Unexpected Returns

Lessons I have learned over the past 10 weeks.

Sometimes when we take the time to teach and invest in others, we end up teaching and investing in ourselves. It may be one of the most important, and often unexpected, gifts we give. For my company, it is the 10 weeks of the summer that we experience this the most.

I do love the summers – maybe it was from my camp days (15 life-changing summers in the Berkshires for 8 weeks each summer) or the perceived middle-of-the-year breath we collectively take. For the last 24 summers, I can say with great confidence, that it is the Summer Associates Deutser hires that energize me and spark creativity that carries me through the heat and the rest of the year.

We hire from a pool of highly qualified and curated candidates each summer. Each in her or his own right is extraordinary. Their work, schooling, and life experiences amaze me. We intentionally look at the whole person, recognizing how their unique backgrounds and life situations add to them and to us. Our goal is to put the most interesting and curious people in the most challenging and creative environments possible.

We go to extraordinary lengths to invest in them with time, learning, and unexpected experiences. I work to genuinely get to know each of our Summer Associates through dinners, ‘ask me anything’ lunches, and multiple one-on-ones. We also require a daily journal (submitted weekly) – which I respond to each week. It is my way to give back – the same way my mentors, Melvyn Wolff, Bert Margolis, Allen Becker, Sydney Greenblatt, and so many others (including my dad) invested in me. They believed in me before I believed in me.

We let them know that we believe in them – even if our expectation for them is beyond their own expectations for themselves. They are challenged like tenured employees. They are expected to perform – and they do. More important than the outcome of their projects and innovation they bring to being are the life-changing perspectives they find. They are put in uncomfortable situations, challenged with previously unanswered questions, forced to create exercises and products, and dive deep into research and analytics. While they are challenged, so are we.

At the end of every day, they complete their daily journals by answering the additional prompts (which I encourage every leader to think through daily):

1. Identify your positive takeaway from the day (regardless how good/bad the day was).
2. Describe the baggage are you leaving behind today.
3. Recognize how full your personal fuel tank is.
4. Express one thing you are grateful about you (and only you).

It is in their responses to these prompts that I often learn the most about them. They are vulnerable. They are real. They express fear, doubt, overwhelm, pressure, and confidence. They are themselves. They also remind me of the simple things we can all do daily to acknowledge how we feel and actively change our mindset. The simple act of gratitude for ourselves day after day is rewarding. The reminder to let go of other people’s baggage is freeing. And building the brain muscle with positivity is life changing. And, it takes less than a minute each day.

Regardless of the positivity we give to them – they fill our hearts and minds with more positivity than is warranted. In their words, “You have taught me I AM the leader of ME.” “You inspired me to be a better version of myself.” “You changed my life and fundamentally altered my future.” And perhaps the most powerful – “I am forever grateful.”

My response back – “you have done the same for me and my team.” So, Michael Hay , Morgen Ehlinger , James Knigin , Hannah Garrou , Myles Byars , Sally Pittman , Matthew Polasek , Audrey Birdwell , and Maxwell Zuanich , thank you for the lessons you have taught us. I have read your words and how your lives have been changed. Please know, you have changed mine too.

This again reminds us all of the power of giving to others and the unexpected return you get back. Be open to changing someone else’s future, because it may be yours that changes the most.

Brad