by Sam E. Jones

Created on: April 20, 2010

When I landed my first management position, I was anxious, to say the least. As I was walked around the office, barely listening as my new boss introduced me to the people that I would be managing, I felt a sense of panic. Several of these people I was meeting for the first time were obviously older than me, more experienced, and from their expressions, more cynical of management. Nothing I’d learned in school, or my previous assignments as a simple worker bee had prepared me for what I was now expected to do. Lead.

One of my first tasks upon being hired was to reorganize the staff into a more efficient operation. Prior to my arrival, things had not gone well, as everyone had worked as single individual units. This was why the last guy had left in frustration. I knew I had to look “in charge”, calm and rational. I knew I had to be perceived as someone these people could trust. What I didn’t know, was how to achieve all or any of that; so, what I did was pretend that I did. I imagined myself as my father, a military officer, tossing out directives without a moment’s hesitation. I imagined myself as Captain Jean Luc Picard, aboard the Enterprise, suddenly confronted with a seemingly impossible task before me. What would these men do were they to now be standing in my shoes?

The answer became obvious: figure out who was best at what, and then have them do that. Ta Dah!

Of course it wasn’t quite that easy, everyone had varying degrees of competence in several fields, and each had their own ideas of what they wanted to contribute. But that was all stuff that could be figured out as we went. The important thing, at least in my eyes, was that an initial decision had been made, and was used as the plan for moving forward.

Looking back now, many years later, I can pat myself on the back for a job well done; for a decision made that worked out well and made life better for the people who worked for me there, and that helped the company expand their bottom line to boot. But most of all, I can look back and note that it was that initial decision, at that moment in time, made with certainty, and then followed-through, that laid the groundwork for the success that followed.

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