Does your company have ‘good eggs’ in its ‘basket’?

Every year, prior to Easter Sunday our family colors eggs and I attempt to make the best looking one and also the ugliest.

We have a lot of fun experimenting with colors and always seem to get more of the dye on the table, rather than on the eggs.

I think one of the reasons I enjoy this holiday tradition so much is that it takes me back to when I was a kid and also when times seemed simpler. Nothing much has changed over the many years of egg coloring — hard-boil the eggs, cool them off and then dip them in the assorted dyes for a minute or two.

Simple, fun, and for a brief period of time, regardless of any natural talent, everyone who colors eggs becomes an artist.

When I was at my former employer, we also had fun with egg coloring via an egg-coloring contest for our employees.

Typically, three different types of colored eggs were produced by the staff:

The perfect egg — This is the egg that is one color, was dipped precisely the correct amount of time and had virtually no color flaws or cracks.

These eggs were produced by employees who were known at work to precisely follow instructions, take few risks and had great pride in producing a great product in accordance with all the guidelines and rules.

The creative egg — This is the egg that had multiple colors and perhaps even glitter or a wax crayon applied. It certainly stood out, yet colors were applied symmetrically or with some well-thought out design.

Employees who created this type of egg had a reputation at work to stretch the rules a bit, took some risks and challenged the status quo.

The bizarre egg — This egg had been dipped in just about every color, adorned with every type of glitter and perhaps dressed up with additional decorations.

Employees who experimented with their eggs in this manner were known at work to throw the rules out the window, took lots of risks and loved challenging tradition.

Regardless of how the outer shell looked, each of the eggs tasted exactly the same on the inside.

The same can be said of people at work. Everyone is different on the outside, with different backgrounds and different skill sets.

Yet, on the inside, most individuals who are working hard at their jobs have remarkably similar characteristics as they:

• Have a great attitude and aptitude

• Know, believe, and love what they are doing at work

• Change the world every day through their actions

• Are ethical and honest, especially when no one is looking

• Lead by example

• Are not afraid to take risks

• Don’t “crack” under pressure

• Are results-oriented These people are the “good eggs” in your business. Fill your “basket” of job positions with them and you will find that your company “hops” leaps and bounds over your competition!

Pat Perry is host of the national Success Wave podcast, business book author, keynote speaker, former ERC president, columnist, NEO Business Hall of Fame member and recently named to the Cleveland 500.

Regardless of how the outer shell looked, each of the eggs tasted exactly the same on the inside. The same can be said of people at work. Everyone is different on the outside, with different backgrounds and different skill sets.