“At the end of the next quarter, Altis looked at the books and declared we weren’t saving enough money. He told each department to reduce its budget by 15%. When managers came back with smaller savings and said they’d reached rock bottom, he created task forces to ferret out waste. We got in the mode of tinkering with things. The more problems we tried to solve, the more we enhanced our administrative bureaucracy, and those costs began to rise. The best raises started going to people who weren’t producing but were administering or managing those who were. That led to increased incentives for people to work for advancement. As a result, our best marketers wound up in management.”
“Is that what happened to you?” I asked.
“Guilty as charged, ma’am. A couple of years ago we realized that we were moving in the wrong direction. Several consultants later we had adopted some new ideas and wound up flattening, thereby getting rid of the great marketers who had moved into management and reducing incentives related to higher level jobs. At the same time, the competition heated up. The decision was made to franchise our operations in Houston, thus lowering costs and reducing incentives even more. The idea of opening stores in Dallas was dropped entirely. They even considered closing the retail outlet in Sugar Land, but I fought them all the way on that— and won, for now.
“When PWE bought us, people thought things might get better. So far, nothing has changed, so there’s a sense of disappointment. I’m probably the only optimist left around, but I think good things are beginning to happen. I’ve heard rumors that Altis is on his way out. Depending on whom they replace him with, things might improve. So there’s my story, Rachel. I’m prejudiced, though, and very close to the scene, so you need to be skeptical. Okay?”
“What happened to the wholesale marketing plans?” I wondered.
“Altis said do it, but of course he offered no extra funds. Can you imagine moving into new markets on last year’s budget? Hence, those plans were laid to rest in favor of a more ‘financially feasible approach”—his words, not mine. Whatever, the Board bought it, and so we continue our marketing in three states.”
I wondered what the impact had been at the Sugar Land plant. Charlie answered simply, “See for yourself.” I promised to visit there the following week. Charlie said, “We’ll have lunch. There’s a great barbecue place out there. You do like barbecue, don’t you?” I nodded.
The Marketers: Charlie’s Assessment
Then we talked about the Marketers. Charlie knew Tom, Stuart, and Alicia and had recruited Katy. Gayle had recently been moved into Marketing from Distribution, and he could tell me very little about her. “Tom Gaines is a super salesman,” he told me, “and finding new business has always been his specialty, but for the last two years he hasn’t brought in many customers. You might want to look into that.”
“What’s your guess?” I asked Charlie. “Is TYH still paying good bonuses? Or could it be something else?”
Charlie said he thought the salary system could be involved, but I would probably learn more by talking to Tom. I agreed. He thought Alicia was a gem. “She doesn’t get recognized for what she contributes,” he told me.
“Isn’t she considered a ‘workhorse’?” I asked. “She strikes me as one of those who do the work of three.” He nodded. “This may sound cynical,” I added, “but I’ve rarely seen workhorses get much credit, no matter how deserving they are. In the beginning, you’re in awe. After a while, you start telling them to turn out the lights and lock the doors when they leave.”
“You’re right,” he agreed, “so, why do we let them do it?”
“We shouldn’t,” I responded, “but I get the impression if I walked into Alicia’s office today and tried to take any of her work away, she’d probably feel threatened enough that I’d be lucky to leave with my head.”
“She has a college degree,” said Charlie. “At one time, I offered her a sales job, but she said ‘no sir, no interest, no way.’ I got the message. See, I’m smarter than I look.”
“Charlie, I refuse to get into how smart you look.” We both laughed. “But did Alicia give you any reason for turning you down?”
“She said, ‘It’s not my thing.’”
“Really? That’s puzzling since she knows so much about the products, and she enjoys working with customers. I’ll bet she’d be good. What about Stuart?”
“Mr. Kennedy to you. What do you think of him, Rachel?”
“Personally, Charlie, I’m not sure. We’ve had one meeting, and I got the feeling he wasn’t in a welcoming mood. But I’m willing to overlook that and try again.”
“Don’t expect things to change overnight, Rachel. Stu’s got a lot of ability. Right now, it’s misdirected. Once, he was Griff Lawrence’s fair-haired boy. He was moving through the organization at warp speed. When Griff left, Stu’s upward momentum left with him. I’m not saying he isn’t talented. It’s just that he skipped a bunch of TYH grades, and he never socialized much with the ‘regulars,’ so, when Griff left, he was abandoned. Then he developed ‘an attitude problem.’”
“That explains a lot,” I said. “You know, one thing I’ve learned over the years. Over-dependence on one mentor can be deadly, for just the reasons you described.”
“Tell that to Stuart.”
“Hmm. So what can you tell me about Katy?”
“Not all that much. I recruited her. She was the darling of her class. I understand she’s off to a slow start, but frankly, given all that’s going on, I’m not surprised. Someone...” he said looking at me, “needs to take her ‘under her wing.’”
“I’m going to meet with her in the next few days. My first read is she’s not particularly interested in much I might say, but we’ll see. I think I’m going to have to prove I have a decent wingspread before I attract her attention.”
Charlie grinned. “You’ll think of something. Ben said you were creative and very good with people.”
“Don’t believe my press notices, Charlie, but I’ll give it my best shot.”
He drove me back to the office, and we talked of everything but work. How did I like Houston? Was I adjusting to the traffic? What about the family back home? When I told him about Brad, he nodded. “I had one of those boomerang kids myself. Good news, Rachel. He’s gone—graduated, and working.”
“What’s your secret?” I asked.
“He found someone with a ‘decent wingspread.’ The rest is history.”
Judy was waiting for me when I returned. She had set up a meeting with Katy for ten a.m. Thursday and had news. “Gayle’s not coming back,” she told me. Gayle had called to ask for HR’s telephone number and said she was starting her new job Monday. “I took her file off your desk, Rachel. I hope you don’t mind, but Personnel needed it to process her resignation. By the way, I don’t want to make things rougher on you than they already are, but I’ve got an interview tomorrow afternoon.”
“Thanks for telling me, Judy. By the way, if I can swing it, would you be interested in a permanent job here? If you say no, I’ll drop it. If you think you might, then I’m going to call Human Resources this minute and find out if there’s any prospects. I’d hate to lose you.”
“Thanks for that, Rachel. I might be interested,” Judy said, and I gathered that depended on the offer. Fair enough. I wanted her there. I felt supported by Judy, and I appreciated her mature, professional attitude. I realized getting her on the payroll might be a challenge and decided to see how much support there might be from Elroy. Minutes later we were on the phone. “You need all the help you can get over there,” he said. “Let me make a couple of calls. If you sense any stalling, call me.”
I waited fifteen minutes and called Personnel. TYH had some openings, and later that afternoon they came up with a reasonable offer. Judy was summoned, and after what seemed like hours, she returned with a smile and a nod. I breathed a giant sigh of relief. Hopefully, this would be the start of a good news cycle. Between Judy and Charlie, I was beginning to build a suppor
t team, and I knew I needed all the help I could get. I silently thanked Elroy for “greasing the administrative wheels.”
My discussion with Charlie had been fruitful, in more than one way. I was thinking about the situation with Brad when I got back to my apartment that evening and called home. Unfortunately, I chose a bad time. Paul seemed exasperated. He was in the midst of a discussion with Brad and told me he would call back in an hour. When he did, I could tell immediately that all was not well. “Do you know how he spent today, Rachel?” Paul asked me. “He watched television. Can you believe it? He said it was too rainy for a tennis game. That was the last straw! I gave him two weeks. Find a job, register for the next semester, or move. What do you think about that?”
“I think you were generous. Surprised? What did he have to say?”
“Very little. He’s borrowed my truck and gone for a ride. He said he’d be home later. I hope I wasn’t too hard on him, but this has gone far enough.”
I knew things were pretty rough, and I wanted to help. I offered to come home for the weekend, but Paul said things would be fine. “I don’t want you in the middle of this, Rachel,” he told me. “You have enough people to watch over in Houston. We’ll work it out, I promise.” I told Paul about my lunch with Charlie and the fact that he had survived a similar experience. His son had connected with someone who had helped him find direction. What Brad needed was someone to talk to. Paul agreed, but neither of us had any idea who that might be. Then Paul suggested I talk to Charlie again to get more particulars about how he had found the right person.
I knew I should wait until tomorrow, but I was desperate, and he was listed in the phone book. His wife answered the phone, and I apologized for calling at night. “Have I interrupted your dinner?” I asked. She assured me they were finished. Laughing, she added, “Charlie will be thrilled you called. He is helping Annie with the dishes, and now he gets a reprieve.” Annie was their twelve year old daughter.
When Charlie came to the phone, I told him to pass my apologies on to Annie. “No problem,” he laughed. “We were almost finished. What’s up?”
I told him, and I could hear the empathy in his voice. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m not sure. I guess I’m wondering how you found the right person to help your son. I’m looking for ideas, Charlie.”
Mentoring Young Adults
“There isn’t much to tell, Rachel,” he said. “I told Keith I’d like him to find someone to talk to so he could get another perspective, but it had to come from someone who wasn’t a peer. He agreed, but he said it wouldn’t be one of my cronies either. For a few minutes we were at an impasse. Then we decided to forget about the specific person and focus on the qualities we were looking for. We wound up with five characteristics. Keith agreed to having the discussion within a week, and I committed to hearing him out without being critical or judgmental and to help in any way I could. Several days later he went back to school to talk with one of the senior dorm counselors with whom he had struck up a friendship. The next semester, he returned to college. The key, Rachel, was in forgetting about who the person was and focusing on the list of traits we agreed on. I think of it as a description of the mentoring spirit.”
I wondered if Charlie kept a copy of the list. He said he had some notes on it and would be glad to read them to me, or if I preferred, he would fax them to me tomorrow. I told him I had a paper and pencil in hand.
When he finished reading his notes, I asked one question: did he think the person his son picked, the senior dorm counselor, had all of these qualities? He said he never met him, but his son seemed to think so, and he trusted him. Besides, the results seemed to speak for themselves. I thanked Charlie, apologizing for interrupting his evening.
Fifteen minutes after my call to Charlie, I had e-mailed the notes to Paul and called to find out what he thought. He said he liked what he read and would discuss it with Brad—that is, when they were speaking again. I encouraged Paul to go through the list with Brad and encourage him to modify the language, for if Brad were to have any ownership of the results, he needed to put his own mark on everything. We ended the conversation on a hopeful note, but I must admit the distance made me feel powerless to be as helpful as I wanted to be to either my husband or my son. And although I trusted Paul completely, I wondered whether I should heed his advice to stay in Houston or go home for the weekend. The answer was waiting for me on the internet.
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Why don’t you spend the weekend with your family and meet with me on Monday at ten. I’d like to hear more about your adventures.
Elroy
I wrote a quick reply saying I would be there.
“More about my adventures.” That’s what Elroy wanted. What I wanted was to convince PWE management that mentoring could rekindle enthusiasm and contribution at TYH. I thought my three months in Houston might be a start. That’s why I kept the notes I am going to share with you.
NOTES TO MENTORING FILE
_____________________________
Starting a Mentoring Relationship
It is important to take the necessary time to establish a level of comfort. Building mutual trust is a critical issue in mentoring.
1. Look for common ground: Background, education, the weather, the traffic, family, travel are all possibilities.
2. Tell your story first. Disclosing something about yourself that doesn’t put you in a highly favorable light is a powerful relationship-building tool.
3. Ask broad, open-ended questions like “How are things going?” that stimulate open discussion rather than more direct questions like “How do you like working here?” or “What kind of problems are you having?” that make the other person feel vulnerable.
The Mentoring Spirit: Charlie’s List
1. Has credibility both with the young adult and the parent. That means he/she needs to
understand the young person’s struggles, having experienced and overcome similar challenges, or
be accepted as someone who has helped others or has the capacity to be supportive in some significant way, and
be respected for his/her moral/ethical standards.
2. Communicates high expectations. If you want to help someone, encourage her to set high expectations for herself. There is nothing so de-motivating for someone as having those who know her best believe she will not succeed no matter how hard she tries. On the other hand, a large amount of evidence shows the reverse is true, as long as the expectations are realistic.
3. Is a good listener. Probably the biggest complaint young people have is that most adults are more than willing to talk to them, but not nearly as open to listening. In particular, that means coming across as understanding but not judgmental.
4. Has empathy. Sympathy can make a person feel like a victim because it implies tacitly that he lacks the will or power to act on his own. Empathy can be uplifting. It says we understand another’s struggles and at the same time acknowledge the person is capable of solving his own problems.
5. Offers encouragement without assuming responsibility for the results—a simple premise, but fundamental for someone’s personal growth. One who takes on accountability for another is not acting as a mentor but rather as a doting parent. This deprives the individual of the opportunity to learn from her own mistakes.
With the exclusion of the parent’s approval in Item 1, the same qualities apply to mentoring anyone at work.
CHAPTER 4
Being a Role Model
The real leader has no need to lead—he is content to point the way.
— Henry Miller, The Wisdom of the Heart
It was Thursday, and I was intent on continuing my “recruiting mission.” I knew I was starting at TYH with almost no influence; however, being an optimist, I figured there was no way I could fail since I was already at the bottom.
At the beginning, you really didn’t have much credibility with us. We consider
ed you a caretaker, someone sent by Perry Winkle Enterprises to hold the line until fresh replacements could be sent in. The problem was, you refused to act like a caretaker.
No sooner had I entered my office that morning than Judy followed me in carrying a cup of coffee with cream and sweetener. “You do take both, don’t you, Rachel.”
I thanked her and told her not to spoil me. “You really shouldn’t do this,” I said. “I can get it myself.”
“I know,” said Judy closing the door, “but I thought you might need this fast. Alicia wants to talk with you—right now—and I told her I’d see what was going on.”
I got up. “Judy,” I protested, “please don’t treat me like royalty. If Alicia wants me, all she has to do is come down or call and I’ll…. “
Judy interrupted my oration. “She is on her way. Get ready. She’s upset.” I opened the door.
“Mrs. Hanson,” Alicia began.
“Come in, Alicia, and please call me Rachel. ”
She stepped quickly in and closed the door. Then she began to pace. “I don’t want to tell on Katy— she’s got enough troubles—but I just talked to Frank Manchester from Super Health. He is fit to be tied and threatening to cancel orders.”
“Please sit down, Alicia. I want to hear all about it. May I ask who Manchester is?”
“He’s in charge of their payables,” she replied, pulling a guest chair closer to my desk. “Anyway, they were late paying, and I told Katy about it. I thought she should know.” Alicia sat on the edge of the chair, her fingers playing ragtime on my desk. “Mrs. Hanson—Rachel, I always take care of those things, but she was furious and said she would call Frank herself. He said it would take a little time to find our invoices, and Katy, without talking to me first, went over his head, and called John Kramer, his boss. Now Frank’s in big trouble, and he said Mr. Kramer was threatening to find a different supplier.”
The Art of Mentoring Page 5