Harvey Mackay Column- What Makes A Good Employee
In this opinion column, Harvey Mackay argues that the qualities that make a good student also define a good employee. He opens with a provocative anecdote about a high‑school teacher who tells students that half will fail, setting a tone of high expectations. Referring to a Harvard Gazette article on good students, Mackay outlines six core traits: curiosity, critical thinking, drive, integrity, passion, and purpose. For each trait he provides a definition, illustrative anecdotes or quotes (e.g., Thomas Edison’s 1% inspiration/99% perspiration, a Woodrow Wilson exchange about guaranteeing satisfaction), and a rationale for why it matters in the workplace. He emphasizes that curiosity fuels learning, critical thinking cuts through information overload, drive translates hard work into achievement, integrity builds trust, passion supplies the energy to endure long hours, and purpose gives direction. The piece concludes with a moral that work is the father of success and ambition the mother of achievement, tying the traits together as a formula for employee excellence.
Topics
Teacher's Tough Grading as Motivation Hook
A high‑school English teacher announces that 50% of the class will fail, illustrating the power of high expectations to motivate performance.
Curiosity: The Engine of Learning and Innovation
Defines curiosity as a child‑like hunger to explore, learn for joy, and a driver of great thinking.
Critical Thinking: Seeing the Big Picture Amid Distractions
Explains that the best employees spend time looking out the window, filtering information, and avoiding meaningless meetings to maintain a strategic perspective.
Drive: Hard Work as the Core Formula for Success
Argues that hard work (99% perspiration) is essential; it becomes a habit and a source of self‑satisfaction, illustrated with Edison’s quote and a tiger metaphor.
Integrity: Trustworthiness as Non‑Negotiable Foundation
States that integrity, honesty, ethics, and values are interchangeable and the single attribute that determines trustworthiness in people and organizations.
Passion and Purpose: Fuel and Direction for Sustained Excellence
Describes passion as an intense, burning desire necessary for long hours, and purpose as a clear sense of why and how to achieve goals; includes the author’s book subtitle as a concise expression of passion.
Woodrow Wilson Anecdote and Moral: Work and Ambition as Success Parents
Narrates a dialogue with Princeton President Woodrow Wilson guaranteeing satisfaction, followed by Mackay’s moral that work is the father of success and ambition the mother of achievement.