By Kim Schmidt — November 17, 2024 in Best Practices – Rural Lifestyle Dealer
In Editor/Publisher Mike Lessiter’s blog of November 11, 2024 titled “Roll Call: Integrity,” he quotes his pastor who shared a story about the late Gulf War General Norman Schwarzkopf. When asked about the origin of his leadership style, Schwarzkopf answered, “I never walk past a problem. I never see something going wrong and forget about it. I always stop and confront it right there.”
A look further showed that others cite this same guiding principle as well. The history-making U.S. Four-Star General Ann E. Dunwoody also shared a similar concept.
In her book A Higher Standard, Dunwoody wrote, “Far too often we let little things slide. But just turn on the news and listen as the anchors lament an auto-part defect leading to deaths and multibillion-dollar recalls or a small leak in a gas pipeline causing an explosion that endangers wildlife. Recognizing when something is wrong, big or small, and holding people accountable can save industries billions and citizens their lives. Sergeant Bowen instilled in me instantly that if you do walk by a mistake, then you just set a new, lower standard.”
As managers, it’s easy to fall into the trap of “it’ll be faster to just fix it myself.” And while you may have saved yourself 30 minutes of explaining or training the person who made this mistake by fixing it yourself, you’ve likely cost yourself time in the long run.