There’s More Than One Way To Tie a Shoe #3
Apr 26, 2024Back in the early days of my management career, I was still rather controlling. It’s a normal new manager issue, to be unsure of how to delegate, to want things done your way, the “right way”.
I was managing a record store in the Sherman Oaks Galleria and was fortunate to have a very smart, talented Assistant Manager. He also didn’t give a flying fig about what others thought of him. I left him with a task – put up a promotional endcap including posters, cd’s etc.
When I returned to the store I saw what he had completed and was extremely unimpressed! I asked if he meant to do that? His reply went something like this:
“Well, Brenda, you always re-do everything anyway, so I thought why should I even try?”
It stung. I really liked this guy, he was one of my dearest friends at the time. This was not the type of manager or leader I wanted to be.
Years later I worked at The Disney Store headquarters internal help desk. We were known as The Rescue Rangers. If someone called us, it was our duty to help them. We received some crazy calls! We were also an International Store Support Center, which meant we were a 24/7 department. Sometimes you answered a call – frequently 4 calls at a time actually – and could not resolve the issue during your shift. So, you had to get very good at documenting your troubleshooting steps for the next Ranger who took over. On my next shift, I’d check up on the problems I’d left behind. More often than not, the Ranger who took over the problem resolved it in a different manner than I would have.
But guess what? It got resolved. My way was not the only way! Imagine that. 😊
Invaluable lessons to learn, hopefully earlier in your career than later. But it’s never too late.
But the title Brenda, what has this got to do with shoes?
I don’t remember how old I was, but I was an adult, the first time someone commented on the way I tie my shoes. “Brenda, what are you doing? You are tying your shoes wrong.”
“Who taught you to tie shoes?”
I thought about it for a bit.
Actually, no one taught me to tie my shoes. I learned by watching my dad tie his. So, I was facing the opposite way. So, I tie my shoes upside down, or sideways I guess. I never realized. Does it matter? Is it wrong?
Can’t there be more than 1 way to tie your shoes?
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