Leadership concepts and practices

¶ … superiors who I used to work for, Bob. The first time we met was by accident, in the elevator as I was going up to go to the interview, and we exchanged a few pleasantries. He reacted positively to our chance discussion about the weather and how nice it was to walk to work. When I went into the interview I was surprised to find he was the one who was hiring. The reason I was surprised was that he did not appear to be "superior" when I met him in the elevator. He was down-to-earth and able to communicate with people on their own level. He looked with an approving eye on all he met and tried to find their strengths and good points. When I went to work for him, he continued in this manner. He allowed me to express my viewpoints and we had fruitful discussions of how to solve problems because he was willing to listen to others' solutions, as well as putting in his own opinions, almost as an afterthought. Although he had been working in his position for many years, he was not biased toward any one way of doing a job.

We encountered a problem in the beginning with one of the employees in our risk management group. She was not producing very much, and was actually carrying on an outside business from her workplace. The situation was delicate because she belonged to a minority group and was a member of the union. Bob discussed the problem with me and we decided on a course of action that included observation and careful record-keeping on my part. As her superior, I carefully noted her days and hours, phone calls and how much work she produced, recording how the employee spent her time over the course of two weeks.

Finally, one day, a person from her outside business came in to do business with her. She stopped her work, interrupted others to accommodate this person and seated a companion to her visitor to wait in the room with us other workers. This companion "spilled the beans" to everyone about what kind of business the visitor was doing with the employee. This was recorded and gave several witnesses to the infraction. A couple of hours of the employee's work time were taken up by the visitor and this was recorded, as well.

With all the evidence in hand, Bob confronted the employee, who, of course blamed me for inaccuracies, for not knowing how she worked, jealousy and bias. The union was called in to protect her and the claim was made that I was racial prejudiced. But Bob defended and supported me, taking the blame and the risk by saying I was following his orders and only confirming what he knew to be true. I never had to account to anyone else but Bob in this case, because he protected me and my job.

There were other good qualities in Bob's leadership. He was kind and understanding when illness or calamities occurred in employees' lives. He spent extra time when necessary, if work problems came up. But he also made sure that he took his own vacation and spent time with his family. He was constantly reading and learning new ways to do things. The employees were encouraged to become better educated about their jobs and were sent to workshops and special classes for their skills.

Even though he was a very busy man, Bob's door was always "open" for employees to come and talk with him about any issue. Employees knew he would look with a fair eye upon their requests and problems. He, however, was not a pushover for sob stories and self-serving requests. He had long experience in handling employees, but more than that, he was open and fair to all sides, which of course included the opposite side to the employee's complaint. A quiet investigation would precede any decisions he made and most of the time everyone was happy with what he decided.

In the book How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie points out that there are men in the ranks who will not stay in the ranks because they have the ability to get things done. When the job is over, it is complete. It is not half-done or left for someone else to finish. This is a unique quality in leaders and one that is sometimes overlooked. (Carnegie, p. 14). There are also many other good points concerning leadership and getting along with people to be gained by reading this book.