The point in the title of this blog post ( What Do You Make?) might have hit me more than any other point in Joe Ehrmann’s book Inside Out Coaching . On page 239 Ehrmann relates a story based on a poem by Taylor Mali about “what do you make?”. The story made me proud of the long hours I worked for so many years. The story also made me feel better about the strange looks I received from my friends when they saw me bar tending at thirty years old. I can remember feeling a little embarrassed, maybe a lot embarrassed, by the looks that said “boy I didn’t think Mike Boyle would end up a thirty year old bartender”. I wanted to scream. “This is my second job!. My other job is really important and I really make a difference and I’m really good at it”. Of course, I never did.
In the book a man responds to a rude question about “what he makes” with the following.
” I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I make them push through self imposed limits… I make them competitive and teach them how to win with humility and lose with honor… I make a difference”.
What do we make? We make a difference.
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