Sunday, September 6, 2009

AED...

Crisp cool night out....wisps of campfire smoke drift in our open windows. It sort of feels like Labor Day weekend...maybe a day off tomorrow will thoroughly convince me that the end of summer is here. At the last couple of locations we've been at, we have typically had Sundays and Mondays off so seemed odd today to work. Was a short day though...only till 3. Miss my regular routine of Sundays....morning political banter on TV...and then NASCAR race in the afternoon. Sigh....what's a gal to do ? Perhaps our next location will provide better TV reception AND NASCAR will then move to ABC so I might possibly be able to catch a race. Wish us luck !

Sometimes we will chat with a customer about being roving managers and what that entails. A guy the other day likened us to the "Grim Reaper"....that our arrival at a property was an ominous thing. I guess in a sense that is true but we surely don't want people quaking in their shoes and fearful if they see us pull onto their property. We might just be stopping by to say hello or introducing ourselves (as we have done before at a couple of locations). It does sound kind of creepy though.....I guess there isn't a way to make it more pleasant. It is a tough task. In all my years of management, I never enjoyed firing people (well, except maybe that one time). I had a Vice President tell me once that "if it becomes a pleasant task then you've been doing it too long". I feel that the decision leading up to firing someone should make you stop and ponder the impact you will make on your organization, the employee and their family. It should always have an air of discomfort to it...then you will know that it was a decision that was made with much forethought and not one made in haste. In this job we aren't the ones to make the decision to fire someone. We are the ones sent in to pick up the pieces....resuscitate the business so it doesn't skip a beat. We're more like traveling AED's(automated external defibrillators)....ready to jumpstart a dying business back into life. There, that sounds better !

No comments: