With Competence and Full Commitment…
Photo by irfan hakim on Unsplash
By Ross D.
My former company once built a new plant in a small town in Central Kentucky to produce kitchen trash compactors and vacuum cleaners. At the time, it was a big deal—for the company, the appliance industry, the town, and the state—so one of our best plant managers was selected for the important and highly visible role of General Manager.
He was Sam Bateman, a Virginia native with a deep Southern accent and a large, impressive presence. The plant created hundreds of great jobs with good pay and benefits, attracting applicants from all around the area.
One evening around 6:30, Lou Walker, the plant’s HR director, came back to pick up some paperwork. After checking in with the lone security guard, he entered and heard a loud noise in what should have been a quiet, dark facility. Tracing the sound, he spotted the headlights of a power sweeper.
Lou recognized Earl, a new hourly employee. Earl’s job classification was a labor grade 8 maintenance worker—the lowest hourly pay rate in the plant. He liked his 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift because it gave him time to work another few hours back home on his small farm.
Lou approached him.
“Hey, Earl, what are you doing here? You should’ve punched out at 3:00 with everyone else.”
“Oh, Mr. Walker, don’t worry—I sure did punch out at 3:00. But this morning Mr. Bateman came through and stopped to say hello while I was cleaning around a new plastics machine. He told me some important people from Sears were coming tomorrow to tour the plant and maybe give us more orders. He said he needed me to make sure the place was as clean as it could be—and I told him I would.”
Earl paused, then added:
“So I’ll leave pretty soon. But I ain’t done yet. I aim to do us proud—and make Mr. Bateman happy.”
No one told him to stay. No one checked on him. He chose to.
Lou picked up his paperwork, then waited so the two of them could walk out together into an empty parking lot.
The next day, the plant was spotless. Earl beamed when Mr. Bateman stopped during the tour and said, “Thanks, Earl. Good job!” Soon thereafter, more orders—and more jobs—followed.
Sam hadn’t issued an order. He had spoken to Earl directly, as if it mattered that he was the one doing the work.
No doubt Sam and Earl would recognize CCLA’s definition of leadership: the process of getting people to move along together with you—and each other—with competence and full commitment to achieve a goal.
One of my favorite pieces of music is Fanfare for the Common Man, composed by Aaron Copland in 1942. It plays in my mind when I think of this moment—a General Manager and the lowest-paid employee moving along together, with competence and full commitment, toward a shared goal.
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• Where in your work are people complying—but not yet committed?
• When have you seen someone go beyond what was required? What made that possible?
• What did Sam Bateman do—however briefly—that made Earl choose to care?