Inclusion wins in a landslide!

There are so many things to write about this week that have real application to the workplace, but the one I just can’t write about is the horrific events at Penn State. It’s stories like that that turned me away from a career in journalism in the first place. I know they have to be reported, but I just can’t be the one doing it.

Another topic that keeps rearing its ugly head is the continued research indicating workers will leave their current employer the first chance they get. I’ve lost count of the number of studies I’ve seen this year, but the latest comes from Mercer and the news ain’t good.

Randy McClain had a story about it in last Sunday’s (Nashville) Tennessean. He called it the “Era of Bad Feelings.” Basically it boils down to this: Employers have been treating employees so badly for so long in this economy that employees are ready to bolt the first chance they get. Yikes!

I’m not going to write about that this week either, but I’m certain I’ll get to it sooner or later.

And I’m not going to write about Rick Perry, although I can’t remember why.

Instead, I’m going to write about my youngest son’s 15U baseball team that played in the 21^st Annual Fall Desert Classic last week in Las Vegas. I guess it’s only fair that I write about one son the week after I wrote about the other. They probably see it more as coming under fire, but they both have experiences that teach excellent workplace lessons.

This team comes together for tournaments 4-5 times per year with kids from all over the U.S. – Illinois, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Colorado, New Jersey, California, and more that I can’t recall.

As you can probably imagine, it’s not easy for coaches and players to coordinate all that, and usually there are at least one or two new players at each tournament.

Here’s the cool part: In the three years my son’s been on the team, new players have always been embraced by the others immediately. The attitude of inclusion is downright amazing. It’s as though they’ve adopted the mind-set, “If you’re here, you must be one of us.” No dues paying, no initiation, nothing like that. If you’re here, you’re part of the team. You’re one of us. Period.

What’s so impressive to me about that is how grown up that attitude really is. What’s bewildering is how many grown-ups can’t seem to adopt that approach in the workplace. Occasionally it’s people with bad intentions (not a lot we can do with that here), but I’d say more often than not it’s a communication breakdown somewhere.

It would be great if communication flowed freely both vertically and horizontally throughout organizations, but the fact of the matter is that too often people assume everyone’s in the loop and that just isn’t true. Good communication – which flows up, down, sideways, back AND forth – doesn’t just happen. You have to work at it. Don’t let misunderstanding cause workplace friction.

Assume first that we’re all on the same team, working toward the same goals, not that there are nefarious intentions lurking around every corner. It's a WE thing.

As for that attitude of inclusion: Do your part. Treat people the way you want to be treated regardless of their tenure, but especially if they’re new to the team. It’s not rocket surgery (or brain science either); everyone performs better when they’re happy and being treated well.

And oh, by the way, my son’s baseball team? They win a lot. And it all starts with the right attitude and approach.