“Your health account, your bank account, they’re the same thing.  The more you put in, the more you can take out.  Exercise is king and nutrition is queen.  Together you have a kingdom.”  Jack LaLanne, aka the “Godfather of Fitness”

Even though I’m an avid runner and marathoner, this week’s motivational quote is not destined to talk about health and fitness.  The Jack LaLanne quote got me thinking about how an individual’s “career account” is no different than a health account.  The more that you put into your career account, the more that you can eventually take out or benefit from it in many different ways.

This made me think of a Production Management “All-Star” I recruited recently.  He started his manufacturing career as a journeyman machinist.  While working full time, he started to “pay into” his career account by going to school, first to complete an Associates Degree in Mechanical Design and then to complete a Bachelors Degree in Industrial Technology.

Eventually, this investment in learning and development, helped him grow from a machinist to a Mechanical Designer which eventually led to Production Supervision and now Production Management roles.  This Production Management “All-Star” has continued contributing to his “career account” by learning and applying Lean and Six Sigma tools and methods in his current plant.  

Now this Production Management “All-Star” is looking for the right next operations leadership opportunity and manufacturing company where he can apply his manufacturing operations skill set and experience to continue contributing to his “career account” in a Plant Management capacity.