My new project is The Freak Factory: Making Employees Better by Helping Them Get Worse. My goal is to apply freak factor principles to the work of managers and leaders.
It is very empowering for individuals to learn that their weaknesses are actually strengths but it can be very challenging for managers to come to a similar conclusion about their employees. That is why I love the story of Catherine Rohr, CEO of the Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP). The description from her website speaks for itself.
"Former Wall Street investor Catherine Rohr founded PEP in May of 2004 when she and her husband toured a prison and noticed that executives and inmates had more in common than most would think. They know how to manage others to get things done. Even the most unsophisticated drug dealers inherently understand business concepts such as competition, profitability, risk management and proprietary sales channels. For both executives and inmates, passion is instinctive.
Catherine wondered what would happen if inmates who were committed to their own transformation were equipped to start and run legitimate companies. followng an unusual calling, Cathern left behind her New York career and financial stability, moved to Texas with her husband and started a one-of-a-kind 'behind bars' business plan competition. Her efforts were geared toward channeling the entrepreneurial passions and influential personalities of the inmates -- intentionally recruiting former gang leaders, drug dealers and hustlers.
The overwhelming response of 55 inmates and 15 world-class executives to judge the business plans and presentations was the catalyst to launch the Prison Entrepreneurship Program."
In a live interview with Catherine at the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta she described the inmates this way. "These men are already proven entrepreneurs." She then explained that many of the PEP graduates go on to earn legitimate six-figure incomes. This drew a collective jealous groan from many of the poorly compensated ministry leaders and nonprofit managers in the audience.
Catherine's program is a phenomenal example of the power of finding strength inside apparent weakness and framing seeemingly negative characteristics in a positive way. If Rohr can do this with convicted felons, what could we accomplish with our less challenging employees?
Amazing
Posted by: Joseph Joel Sherman | September 11, 2009 at 01:02 AM