By Greg Kozera, Shale Crescent USA
At a recent NSA Ohio (professional speakers chapter meeting) my friend Natalie said her Dad believed all work is hard and all bosses are jerks. She said, those beliefs created stress and unhappiness in his life that could have been avoided. Natalie chose a career instead of a job eventually becoming an entrepreneur. She loves her work. Many of my uncles and cousins in Pittsburgh thought like her Dad. They hated their jobs but needed to earn a living. When family got together and the men gathered at the beer keg, it sounded like a competition for who had the dumbest boss.
Somewhere I heard “If you find a career you like, you will never work a day in your life.” I have endured a few jerks for bosses and learned something from every one of them. Sometimes I learned what not to do when I became a manager. Work can be hard, physically draining and be still satisfying and rewarding. My daughter’s college roommate is a surgeon. An 8-hour surgery is hard and physically demanding. She has saved a lot of lives and loves what she does. All work is hard and all bosses are jerks is a myth not to be taken at face value.
When I came to Elkview, WV as District manager of multiple facilities with over 300 employees the myth was, accidents and injuries are unavoidable because of the terrain bad roads. It took a few changes, before the employees began to see success. Thinking and beliefs changed. The walls became filled with safety awards. This same thinking created a pride in job performance. Moral, profits, and pay soared once the myths were busted.
Our high school soccer team and us coaches in the 1990s believed the myth we couldn’t win a state championship. In 1999 I asked our seniors, “What’s your dream?” Our captain surprised me with, “Coach we want to play for the State Title.” He convinced me it was possible. We convinced the team. After a magical season, we played for our first ever state title. That team didn’t win the State Championship but broke the myth, leading to now eight State Championships.
Education is another area where I believe restrictive myths exist. Dannielle, my daughter, a teacher and now an assistant principal in Maryland read last week’s column. I talked about the student whose head stayed down on his desk when I taught Junior Achievement. This incident was in the 1980s when our children were in school. Dannielle told me, “Dad, today we have 2-3 of those children in every class room. When I was in school, if your head was down it was assumed you were sick and parents were called. Back then, most children lived with both parents who also attended parent-teacher conferences. Families were stable.
By the 1980s only half of my under-12 recreational youth soccer team was living with at least one parent, the others were living with grandparents or other relatives. Talking to Dannielle and other teachers, the world has changed a lot since our kids were in school. Teachers today must deal with issues traditionally handled at home before they can educate. Many children have parents on drugs, alcohol, in jail or are moved between divorced parents. Some are abused. School is the only place many children feel safe, stable and get a wholesome meal. This was especially true during the pandemic. In the 60s, 70s and 80s social media didn’t exist. Social media is creating anxiety for students. I dealt with physical bullies. Online bullying is much more difficult. Teachers can’t hope to educate without first dealing with these issues. The myth is our educational short comings are the fault of educators. It’s time to focus on the real problem, family stability. Contrary to what we hear, our educators do an incredible job of overcoming these challenges to teach.
Last year, Shale Crescent USA traveled to Europe and put on a single day event with U.S. Commercial Services in Germany for companies interested in investing in the USA. We had a panel of experts explain the advantages of coming to the Shale Crescent USA region. One panelist was CEO of a German petrochemical company. They have a facility in West Virginia and are expanding it. They came to West Virginia because of the large U.S. market, economical energy and incentives. Why they stay was eye opening. The CEO said, “People in your region work! They are more productive than our people in Europe.” His next comment surprised me, “West Virginia’s schools are better than ours in Germany.” Privately I asked, “I’ve been led to believe European education is superior to the USA.” He responded, “Your schools are getting better. Ours are getting worse.”
It was good to hear what most people assume to be true about American education is myth. Constant improvement is essential. We may be doing more right in education than we realize. Public schools are an American strength. Everyone one has access to education. Dannielle told me the story of a drug addicted baby who was dropped on his head. He had a low IQ. In spite of this teachers now have him reading at grade level. He has opportunity and will eventually become an asset to our workforce.
We hear myths about young people being lazy or unmotivated. Working with high school students for over 25 years as a coach and spending 2 years as an adjunct professor at Pierpont Technical College, most young people I see are sharp, creative and hard working. My college students all had full time jobs and attended school. I have crossed paths with my students now working in the real world doing very well. Lynnda, me and most of our friends are products of the American public-school system. Education allowed us to have careers. Educators need our support. Young people struggling with family challenges also need our encouragement and wisdom. Don’t believe everything you hear. Search for truth. Be a myth buster.
