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The REAL Bottom Line: Growing People!
 By
Henry D. Landes
February 2001
A tourist was admiring the beautiful farms of Lancaster
County. Curious about the crops, when he happened upon an Amish
farmer by the side of the road, he stopped and asked, "What
are you growing here?" Pausing for a moment to take off his
straw hat and wipe his brow, the farmer answered with a wry smile,
"Well, what we’re REALLY growing here is children."
Our clients share the Amish farmer’s commitment to growing,
nurturing, and developing children into productive, competent adults.
Fortunately, most of our families are assisted in this awesome responsibility
by relatives, neighbors and educational, church and community institutions.
As a parent of two grown daughters, I fully appreciate that it takes
a village to raise a child.
Perhaps like you, my development as a child was profoundly and
positively impacted by my close contact and involvement in a thriving
family business started in 1929 by Grammy and Grandpop, Susan and
I. T. Landes. I have fond memories of "hanging around the shop"
with my Grandpop, my Dad, my older brothers, and employees . . .
observing, learning, no doubt often getting in the way, and sometimes
even contributing!
I believe our businesses can be powerful resources (part of the
"village") in growing children! From the earliest days
of cleaning bathrooms, mowing the company lawns, and sealing envelopes,
the family AND the business provide an excellent learning laboratory
for our children.
However, I also believe our families have a responsibility to
"grow children" or more accurately, to "grow people"
throughout the lifecycle, not just during the early years. Successful
businesses also share this strong commitment to "growing people."
In the introduction of his book, Love & Profit: The Art of Caring
Leadership, James Autry asserts, "Work can provide the opportunity
for spiritual and personal, as well as financial growth. If it doesn’t,
then we’re wasting far too much of our lives on it."
We recommend that business families adopt a Family Learning Policy
which specifically addresses the family’s commitment to personal
and professional development throughout the lifecycle.
So HOW do business-owning families grow people—family and
non-family members alike? We’ve developed a simple tool to
help families "grow people"; we call it a Personal and
Professional Development Plan. To be completed annually, this one-page
worksheet asks EACH family member or employee to:
- Credit and acknowledge their accomplishments of the
past year. We believe the best professional and personal
growth plans need to build on a solid foundation of past accomplishments.
- Commit to work goals ("no kidding"
outcomes/results) to be achieved in the coming year.
- Define and commit to specific professional development
goals (skills/experiences/knowledge) which will help
meet current and future responsibilities (Steve Covey call this
"sharpening the saw").
- Define and commit to specific annual personal goals:
family, marriage, health, recreation.
Last but not least, the plan also includes space to define your
personal mission/primary aim which really undergirds all growth.
The Personal and Professional Development Plan (PPDP) is a powerful
tool to be developed in concert with the direct supervisor of each
employee. We believe family meetings provide the ideal place for
family members to mutually share and support each other’s
PPDP. In our work with business families, we use the PPDP as the
centerpiece for developing the business AND the people which helps
both to thrive.
The Amish farmer had it right. The REAL bottom line for business
families is "growing people."
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