Think about your first job.

Do you remember how you felt on the first day, as you drove to work, parked your car, and went inside?

I drove my Honda from school to my first day of work at the local hospital’s dietary department. I blasted Pat Benatar’s “All Fired Up” on the stereo. I sang, loudly. I changed into my uniform in the bathroom and walked down a long white hallway to meet my supervisor.

Palms clammy, I shook her hand, and walked behind her from station to station as she introduced me to the other employees.

It wasn’t a glamorous job, or a difficult one, but I had plenty to learn. I looked to more experienced employees to show me the way, both in the mundane details of how to prepare the patients’ meal trays and the subtler skills of relating to the other workers.

If it has been years since your first day at your first job, do you remember how it felt? How desperately you wanted to succeed? How you looked to veteran workers to help you learn what you needed to know?

If you are a leader in the workplace, you have an opportunity — a responsibility — to help others develop.

While you may not work with seventeen year olds, or even with new college graduates, you probably work with employees who are new to your organization, or who are learning a new job responsibility. People in transition at work need encouragement and direction from veterans.

One way to find motivation is to remember how it feels to be young, how it feels to be inexperienced.

To do that, stop, and think about your first job.

Join the conversation:

Share about your first job. How did you feel?

Where do you find the motivation to help others develop?

This was originally posted at Mountain State University LeaderTalk and is re-posted with permission.