I was excited recently when it was announced that we were having a Glass Doctor company meeting and bringing in all of our out-of-town consultants. It is always good to learn best practices from throughout the country. The first night, however, was going to be a dinner at my counterpart’s home with both our teams. I had mixed emotions because I realized I would miss my son’s Boy Scout meeting and I had already missed quite a few due to my travels.
The dinner was very enjoyable and I called my wife, Karen, when I jumped in my car to drive home and learned that my son was still at his Boy Scouts meeting. Great – I could go by and pick him up.
I pulled up to the meeting place at 9 p.m., and the parking lot was still full of cars. Inside, I found the Scoutmaster and assistants still talking and the boys off in their meeting room. At one point, I overheard Alex, the senior patrol leader, mention something about his new position in the troop. I knew that meant they must have had an election and next week the troop would have new leadership.
When my son and I got in the car to leave, he smiled and said, “Guess what, Dad? I am the new senior patrol leader.” I had not even heard him mention running for the position, and he hadn’t asked for help in writing an election speech. So I asked about the speech and he said that he had given one. He said, “I wrote down some notes beforehand to help queue me on what to say.”
He handed me a typed speech that read as follows:
I am J Dotson, as you should know by now. I have been in many leadership positions and feel that I am best suited for the rank of the senior patrol leader. I would like everyone in our troop to feel like they are not being left behind, and I will push everyone to do their best. This troop has a very large reliance on adults, but I personally would like to move up and make this even more boy-lead, where the troop can act more independently. Our troop has sort of grown into a family and I would just like to continue this mood and atmosphere. Sometimes we don’t always get along, but this is something we can just work on. Alex, Jonathan and Dylan are older and are close to Eagle, so I would just like to be following in their footsteps and stepping up to fill their shoes. I will work to become an example for future scouts younger than me. I just hope that you vote for me because I would fill this title best and fulfill all of the troop’s needs.
I handed it back to him, smiling inside, and said, “Very nice. It sounds like you have put some thought into what you want to do with the group.” Wow. My dad “proud buttons” were secretly jumping off my chest. I was so proud of his initiative, and I know how tough it must have been to get up in front of everybody and do a “campaign speech.”
Great companies are built by team members that not only take on responsibility, but also take the initiative.Think of the times in your career where you have been that person with initiative or saw someone who didn’t have the title help direct a company to new heights.
This reminds me of a famous saying by Mark Twain: “The secret to getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.”
This month do yourself a favor. Personally challenge yourself to take some initiative on something that you know needs to get done. Or, challenge someone on your staff to step up and be a leader on a project or something that needs to get done.
Be the one with the initiative. Take some responsibility and achieve more.
