What's your role?

What's your role?
g. simonsen

The Chevron station down the street was out of diesel so I began my journey to find the nearest station with diesel before I ran out. Nervously nursing my truck down the street from one stop light to the next my eyes were glued to the needle. I do have two tanks, but the needle on the front tank wasn’t working leaving me with no idea of what I had left in that tank. So, I just use the rear tank. But, that wasn’t pretty either as the needle slowly “bobbed” up and down over the larger than life letter “E” that was beginning to annoyingly rub in the fact that I waited too long.

If I could just make it through this light, take a left hand turn and then a quick right.

The 76 station was a sight for sore eyes; however, I did always try to avoid this station as the service had always been poor. Usually, I would pull up and then wait for what seems like 5 minutes before anyone would ever acknowledge me. Looking around, there were never any other customers waiting. But, when you drive a diesel, your choices are always limited.

As I pulled into the “island” of fuel pumps, I was met by two people. One guy was apparently new on the job as he was dressed with his 76 jacket and hat and armed with a squeegee while he washed the office windows with perfection. The other guy was a surprise to me at all that he worked there. His rough shaven look and a pony tail that just barely qualified as a pony tail as his hair was way too short for such an attempt. With no jacket or hat and just a white t-shirt with no sleeves, he approached my truck with a surprisingly warm greeting.

“Fill’er up with diesel in the rear tank, please.” I said as he kindly took my keys to unlock the cap.

And then something happened that seemed to set off a million light bulbs in my head at the same time. The rough looking guy began to speak to the new guy with words that said it all. Having a difficult time getting his words out and with a stutter, he began…

“If every employee, [long drawn out pause to gather his thoughts] at every shift, [another pause] would do what they were supposed to do… [with emphasis and a hand motion like a plane soaring into the clouds] this place would meet the standards every time!”

I sat there stunned…he was so right on. But, then I began to dig deeper into his statements and started asking questions to myself…

“Does every employee actually know what they are supposed to do?” or “Do we just assume that every employee knows what they are supposed to do?” or “Have we provided clarity to each employee to understand what they are supposed to do?”

As I drove away from the station, my gut began telling me that in order for us to move forward as a company, this line of questioning needs to become front and center, especially before the busy season is upon us. In this, I want to make sure we are consistent with providing clear vision, clarity of expectation, and strong leadership within each of our business units.

As I always say, “Clarity is the antidote to anxiety.”

Driving into work that morning was an amazing experience. I couldn’t wait to get there to begin processing these questions…

What if everyone saw the vision?
What if everyone knew what they were supposed to do?

The answer to these questions could become the very competitive edge we are looking for. That’s right, I said it.

In a world of price points, high powered marketing promotions, and big box retailers, it’s what we do consistently on the front lines that will set us a part. In this, we must always seek to “audit” the supply lines. What I mean by this is at the corporate office level, there are plans, policies, and procedures that are developed. When these are completed, they are then sent out to each one of our locations with the goal of reaching every employee.

However, and sadly, they do not always effectively get to where they are going. It is in auditing this process that we are essentially auditing the “supply lines” that reach to the front lines to ensure that our staffs have the tools needed to be successful with impacting life.

So, have you audited your supply lines lately? Does every staff member have clarity on what is expected of them? Do you have clarity of what is expected of you?

How well do you and your team know the vision of that which we are seeking to accomplish?

Remember, we are in a three legged race. We need every staff member to both know and perform their role. It is not good enough in this three legged race to just connect our ankles together…for we must also place our arms around each other if we seek to move forward together and on towards to the goal of seeking to meet the needs of those who will walk through our doors each day. To win this race, we will need to remain in step with one another... one step at a time and towards the goal.

Boy, i'm sure glad that Chevron was out of diesel. If they weren't...I would have missed out.

Please feel free to post your comments. I can also be reached at: gunsim@msn.com