'Plain fun to work with'

I came across an article written last year about Jeff Wilke, the exiting CEO of Amazon’s Worldwide Consumer business. Other than what I read in the article I don’t know Mr. Wilke. He led Amazon’s consumer business through an era of unprecedented growth. In that time, Amazon became a universal shopping destination, built physical retail stores, rolled out new devices, technologies and media, and expanded its fulfillment and delivery systems to reach customers around the world. Unrelenting to the mission of taking care of Amazon’s customers, Wilke was known for wearing flannel shirts during the fourth quarter of every year, in an effort to keep the company’s operations workers top of mind for the executive and headquarters teams.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos described Wilke with many expected plaudits saying, “I’ve learned so much from him, and I’m not the only one. He’s been an incredible teacher to all of us. That form of leadership is so leveraged. When you see us taking care of customers, you can thank Jeff for it.

But this is the Bezos statement that stood out to me, “And there’s this important point: in tough moments and good ones, he’s been just plain fun to work with. Never underestimate the importance of that. It makes a difference.”

Wilke contributed to a business that has grown to over 100 million Prime subscribers, produces over $386 billion in sales and employs over 1.2 million team members. Yet he made work fun for those around him.

Soak on that for moment...

When I think about the people I know, I'm fortunate to have interacted with numerous people that fit this model of hard working – but display a positivity while they're doing it. I’m thankful for those that model great enthusiasm whether flying high or moments you had to persevere. In fact, I seek them out.

Our work life, as will the rest of life, will throw challenges at us. There will be times of slog and seasons of challenge. But I have the greatest respect for those those that display a unique blend of grit, grace and resolve - regardless of the path. It’s a personal choice we all can choose to make. And when I hang it up, I really hope what people can say about me is that I worked hard, but I was fun to work with too.