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What can a war experience teach you about how to be happier at work and life? Well, let me tell you a little story of one man who exemplified what it takes to make a difference.
A Message To Garcia teaches you how to be the best at your job by becoming a dedicated worker with a good attitude about whatever tasks your company gives you.
My first client (with who I still work with), at Axiom Consulting, asked me to read this essay at least once and now that I have read it, there is no ‘un-reading’ this.
This excellent work is either loved or hated. A classic short treatise about getting the job done: the easiest way to describe this work is “just get it done” and quit whining. The author, Elbert Hubbard, laments there are not enough men to get the job done and most need to have their hands held. Sounds so true in today’s occupations. Oh, and this was written in 1899! It is about an individual self’s responsibility and self-reliance. This essay is every bit as valid today as it was at the turn of the 20th-century. This should be required reading for all on the verge of adulthood.
We see so many people with an “entitled” attitude for no apparent reason. The ones who are entitled to wages beyond their skill level just because they can’t live off of what their education and experience dictate yet they don’t want to put in the time and effort to bring themselves up. Employees who can’t just do the job at hand but seem to spend more energy throbbing to work.
I have also read negative and barebone comments on this essay. Basically it says “Do Your Job With 100% Of Yourself. Be Honest. Be Self-Reliant.” The tract seems both encouraging and complaining at the same time. You can certainly feel the author’s frustration with his employees: the essay is really simply venting that seems to have caught the world’s imagination at just the right moment.
The points made are still valid in today’s world, but Hubbard would probably have an even harder time finding his perfect employee, simply because of the way giant corporations have treated workers for so many years now. The man or woman who can ‘carry a message to Garcia’ these days are either worked to death or underpaid or both. I wonder if there ever will be a proper balance between employee and employer, the type of relationship where respect goes both ways and giving 100% of oneself on both sides is not the exception but the standard. Time will tell if I can set this standard, although that remains my intention.
A Message to Garcia has a timeless and powerful message that I think we all need to hear in this day of entitlement and bad attitudes. I’m sure you’ll enjoy and relate to this short but sweet story about how to become a person of character.
This masterpiece is available on the internet to read – https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17195
