Lead By Example – Follow Up to the last post

 I meant to have this posted on Friday but was unable to process all of my thoughts until now:

              I think it was in August when Roland applied for the management position at the jewelry store.  They were down to two candidates but had decided to go with the one who was more familiar with the product.  Not a great call in my opinion – but I am just getting the information second hand.  I’ve never actually met the woman – but this is an illustration of what makes a leadership vs. management that I had mentioned in this post.

        Not her real name, but I shall call her Karen – the name that seemed to get a bad rap during 2020.  She knows product.  Roland knows people.  I do like a salesman that can tell me the pros and cons of certain products – electronics for example.  It is important – but I think knowing people is more important.  Not just customers (guests, consumers, or whatever they are called) but employees, co-workers, peers – neither of which Karen had experience with. 

        She would teach the other three workers about the product and Roland would teach the others how to sell, how to act, and what to do in various situations – like being robbed for example.  Cocky Karen said they would never be robbed.  Technically it was a burglary but Roland’s 911 went into effect. 

        Karen would abuse her manager position and give herself every Sunday off though Richard and at least one other employee were told they would only work every other Sunday.  Karen didn’t always pay attention to what she had scheduled.  One day she had called to find out why Roland wasn’t at work.  He said he was scheduled to close and not open but evidently she had wanted him to do both? 

        Roland continued to train the other two.  For one thing it has been majorly slow and the staff has nothing better to do.  But also he leads people – whether he is technically in charge or not.  It’s just part of his charm.  People will ask him things as though he is the designated leader – except for Karen who seems to have trust issues and has asked others to keep an eye on him – not realizing the other two would much rather have Roland as their manage rather than Karen and will confide in Roland whereas they would never dream up any conversing with Karen.  She doesn’t know how to lead.  She doesn’t know how to manage.

        Roland drove to the location on Thursday morning after the store opened.  Karen was scheduled to be there.  Her rule was that there always had to be two people in the store, but the other employee was there by herself.  Thus we went shopping and returned to the store.  Karen still was not there, but the owners were.  Roland turned in his key to them and then called human services to tell him that he had quit and tried to give the key to Karen as a courteously but she was not there.  We both wondered if she would still have a job by the end of the day or if she would take her frustrations out on the other two.

        We both feel good about his leaving and he has no desire to return.  He has heard from one of his former co-workers praising him for his abrupt decision to leave.  Our youngest son also had said that he had made the right choice.