Once upon a time most suburbs had a small set of shops. There was a newsagent, a butcher, a small supermarket and a service station. When you were at the service station, the attendant would fill your car, check the oil, check the water and tyres. You didn’t have to get out of your car !
It was a time when your local service station was a small business owned and operated as such. It generally employed young people just like McDonalds or Hungry Jacks do today. Weekends were supervised by one of the older staff – a University student in this case. Let’s call him Jim.
One weekend the owner of the local service station had taken a much needed weekend away and so young Jim was in charge for the weekend. Remember this was a time when there was no mobile phones or email. Communication was only a landline phone.
On this particular weekend a problem occurred and unfortunately for young Jim, he couldn’t make contact with the owner to seek his advice on how to deal with the issue. It wasn’t something that could wait until Monday, a decison had to be made NOW ! The pressure was on young Jim, he had no choice, he had to make a decision. It was up to him, he didn’t have any other option! Jim made a decision.
Unfortunately it was the wrong decision…. Jim was upset and disappointed in himself. He spent the rest of the weekend in despair and questioning his ability. Worse still, when the owner returned on Monday, Jim felt things would only get worse, his employment was potentially finished.
On his return, the owner and Jim talked through what had occurred. They both agreed it wasn’t the best outcome. Jim thought he was gone! But then after some consideration, the owner said:
“Jim the thing is, I put you in charge because I knew I could rely on you, regardless of whether your decision was right or wrong, you were prepared to make a decision, you never erred from the responsibility I had placed on you and that’s all I can ask. That’s why I knew I could count on you!”
Jim left the meeting feeling somewhat surprised and shocked that the owner had actually praised him for his efforts. He’d had a go and did what he thought best. Although they’d discussed what went wrong, the main thing was Jim was prepared to make a decision.
And from this I learned –
The condition also impacts healthy love lives and is known for reducing stress, treating diabetes, lowering blood sugar & cholesterol levels, reducing stress, treating sexual dysfunction in men, treating diabetes, and levitra generic promoting relaxation. The doctor won’t have any problem in prescribing anti-impotency medicine to viagra sample canada healthy men. viagra on line australia My husband’s brother died at 43 of mestastised bowel cancer. They either stifle or redress the issue totally viagra delivery and give the right prescription that will help in the healing process.
From a leadership perspective, we need to recognize and congratulate those that have the courage to step up and make decisions. Being paralysed by responsibility is costly in any enterprise.
Secondly, we need to support our people in their best endeavours, especially when things don’t go to plan. If the owner had punished young Jim for taking the initiative, it would have cost them both much more in the long run.
Jim and the owner both showed great leadership qualities and backed each other. Particularly when Jim needed it most.
For me, the story has stood the test of time. Today, more than ever we need true Leadership.
If you enjoyed this post, I would love it if you would share it with your friends. Head to our home page and enter your email address and subscribe to www.manstheory.com. You will receive notifications when I post additional articles and I look forward to you being a part of our community.
