A CEO gave his car to the new employee who walked all night to get to his first day of work on time.
The internet has been abuzz over the past day or two over a great motivational story. A new employee took an overnight 20-mile walk to avoid being late for his first day of work, and when the CEO heard about the employee's dedication, he gave the new worker his personal car to keep.
The young man's name is Walter Carr, and his resilience seems extraordinary--as does the generosity of his boss, Bellhops Moving CEO Luke Marklin. Moreover, the gift was strategically brilliant.
It likely raised the bar on employee dedication--a key part of a healthy work culture--and will attract other potential hires who want to work for a boss like that. The lesson here, however, isn't necessarily to give away your car.
Marklin's move was brilliant because it put Carr in the spotlight. That's because Carr demonstrated the two most important qualities all entrepreneurs must have: an internal locus of control and a high adversity quotient.
The two most important qualities all entrepreneurs must have
A person's "locus of control," a term from psychology, indicates the degree to which they believe they exert control over the outcomes of events in their lives.
If you have a high internal locus of control, then you fundamentally believe that good things happen because you work for them. It means you think the things that happen to you aren't your fault--they're the result of factors outside of your control. (Granted, there's a line between a high locus of control and self-delusion.)
Individuals who have a strong internal locus of control:
- Are confident that success is possible.
- Assume leadership positions.
- Exhibit greater control over their behavior.
- Are lifelong learners, always looking for self-improvement.
- Believe they're personally responsibility for both their actions and the outcomes of those actions.
- See challenges as opportunities to come out stronger than before.
As entrepreneurs, we must believe we can "fix things." Otherwise, we'd lack the motivation to pursue change. Carr demonstrated his internal locus of control by taking matters into his own hands and walking.
Then, there's the "adversity quotient." All great entrepreneurs must be extremely resilient, or else they'd fold at the first sign of adversity.
My father used to describe a similar concept when he said: "Greatness isn't defined by how many times you get knocked down. Only how many times you get up." Carr clearly demonstrated resilience in his 20-mile walk.
How to develop these two qualities.
To increase your adversity quotient, I recommend three strategies:
- Take non-material risks. Pursue things that you will likely fail at. For me, that was basketball--it's fun, but I have zero athletic ability. Playing reminds me of the role failure plays in our lives. It keeps me humble.
- Talk to others. This is one of the reasons I love co-working locations: They allow you to "share your pain." Yes, misery loves company. More importantly, seeing others struggle similarly can be extremely powerful.
- Read deeper into your heroes. Read biographies of successful entrepreneurs you idolize. Nobody changes the world without struggling along the way. Expose yourself to the truth's hardships--the reality behind the success.
Developing an internal locus of control is slightly more difficult. It's also the single most important thing you can do to reduce the frequency, intensity, and duration of emotions like anger, anxiety, depression, and guilt. To develop your internal locus of control, I recommend focusing on the following mantras:
- Accept that you have a choice. You don't control the outside world, but you control how you react to it.
- Choose to take responsibility. At least for yourself, if not any outside factors.
- Eliminate any self-talk that undermines this, including "it's not my fault," "I have no choice," and "there's nothing I can do." Imagine how different Walter Carr's life would have been if he'd used any of these.
- Rinse, lather, repeat. Changing fundamental internal perspectives won't happen overnight. You'll need to work on this for a while.
Where to find employees with these qualities
If you can recognize these qualities within yourself, you can recognize them within potential employees. Workers with these two traits will go above and beyond, as Carr proved.
Where can you look to find them? Look to their recent pasts. Carr was no stranger to adversity and hardship: His family lost their home in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, an experience I'd speculate hardened Carr's resolve.
That's why I think you should hire veterans, refugees, ex-cons, bursary winners, and people originally from impoverished neighborhoods. If you're handed two similar résumés but only one of them shows proof of resilience through lived experience, you should seriously consider choosing that person.
This brings us back to the CEO's response. What was so brilliant about it? It put an employee like Carr in the spotlight, associating the company with the key entrepreneurial traits of resilience and self-motivation.
Your turn.
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