Tag Archives: duty
September 19, 2011 Tough But Fair
I learned yesterday that one of my former employers passed away suddenly at the young age of 64. He often appeared to be a gruff man with a non-nonsense perspective on life. He was excellent at cutting to the chase and getting to the core issue that was the hinge upon which his decision would be made. And once that happened, you’d best get on board the train because there was no turning back – not that there was much worry. You see, once he made a decision, his people wanted to work for him, wanted to get it done. And they did so over and over again.
There were many of us who worked for him over the years, but all of our motivation was the same: we wanted to see that big smile, have him clap us on the shoulder with one of his big paws and say, “Thanks. Good job.” If you got one of those, you could be assured: you did a good job.
Some took his directness as him being too tough, but that toughness was a way to push his people to grow. He was always fair and never hesitated to support you if you had justification. Going in without dotting your I’s and crossing your T’s was a risk you ought not take – there were not many second chances given. But given proper preparation and the proper degree of effort shown, he was eminently fair.
His son has taken on many of these same qualities. He served in the Army and people under his command ran through walls for him. As an employee of his, we did, too. Quiet confidence, cut-to-the-chase concision, and complete decisiveness are common traits.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention his vision and participation for the community at large. Through his efforts and those of his wife, he was involved in the planning and creation of a high school campus for the small Catholic feeder schools in the area; he worked through the Chamber of Commerce to make the vacation land of Hilton Head synonymous with quality of life for innovation, not just relaxation; the numerous charities, banquets, and causes he contributed to, advocated, or participated in – there’s not enough room in this space.
My thoughts and prayers are with The Boss and all of his family, friends, and coworkers who have had the good fortune to have learned at the hand of a true original. My hope is that his legacy is true to his life: tough but fair – and a father figure to those of us fortunate to have learned from him.
Tags: consequences, develop, duty, service, staffing, workplace
September 9, 2011 “The Talk”
Last night, I had “the talk” with my 3 boys. Considering their ages, it was hard for me to decide whether it was the right thing to do, but I decided it was. You see, my oldest had brought an almanac home from school as his library book. In it, there was a section about tall buildings and it talked about the tallest buildings in the world being in Kuala Lumpur and others being built in the middle east. An then it talked about the Empire State Building in NY. I told them that was where I was from and that I used to pass that building every day on the way to and from work, that it was near where the Rangers and Knicks play (I’m training them) and, finally, that it hasn’t always been the tallest building in the City of New York.
So I told them about September 11th. The questions came fast and furious: why would someone do that? That wasn’t very nice! How come the firemen didn’t come to get them? How did they knock them down again? But what about the people on the plane? Did we catch the bad guys? Are they coming back to do it again? Are we safe?
My heart sank. Their faces were stunned disbelief. Their little brains just couldn’t figure out how it could be so that one person would do this to another. How firemen couldn’t get everyone out. How it would ever occur to anyone to use a plane full of people as a weapon.
I did the best I could. I told them what I had seen that day out my office window, that mommy and I had moved away a little after that and that, yes, we had caught a lot of the men who had done this, but then I had the challenge of explaining the zero-sum game that war is to elementary-aged children.
Helping a child comprehend how it’s still a bad thing even when the “good guys” kill the “bad guys” is hard enough. Helping them understand that sometimes the “bad guys” manage to kill some “good guys” along the way is even harder. And then it crushed me.
“So are we safe?”, asked my youngest. I’m not into lying to my kids, so I said, “pretty much, but we thought we were safe before they came and knocked down those buildings, too. Chances are that Nashville is safer than New York City as far as this threat is concerned, but nobody can ever be 100% sure.”
So Connor fell asleep on the couch with me because he was scared to go to bed alone and Parker woke up crying twice. He couldn’t say why he was waking up, but that he was scared so I asked him who keeps him safe. He said, “Daddy and Mommy.” I asked him who kept Mommy and Daddy safe and he answered, “God.” I mussed his hair, kissed his cheek and put him back to sleep. He didn’t wake up crying again.
Tags: country, duty, fath, september 11th, service, world trade
- Leave a comment
- Posted under country, Duty, faith, September 11, service, world trade
September 5, 2011 The Next Big Thing
Over the past few days, I have been inundated, unsolicited, by people, articles, new stories, and the like with a common question: are you the one who’s got the next big idea that will change the way we live? With the economy in the doldrums, entrepreneurialism is expected to spike again. As has been the case in past downturns, people start up more companies when times are tough and greatness is often born. These companies are borne out of necessity, the product of so much talent sitting idle.
But who are the ones with the chutzpah to take that leap, to put everything they have into a new venture when things look so bleak? It stands to reason that, with so little to lose, the chance really isn’t that big so there is not too far to fall. I know several entrepreneurs, but none who have attempted to change people’s lives. They’re architects, financial guys, home improvement types – they recognize a need in the community and go fill it. Their personalities are go-getters and they have drive, but they’re not reinventing anything.
I’m not talking about landing a man on Mars here. Most groundbreaking change is actually really small change but the final increment gets it to a place that revolutionizes its use. Look at your whatever you’re reading this on. Chances are, it’s a greatly improved model of what it looked like 10 years ago but those improvements were incremental, not sudden. Your computer had a screen and a keyboard in 1985, but this whole Internet thing made I more usable and then being able to use it on your lap and, finally in your hand on a tablet or phone takes it to that sweet spot that makes it revolutionary.
This is what baffles me about cars. We’ve been using essentially the same technology in cars for a hundred years. You’re telling me that nobody can do it better than an internal combustion engine? I can’t believe that to be true. We should either be running on trash like in “Back to the Future” or we should be getting 100 miles to the gallon. Maybe now is the time this leap will occur.
With the idle intellectual capacity, the pressures fuel costs put on Americans’ budgets, and the ever-sprawling manner in which our cities are laid out, the efficient car is no longer just a nice idea for the ecology; it’s a required idea for the economy.
Makes me wonder whether this progress is more than just an economic game, but is a duty. A duty to our fellow human beings, to make our collective lives better. To improve quality of life not just for ourselves through our individual income, but to lift the quality of those around us. Who knows: if I make my neighbor’s life better, they might invent or progress something to make my life better.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not talking about charity here. I’m talking about viable, marketable ideas that are mutually beneficial, purchased, and adopted. The common thread among these ideas is to create margin. Margin in time, efficiency, spending. That margin enables creativity, yields the margin to bring to fruition the next big thing.
So do your duty. Get crackin’ and move us all forward.
- Leave a comment
- Posted under Duty, Economy, workplace
Do I Really Have Anything to Say? 