As I turned around, I saw my boss enter the office with an 8-lb sledge hammer in his hands. “Out of the way,” he yelled. As I cleared the doorway, I watched him march over to the locked two-drawer filing cabinet that housed all the employee files. “Wham” went the sledge hammer as it hit the corner of the filing cabinet. “Open you so and so,” I heard him mutter under his breath, and then “Wham” a second time. This time the lock popped, and the filing cabinet yielded the file my boss needed.
My management career began almost 35 years ago. Believe me, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. My ideas of my responsibilities have most certainly changed along the way. And as they changed, I began to notice how others in the profession responded to situations. Thinking, I can always learn something from someone who knows more than I do—as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “In every man there is something wherein I may learn of him, and in that I am his pupil.”16 As a result, I began to study other managers and watch for successful behaviors that I could imitate. One manager that I worked for stands out in particular. Yes, the one I learned the most from did wield a sledge hammer in the office. It turned out that the payroll clerk had accidentally taken the keys home, and he needed information that was in that cabinet only. I have said many times that I have learned things from him I will always do, and I have also learned things from him that I will never do. But I have seen employees, supervisors, and managers come to him for help and guidance because he really knows how to teach. He taught me how to get things done through other people. He is the kind of guy that makes sure you have the tools to do your job while holding you accountable for using them to complete the job.
While I have never hit a locked filing cabinet with an 8-lb sledge hammer, I have used many tools that this manager taught me. He was not afraid to delegate, and he also showed me the importance of systematic follow-up to our business success. He understood that without keeping in touch with the employees that he delegated work to, he was at their mercy and would have to accept whatever they produced. It is not surprising that this man is now a vice-president in the organization.