Page 107 - The Voice of Authority

nicates volumes to others
Attention to detail re- about the quality of work
flects an attitude of you expect from them.
quality, commitment,
and consistency com- Follow-Through—Do
municated to customers. What You Promise
When somebody says,
Carole took a six-month
“I’m not a detail per-
leave of absence from her fi-
son,” I start to sweat.
nancial services organiza-
You’ll rarely hear this
tion for medical reasons re-
statement from chief ex-
lated to a stress disorder,
ecutives. They’re always and is now considering tak-
“a detail person.” The ing early retirement. Al-
issue is which details though she’s a 25-year vet-
merit their attention. eran and star performer,
They dive for details— here’s her story about the
the significant details— breakdown in communica-
because they know de- tion with her boss:
tails can sink or save an
enterprise. The workload just kept
getting heavier and heav-
ier every week as they
kept laying off people.
They expected those of us who were left to keep pick-
ing up the slack. Several days of the week, I worked
from home. And I logged onto the computer at 4:00
a.m. And there they’d be—hundreds and hundreds of
e-mails. Every morning. Same thing. Hundreds
more. Just waiting to be handled. And I’d work until
5 or 5:30 every night. Then go walk the dog and cook
dinner. Then log back in about 7:30 and work until
10:00 and then log out and go to bed. Then log back

Is It Consistent? 95