In the USA this long holiday is Labor Day weekend. As the weekend progresses many of the Nation’s leading publications have written something about it. The Washington Post invites people to reflect on the value and spiritual meaning of work. The Chicago Tribune talks about Labor Day lessons, while reminding us that Labor Day was born out of the Pullman Strike, which took place in Chicago more than 100 years ago. I could continue to list article after article that pays tribute one way or another to Labor Day.
What does Labor Day means to you? For many it’s only the unofficial end of summer, start of the school year and football season, or an extra day off to do stuff around the home and have an excuse for a picnic.
I like to think about Labor Day as a symbol of the freedom to choose.
What kind of choices do you have?
For employees at good companies, Labor Day means the freedom to:
- choose a vocation,
- learn new skills and grow,
- be rewarded for merit,
- have pride in how you spend a big part of the day.
It also means the freedom to leave jobs and managers which do not fit. It ultimately means you live in a country where your occupation is not decided by your parents or the government or your ethnicity, but by your free choice.
For leaders, the freedom to choose means you have the obligation and opportunity to lead well. This is both a burden and a joy. Leaders today deal with rapid change and gray areas of decision-making. It was probably easier to be a leader in a highly-structured environment (such as union factories in the 1950s), but also less-rewarding.
As a leader, how can you optimize your freedom to choose?
Good leaders and mentors are key to effective workplaces. The creators of Labor Day understood that for America to achieve its promise of freedom and opportunity, Americans had to be united in working hard. They also had to collaborate, learn continually, and of course, relax occasionally.
As a leader you can:
- choose to work to continuously improve your performance and that of your people.
- strive to keep labor competitive.
- inspire a new generation of workers to contribute their best.
- reconnect your workers to the American dream.
- nurture and develop new thinking leaders.
Remember. . .
Labor Day was established as a day to honor the strength and spirit of the labor movement and working people. Today, It should be about celebration and invigoration. It should be about innovation and reinvention. Join “all people who work” to make Labor Day again a day to reignite the American dream through unity of purpose and collaboration.
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Photo by: Kheel Center