George Ambler's July 18 post about people who make a difference to us reminded me immediately of Frank, Rod and Mike. Each of these three made an indelible impression on me, and helped mold the way I lead.
Frank was the lead operator in my department when I became a shift supervisor. I was 27 years old, with engineering training and no sense of how to run our machines. Frank was probably in his late forties, with a high school education and an intuitive knowledge of how things worked.
Our first shift together, Frank pulled me aside and proposed a choice. He said, "Kid, we can work one of two ways. You can tell me what to do and how to do it and I will follow your instructions to the letter. Or we can talk about what's going on, with you contributing your book learning and me contributing my experience, and we can decide together how to make things better. If you choose the first option, I doubt we will make much product. If you choose the second, I think we can be a pretty good team."
Frank was pretty frightening to a young, new supervisor, so I chose the second course of action. Good choice! I've tried to lead that way every since, listening to those who are closest to the action, and valuing experience as much as education.
When I took on my first facility manager role at 37 years old, my boss, Rod, was 3000 miles away. We spoke on the phone frequently, but Rod couldn't see what I was doing day to day.
After about six months, performance at my plant was getting worse, not better. Rod paid us a four day visit. He sat in on meetings, spoke one on one with each of my team members, and walked the floor for hours. We met Saturday morning for perhaps the most effective coaching I have ever received. We spent our time on Focus. Rod explained that I had too many priorities, and no one knew which was really important. He urged me to focus on no more than three key goals.
I took his suggestion (okay, "order") to heart. I began speaking about, asking about and acting on only three key goals (they happened to be production per day, quality rejects percentage, and injury rate). After six months, we had surpassed all three key goals. More surprising, most of the other "priorities" I had initially spoken about got done, too. Ever since then, I try to have no more than five things I am trying to get my organization to do at any one time.
Mike taught me the hardest lesson of all - but the one that made the most difference. Mike and I were friends. We were the same age, liked similar music and enjoyed water skiing together.
Before Mike, I was a bit embarrassed to push safety on my team - most of whom were older and presumably wiser than me. If someone wasn't wearing eye protection, I might mention it quietly, but I would not push the issue. If someone did not follow safe procedures, I might mention it later. But I would never confront them on the spot.
Mike changed all that.
On an early morning in January, 1984, Mike died while doing his job. He died because he and several other people had each done something unsafe. Some supervisors knew about the unsafe acts - or should have - and did nothing to correct them. Tragically, all those unsafe acts added up to deadly conditions for Mike.
I don't ever want to attend another funeral of a coworker who should have lived. Mike gives me the strength every day to insist on an injury-free work place. I don't walk past unsafe conditions or behaviors any more - Mike won't let me.
Who were your most influential teachers?
