Pot of Coffee
Now I know what you’re thinking… and no. I am not writing about coffee brewing, although I am a coffee snob and may eventually do so in the future. This is about an idea, a concept, that I picked up a long time ago and has been reiterated in my career and life. It recently came up in a movie and I found it comical, but important, how often this comes up in our day to day lives. Let’s talk.
The movie is called, The Intern. It’s got some big names in the film including Robert Dinero and Anne Hathaway, where Anne is the founder and CEO of a startup company who, on a miscommunication, end up hiring an older gentleman (Dinero) for an intern position. In one of the first shots of the movie, Anne is on the phone in the customer service department speaking with a customer about an issue regarding an order gone wrong. Now, most people may brush over this scene, but it is very intentional. It sets the precedent for the type of person who this character is, what is important to her. Then, reiterated throughout the movie, she is constantly in contact with all departments and always interjecting and putting herself in different departments to ensure her company, image, and brand are being correctly represented and that employees understand what her vision and standards are. At one point in the movie they are discussing bringing in an additional CEO to help her run the day to day operations of the company and ultimately they realize that she is the only one who can run her company. She is the one who has her finger on the pulse of what is going on and the only one with a true understanding and capability of seeing out her mission and vision.
So, this movie made me reflect back to an internship I had in college my junior year. I had spent the previous summer working in California for a large manufacturing company where I basically was a glorified receptionist and janitor. So, I decided to try something different the next summer, this time in Denver. It was with a distributor, where I had a way better structure surrounding the internship including all areas of the company. I had an amazing time and met some great people, while also learning some important lessons. One of which came from a recurring Monday morning meeting. Once a week, the managers of respective teams and the sales force met with the manager of the branch to discuss projects, bids, etc. This morning though the manager came in and was slightly upset. He went to grab a cup of coffee in the break room and realized that the pot was empty. We had an entire drawer stocked with coffee and filters. The process was not complex, as all the bags of coffee were pre-ground and dosed to make exactly one pot. So, this day someone had killed the pot and decided not to brew another one. Our manager came in and decided to make a point which has stuck with me since then. He told the story of how he started in the warehouse and had worked his way up through the company to become one of the most successful managers in the nation. The thing he never forgot was that no matter what the task, no matter how small the need, that he was never above it. He was never too “good” to fill an order, to take a customer call, to make a pot of coffee.
I think it’s a trend we often see as people climb the corporate ladder or start to see different letters after their name on a business card. We find ourselves becoming more and more “important” and forgetting who we are or who we were. We begin to get a dump of serotonin and find remedial tasks above our pay grade, or something we can no longer do. Yet, where I have found myself learning the most and connecting the most with people is in these moments. Just as in the movie Anne shows her commitment to the company by working in different departments as they need help, it shows to her employees that she is there for them. That she will step in when needed and that her commitment is to them and the success of the company, not to the letters behind her name. So, no matter the success you attain in your career, the things you accomplish, or the level you rise to… never forget you’re not above making a pot of coffee.
On purpose,
Matt
