Page 209 - Just Promoted A 12 Month Road Map for Success in Your New Leadership Role

194 Just Promoted!

When Robert was an assembly-line worker in a truck plant, he made fre-
quent suggestions to his foreman for improving efficiency and quality. He
didn’t complain; he didn’t file grievances with the union. Instead, he tried to
work constructively with management. When an opening for a new foreman
came up, he was promoted to foreman.
Again, he made a number of improvements to increase quality and efficiency,
contributions that resulted in his being named head of quality control. From
quality control, he was named director of customer service for western Canada.
While visiting one of the regional offices, he spotted a request for bids from a
large trucking company. Upon inquiring, he learned that the regional manager
did not plan to submit a bid because the customer had never bought the com-
pany’s products in the past. Robert asked the manager if there was any objec-
tion to his putting a bid together, to which the manager said no, there wasn’t.
Within a week Robert had prepared a proposal to sell the customer diesel trucks.
For good measure he threw in a 100,000-mile warranty. The customer couldn’t
resist, and Robert shortly thereafter was made a district sales manager.
From there, his career went to plant manager, director of manufacturing,
director of sales, and eventually to president of his company. What is special
about Robert’s experience is that it demonstrates that the initiative of one per-
son, his own initiative, could make a difference. No matter what his job, on
the production line or as a member of management, he made a difference, and
he believed in his company and its products enough to want to try.
Rosemary, president of the largest bank in a large East Coast city, started
as a teller. She wrote a training manual for the tellers in her branch. The man-
ual brought her to the attention of management, which promoted her to direc-
tor of teller training. In whatever job she had, she once told a reporter, she
tried to do the best job possible. From there, the promotions just took care
of themselves.
Managers typically have many more responsibilities and problems to solve
than they can manage at any time. Managers, supervisors, and members of
the workforce who step forward with suggestions, and who offer to get
involved in implementing the solutions, are often rewarded for their initia-
tive. Organizations need energy. They have too few problem solvers and too
few people who are willing to make an extra effort and take some initiative
to solve problems.
Those who take initiative, who take some risks to make things better, are
usually rewarded for their initiative and leadership.