories this holiday!
Flickr photo by christmasnotebook