a congenial environment, they advanced rapidly. They expanded like tropical plants which had been stunted for a time in an arctic climate, but which flourished when taken back to their native soil.
Many employers seem to have a perfect genius for dampening the enthusiasm and spontaneity of their employees, who shrivel and shrink every time they come near them. It is impossible to be at one’s best in their presence. They destroy individuality, hope, and courage. They make it very hard for their employees to take an interest in their welfare, because they belittle them, scold them, and take the heart out of them, all the time.
Many employers do not praise, upon principle. They think it is very bad for the employee; that criticism is much better than appreciation. Nothing is falser than this idea. Some people are so constituted that they live upon appreciation and praise. They can not do good work without it. They require it as a stimulus. There is nothing that the average employee will work harder for than commendation or an expression of appreciation. The fact is, there is nothing else which will so tie him to his employer as a feeling that he is appreciated. Nothing will so enhearten him as a word of praise when he tries to do his best.
Do not be afraid to praise heartily. Do not give a little pinched, stinted appreciation, as though you are afraid you will spoil your employee. Be whole-hearted and generous in your praise. You will be surprised to see how he will respond.
Many a successful man and woman have found the turning-points of their careers in a little praise, a little hopeful encouragement!
How many people date their first inspiration, their first step upward, from an encouraging letter, appreciation of something they did, or a word of praise which kindled hope or aroused ambition and determination to be somebody in the world!
Clara Morris says that when she was trying to establish her reputation in New York, Mr. Augustin Daly, her manager, used to watch her from the audience in order to criticise her. One evening, after she had had a great many discouragements, he came up to her and said, “Good girl! You never did better than to-night!” This kindness at a discouraging moment, she says, meant more to her than anything else she had ever experienced.
The knowledge that our ability is recognized makes us think more of ourselves. It gives us hope that, after all, there may be something for us in the future as well as for others who have succeeded.
The efficiency of employees depends almost wholly upon their courage, because, without courage, enthusiasm and zest are impossible. No one can be original, creative, and prolific in his work under fear and suppression. Spontaneity is absolutely necessary to the best results. If employees are hemmed in, watched, suspected, criticised, their work must be restricted and of an inferior quality. Courage and hope are great elements in production. They are powerful assets in employees, which many proprietors entirely cut off. Things which create antagonism and put the employee constantly on the defensive suppress individuality, and make him a mere machine. There must be freedom or a loss in the ideal service.
Faultfinding is the shortest-sighted policy in the world. It does no good. It is energy wasted. There is an infinitely better way. When a person makes a mistake or does wrong, speak to him kindly. It will act like magic. And never lose an opportunity for showing your appreciation of a good piece of work.
If your employees feel that you do not care anything for them, except for what you can get out of them, they will feel the same way toward you and only care for their salaries and for an easy time.
Their respect and admiration are worth everything to you. They hold your success or failure largely in their hands. They can often turn the tide and make all the difference between good fortune and bad. It pays to keep employees contented and happy; it increases the quality of their service very materially.
Chapter XIII.
Don’t Let Your Past Spoil Your Future
There is nothing more depressing than dwelling upon lost opportunities or a misspent life. Whatever your past has been, forget it. If it throws a shadow upon the present, or causes melancholy or despondency, there is nothing in it which helps you, there is not a single reason why you should retain it in your memory and there are a thousand reasons why you should bury it so deeply that it can never be resurrected.
Nothing is more foolish, nothing more wicked than to drag the skeletons of the past, the hideous images, the foolish deeds, the unfortunate experiences of yesterday into today’s work to mar and spoil it. There are plenty of people who have been failures up to the present moment who could do wonders in the future if they only could forget the past, if they only had the ability to cut it off, to close the door on it forever and start anew.
I know a number of people who complain of their fate and hard luck, and what they call their “iron” environment, who are, themselves, their worst enemies. Unconsciously they poison and devitalize the atmosphere of their surroundings by the pictures of failure which they are constantly creating in their minds. Their pessimism, exhaling from every pore, envelops them in a dense but invisible atmosphere, through which no ray of light or hope can enter, and yet they wonder why they do not succeed. They expect bright pictures to come from dark ones, hope from despair, cheer from gloom.
These same people would think a farmer ridiculous who should sow nettle seeds and expect them to produce wheat or corn; or one who should plant the deadly nightshade in his garden and hope to see the rose or the lily flourish on its stem. They do not seem to appreciate the fact that, everywhere in the universe, like produces like; that, whatever thought we sow, we must reap in kind; that the sour, gloomy, pessimistic seed sown in the garden of the mind must produce its own peculiar fruit. Grapes will not grow on thorns, or figs on thistles.
The man or woman who uses up vitality in complaining, finding fault with circumstances, kicking against fate, who is always protesting that there is no justice in the world that merit is not rewarded, that the times are out of joint, and that everything is wrong, is put down, and rightly, as a weakling, with a small, narrow mind. Large-minded men and women do not spend their energies whining. If they meet an obstacle they go through it and pass on about their business. They know that all their time and strength must be concentrated on the work of making a life. The whiner not only wastes his time and strength, but he prejudices people against him. No one feels inclined to help a man who is always complaining of conditions and blaming his “hard luck.” Somehow, we have a feeling that he does not deserve help, but a good scolding instead.
The practical business man has no sympathy with the man who claims that he “can not get a job.” A great many employers object to having people around who complain that “luck has always been against them.” They fear, and perhaps not without reason, that they will create evil conditions.
I recently heard of a successful English politician and business man who advertised for a “man,”—a combination of valet and companion. He had reduced the number of applicants for the position to one, and was about to complete arrangements when the man began to tell of his career, his ambitions and misfortunes. It was a genuine “hard-luck” story. The politician listened for a while and then astonished his would-be employee by saying, “I find I do not want you.” When urged to give his reasons for the sudden change in his decision, he replied, “I never hire ‘hard luck’ people, especially the kind who talk about it.”
The successful man’s conduct toward the unsuccessful one seems cruel and unjust. The latter may not have been responsible for his “hard luck,” and might have made a valuable servant. But, putting aside the justice or injustice of the prosperous man’s conduct, the story points the fact that
