Work philosophy: If it needs to be done do it
I’ve come a long way from the camp counselor job I had at Camp Tanglefoot in Clear Lake, IA.
Camp was a place I grew up spending the best week of the summer each year, where I deepened bonds with friends and always left with more pen pals than I could keep up with. Eventually, as one does, I grew up and the only way to keep spending time at camp was to get a job there I worked at Camp Tanglefoot in Clear Lake, Iowa, for four summers and it was truly some of the best memories and friendships I’ve ever made. Yes, I slept in tents all summer with no air conditioning and had to walk a few dozen yards to the bathrooms—A true nature gal!— but the beautiful thing about camp was as you grew up you started learning less about archery and how to sail and more about life and the lessons you need to succeed.
The camp director was Cindy Findley. She was incredibly dedicated to the role and no doubt is the result of several women learning, growing, and success over the years. I was terrified of her and also admired her more than anyone I’d ever met before (besides you, mom, ok?). Her standards were very high and it’s from her that I first learned the saying “if it needs to be done, do it”. There are dishes that need to be done and you’re not on the kitchen staff? Nobody cares. You do not walk by dirty dishes and not jump in. If someone needs help you do not say you’re too busy, or that it’s not your job, you jump in and it’s all hands on deck. I learned so much from having a strong female leader in one of my first jobs, but this was one of the best things I ever could have taken away and I’m so thankful.
All of that sounds logical, but now in running a business for the last ten years, I’ve learned that a hustle mindset is something ingrained in you or not. It’s baffling to me because whenever I hear “it’s not my job,” especially in a small company where there aren't layers of people and titles to pass things to, I can’t understand the logic behind it. In any organization, everyone’s job is the success of the team. There are always going to be tasks or situations where tasks don’t comfortably fit into anyone’s job description. Does that mean they simply don’t get done? Maybe someone who knows more about this than I do can succeed that way but. it just doesn’t work for me or our team.
At Camp Tanglefoot, titles didn’t make a lot of difference, anyway. Yes, they defined what you woke up and did every day. However, because Cindy instilled in us a sense of purpose beyond our narrow jobs, there wasn’t a lot of politics or power trippers. It was just a full team effort to provide the girls attending camp with the best experience and to enjoy our time together.
I’ve tried my best to run Happy Medium with that mentality. In order to want that culture, you have to hire people with a “if it needs done, do it” mindselt. One of the final deciding factors I use before I hire someone is determining if I would be comfortable asking them to vacuum the office. If my gut tells me they would feel like that task was beneath them or their vibe isn’t one that would make you feel comfortable to ask, they aren’t our person. No matter how insanely talented they are. I say no (I have no doubt this will somehow result in someone applying someday to Happy Medium that shows up with a vacuum, I’ll report back).
Every leadership book will tell you not to ask your team to do something you wouldn’t do, and I fully support the cause. In the beginning of Happy Medium, this principal was easy to follow; I was literally the only person there. I wasn’t getting paid so I also definitely wasn’t hiring a cleaning service, or anything else for that matter. I did everything from vacuum to build and implement client social media accounts and then took out the trash. When something needed to go to FedEx, I took it, then I’d come back and build a pitch deck and process the invoicing for the agency (Ok to be fair, I only processed invoicing for a solid 10 weeks before Kevin, better known to our team as Accounting Kevin, showed up and saved the day. There is a very vast difference between being willing to do something and being capable of doing it!).
Of course over the years I started hiring team members and worked (and am still working on) on the art of delegating. There is still nothing, though, I’m not willing to jump in and help with. Like Cindy, I say the “if it needs to be done, do it” saying out loud to the team to continue to build the culture through all of us and hope they remind each other as well. We’re a mighty team, but ultimately still small. It has to be all hands on deck, and we are constantly leaning into our Teamwork value for success.
