You Just Gotta Love Dr. Seuss

Who the heck looks to Dr Seuss for career advice? Motivation?

I had this boss who was so dynamic, he was a great leader with a nasty temper, accompanied by a short fuse as they say. But you try and take people for their strong points, and you can learn from everyone.

He gave his staff a Dr Seuss book entitled “Oh, The Places You’ll Go” at one of his staff meetings, and we all took our turns reading a page from the book. One of my favorite pages… was about “waiting”:

Congratulations! Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.  You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

It’s opener there in the wide open air. Out there things can happen and frequently do 
to people as brainy and footsy as you. 
And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. 
Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.

You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race
down long, wiggled roads at a break-neck pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come,
or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil,
or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls,
or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.
NO! That’s not for you!

So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O’Shea,
you’re off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So…get on your way!

***** S&E *****