Joel, senior estimator for a large construction company in eastern Washington told Session 3B of the Leadership Development LAB:

"It was the summer of 1981 and I was getting ready for my senior year in Wilbur, Washington. I was looking for summer work to help pay for my up and coming year. I mentioned to my best friend John that I was trying to find a job working during wheat harvest. These jobs paid good money and were usually 1-2 weeks in duration.

Well, my friend's brother, Steve, over heard me talking to John and told me about a job that he had to give up since he was moving to Texas to go to work for Texas Instruments. He said the farmer's name was Homer. He informed me that the farmer paid very well, but he was hard to get along with. He was very opinionated, short-tempered and always right. I told Steve to give me his phone number and that I would call him regarding the harvest job.

I called the farmer and got directions on how to get to his farm. I showed up at his doorstep not knowing what to expect. His wife opened the door, invited me in, and I met with Homer about the harvest job he had available. I was asked about my previous experience driving a combine. I gave him that information and he asked me to come back in a couple of weeks for a test run on his combine.

I came back at the end of July as

he had asked and we set off to the field for a test run in a brand new $100,000 harvesting combine. No pressure here!!! He proceeded to show me how the controls worked and we started cutting wheat. After approximately 15 minutes, he turned over the controls to me. He rode with me for about 15 minutes, then told me he was going back to the shop for some tools, and that I was to keep on cutting wheat. He informed me that he was impressed with my abilities to learn to drive a combine in a short amount of time that I hadn't ever run before.

I was getting along fine with Homer. I didn't have any of the problems that Steve had with him. His wife made the comment that we got along better than he and his own son.

As it turns out, I ended up taking my vacation from my full-time job after graduation to work for Homer every year until he sold his farm in 1989. We got along so well that I looked forward to going to work for him every year!

The lesson I learned from this experience is to withhold judgment and form my own opinions about people. The action I call you to take is to keep an open mind about people and situations. Get all the facts from first hand experience before you form your opinions about others. The benefits you will gain are open doors to expanded experiences, relationships and possible life long friends!"