HUMAN CAPITAL - The greatest gift a parent can give

Last week we reviewed SPIRITUAL CAPITAL. The week before that I did an overview of all five forms of capital we need to cultivate in our family business and specifically in the family room.

We MUST aspire to build a crowded dining room table full of competent, productive, content, high character, loving humans.

(It’s a beautiful thing to be able to integrate the hardest and most important work for our family and our business.)

This journal entry is focused on the second most important form of capital. 

HUMAN CAPITAL:  

Let’s define it: A human with values, morals, ethics, communication, growth mindset, work ethic, and confidence. (i.e. high character)

I hit the lottery as a kid. I had loving parents.

(Little did my parents know they were making the best investment in the family business.)

There’s not much more one could ever ask for than parents who love them. 

Here’s what I mean:

For a period of my young life I played on the Virginia State soccer team , my dad would excitedly drive me to soccer practice 1.5 hours away (one way!) every single week.

I did not appreciate the commitment my father was making but I loved it. 

I loved everything about it. The competition. The time with my dad.

I don’t remember the soccer coach or the players. I don’t remember the technical skills learned. I don’t remember the particular conversations with my dad reliving each moment of practice in the car on the drive home.

What I do remember is the sacrificial love of my father spending his most precious resource with me on Friday evenings: TIME. 

I remember the feeling I had of being with my dad for 6+ hours every Friday.

I remember the work ethic I developed and was reinforced.

I remember the confidence I developed in myself to do hard things.

My dad wasn’t pushing to make sure I achieved certain things on these trips. He was not focused on productivity on these long trips every week.  

He was holding space with me. He was letting me grow. He was walking alongside me. He was letting me flourish on my timeline with my passions. 

Human capital is a lot like gardening. We plant the seeds. We water them over and over and over. 

These soccer practices with lots of travel time were one of many investments my parents made into my human capital. 

The time invested in me converted into belief. I saw my father believe in me. Then, I began to believe in me. 

Belief, that’s the greatest gift. The input from my father was time. The output was belief. His belief in me amplified my belief in me.

Belief precedes ability.

That’s the essence of human capital. Infusing belief. Confidence. Grit. Growth mindset. Leads to high character.

These are the raw materials to create magic. I see the raw materials coming out today that were invested in me over three decades ago.

My family system would not be what it is today without that investment in my human capital that was made 30+ years ago.

I’m a better human in the board room, in operations, in the owner room, in the family room because of the human capital that has been cultivated over decades.

A family system full of humans that have been poured into and are believed in are unstoppable.

We must be planting the seeds and watering the human capital for those who come next even if we’re decades away from succession.

My kids are young. When the day comes that they start traveling for activities I will remember what I’m actually doing. I’m investing in their human capital. I’m seeking to give them luggage for their future. (not baggage)

When we put in the time we are giving the next generation the greatest gift: BELIEF.

How can you invest in the human capital of those who come next this week? 

(Put another way: How can you carve out a meaningful window of time for those you love?

Onward,

Matt

PS - Thanks Dad! Thank you for also letting me eat more than half of the Applebee’s blondie every Friday night on the way home.