Teddy Roosevelt’s 5 Ways to Cultivate a Good Work Ethic

Whatever the position or salary, a good work ethic will make an employee stand out

Employers see young people who are diligent, hard workers as brimming with untapped potential. (Biba Kayewich)

I happened to be on the outskirts of a conversation between a 17-year-old young man and a middle-aged married couple a few weeks ago. About to graduate from high school, the 17-year-old politely inquired as to what the husband of the couple did for work.

Soon, the two were setting up a time for the high schooler to come out and see the inner workings of the man’s business. Given earlier conversations with this man about how eager he was for good help, I imagined I could see wheels turning in his head at the prospect of the diligent, untapped talent that stood before him.

The need for good workers these days extends far beyond this one man’s business. And judging from a recent Wall Street Journal article, finding good help in young people like my 17-year-old friend above isn’t an option that’s out there for most employers. In response, employers are rejecting ageism and embracing workers closer to retirement than high school, hoping that the more mature worker will at least give a good, solid eight hours per day of honest, diligent work, even if he or she is a bit harder to train when it comes to technology.

“There’s a willingness from this group to work the opening shift or to close down for the day, to cover during lunches and breaks or even be on call as needed,” one employer told The Wall Street Journal.

In addition to being flexible and diligent, older workers aren’t necessarily looking for huge salaries, nor are they quick to move on to a new position in order to climb the career ladder, making them further attractive to employers.

Having done a fair amount of hiring in the past decade, I can sympathize. While I’ve unearthed some very good workers among the younger generation, I’ve also been somewhat taken aback by the things some younger hires ask for, as well as the lack of loyalty some exhibit once they join a company. So much so that I, too, began thinking of older hires as more desirable.

Employers see young people who are diligent, hard workers as brimming with untapped potential. (Biba Kayewich)

As I’m somewhat still a member of the younger generation myself, such a predicament challenges me. Where did we lose the principles of hard work, and how can we regain them? The writings of the late U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt have some insight to shed on that question.

According to Roosevelt, one of the first things that makes a good worker is the willingness to put the company before one’s own personal time. In an 1899 letter to Anna Roosevelt Cowles, Roosevelt explained how difficult it was to get away from his job as governor of New York. He didn’t discount the need for some rest time, but he did realize that duties need to come before desire.

“I have just got to make up my mind that while I am Governor, everything has got to bend to my being such, and I can simply snatch occasional holidays as the opportunities arise,” his letter reads.

In that same letter, Roosevelt revealed another element of a good worker: namely, eagerness to work on a job that gives purpose.

“I am so glad to be Governor—that is, to be at work doing something that counts, that all the bothers and worries are really of small consequence,” he wrote.

In essence, a good worker isn’t necessarily out to make the most money and get continual raises; instead, he’s fulfilled if he knows he’s working for a good cause, even if it doesn’t bring in a lot of money.

Similarly, a good worker is willing to start small and do the little things well.

“I ask of you the straightforward, earnest, performance of duty in all the little things that come up day by day in business, in domestic life, in every way, and then when the opportunity comes if you have thus done your duty in the lesser things, I know you will rise level to the heroic needs,” Roosevelt said in a 1903 address at the University of California–Berkeley.

In essence, Roosevelt was reminding us that we don’t have to start with a big salary right off the bat, nor a big office or cushy benefits package. Being faithful in the little things will eventually open doors to big opportunities.

One can’t have a prescription for a good worker without including character, and in this respect, Roosevelt doesn’t disappoint.

“I believe thoroughly in the sound and vigorous body,” he said during a speech at the University of Minnesota. “I believe still more in the vigorous mind. And I believe most of all in what [counts] for more than body, for more than mind, and that is character.”

What kind of character produces success on the job, not only for the employee but also for the employer? Honesty, courtesy, kindness, and diligence are a few good traits to start with.

Finally, a good worker is one who doesn’t give up just because the formative years of his career are over. He continues “looking forward, and not back,” as Roosevelt wrote in 1908. Nor does he consider a position as beneath him if it pays less or is lower on the career ladder than one he had earlier.

“I have never sympathized in the least with the kind of man who feels that because he has been fortunate enough to hold a big position he cannot be expected to enjoy himself afterward in a less prominent position,” he wrote.

If the economy hits a downturn soon, as many have predicted, a paycheck won’t be so easy to come by. When that time comes, it'll be those who have learned Roosevelt’s principles of a good work ethic who will have a leg up when it comes to landing those jobs.

Let’s not miss the boat by ignoring them.