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I think I've been in some form of management most of my life.  As a child, I was the eldest brother.  I grew up in a household where we had three responses;  "Yes, sir", "No, sir" or "No excuse".  

After I finished a long military career, I found out that being a manager is nothing like being a unit commander.  In the service, if I called the CSM and told him I wanted the rocks in front of the battalion headquarters to be painted green prior to PT, I didn't have to hold his hand to get it done.  The next day, the rocks would be olive drab.

In the civilian world, I found that I had to add a few more steps to insure the correct results:

  • Issue Directive
  • Explain Standards of Directive
  • Give Reasons for the Importance of Directive
  • Ask for any Questions
  • Follow Up to Confirm Completion
  • Inspect Work and Give Follow Up Instructions
  • Go Get Paint and Finish Job Myself

Okay, it's not quite that bad but some days it really seems to be.  Now with a decade of working my way up the ladder of an industry in the midst of change, I've reached the Corporate Director level.  

Due to my responsibilities being spread over several properties I find myself driving quite a lot and discovered the podcast a few months ago.  I love it.  Especially, the humor.  Oh wait, you guys weren't meaning to be funny?  Too late.  

As I find myself doing more with less, I find that it is more important than ever to build a team of individuals that can handle tasks normally not in their fields.  Recently, it came to  my attention that my subordinates think of me as incredibly hard working but not a warm & fuzzy guy.  So, I decided to take the first steps.  I'm putting The Trinity to work.  Since, I've decided to use the tools, I went ahead and supported you with a premium content subscription.

I look forward to learning, growing and I won't hold the fact that two of you are ring knockers against you whilst, I worked my way from green to gold.

Mark's picture
Admin Role Badge

We're glad you're here and it's a privilege for us two Ring Knockers to serve you.  We will try to stay humble.  Too late.  -)

Mark

SouthernDad's picture

Humble.   Now that was funny.  I especially liked the Career Tools cast where the example of an industry you should consider getting out of...  Oh, I don't know... newspaper publishing.  Gee, twist the knife a bit.