Leadership 101 Day

The Retreat Yesterday

I spent the entire day yesterday sequestered with some of our mid-level supervisors and union officials on a leadership retreat (those words together are kind of contra-intuitive).  I even got to sit next to the union president all day.  This is something I look forward to almost as much as a trip to the dentist.  This stemmed from the controversy earlier this year where we forced the union to accept that these supervisors, even though they are in the same union, have to exercise supervisory duties.  This led to a discussion where they admitted these people needed leadership training if they were going to be successful.

My boss brought in a moderator who did a fantastic job of getting the group, which included additional mangers other than myself, of focusing on the issue.  I’ve often commented that this group of union employees was a lot like high school where petty grievances and cliques were the rule instead of professionalism.  All that pettiness was exposed yesterday (I helped a lot with that).  There was one situation of a personal grudge being held for over 15 years (like I said – puerile) that was hopefully killed yesterday. 

These are basically good people who’ve never had to do the job they were being paid to do.  The biggest issue was teaching them to raise themselves above the crowd – to understand as leaders they are held to a higher standard. 

The facilitator was able to get everyone to talk out loud about issues they only whispered about in the past.  I have a well chronicled hate for long meetings, especially ones with so much “touchy feely” content, but this worked, to my immense surprise.  I got the feeling that both the union and the supervisors realize they were slowly digging their own professional graves if they didn’t improve.

At the end of the day we all sang “Kum By Yah” (not literally) and committed to making this work.  The proof will be measured in their professionalism over the next few months, could be interesting.

Of decidedly less interest was my discovery during the conference that I had broken one of my rear teeth in half over night.  I had this weird feeling in my mouth that my tongue kept checking out and when I looked in a mirror at home I saw the gaping hole.  So dentist this afternoon, I never should have admitted I liked the conference yesterday – now I have a real appointment.

My Boss Talking - Talented Facilitator Seated to His Right