I know what you’re thinking as you read this title – “Well Duh!”
I had the hardest time learning this lesson and still have the lumps to prove it. Early in my career, I surprised my first boss not once but twice over a bread table that seemed to mysteriously move by itself. That table almost got me fired. While what you are about to read may seem like a story about a stubborn manager or the case of the moving table, don’t be fooled. It’s a story about the messy work of growing and developing as a person and leader. It turns out that true learning is more akin to stubbing a toe than reading a book. It’s a story about the heroes in our lives that stand by us despite our folly because they see our potential. Lastly, it is about not surprising your boss. There are more lessons here, but I will save them for the end.
The story begins when I was a grocery store manager in Seabrook, NH. My district manager at the time was Craig Sturken. Craig was the perfect boss for me at this point in my career, as I had lots to learn and needed all the guidance I could get. Craig was a blocking and tackling type manager who focused on the basics and had a very hands-on style. Looking back, Craig micro-managed the heck out of me, as I didn’t know what I didn’t know and thought I knew better most of the time (a dangerous combination). Craig tried to be patient with me and encouraged me to toughen up, (he thought I was too nice a guy) and to focus on the basics (basics bored me). Patience was not one of Craig’s greatest virtues, so in this story he lost his cool and I almost lost my job. Here’s what happened:
I came up with the clever idea of putting a hamburger and hot dog roll display table across from the meat case where hamburger and hot dogs were. In the business, we refer to it as cross-merchandising and it’s a way to get customers to buy more. Craig didn’t like this particular idea because it congested the aisle space, making customers either wait or go around the table in order to shop. Craig was clear, “Bobby, I don’t like your idea, and I wouldn’t do it.” That should have been the end of it, but I pled my case anyway (mistake #1). Craig ended up relenting providing I kept 4 feet space between the table and meat case. This seemed reasonable and easy to do so I agreed to it .
The next day, I got paged over the intercom to come to the meat aisle. It was Craig voice on the intercom, and I knew immediately he was not happy (sanitized description). I met him in the meat aisle only to discover the dang table had moved to within 3 feet of the meat case. Craig said to get rid of the table. I countered by asking him for one more chance. This ended up being mistake #2, but I thought I had come up with a foolproof plan to keep the table from moving. I personally put masking tape under the table to mark where it needed to stay but failed to tell anyone why the tape was there (mistake #3).
By now, I suspect you know what happened. The very next day, I get paged yet again over the intercom by Craig to the meat case. I could tell he was really angry (sanitized description). As I came sprinting into the meat aisle, I was met with packages of hamburger and hot dog rolls sailing through the air and observed Craig and one of my grocery clerks dragging the table filled with rolls across the floor towards the backroom. Customers were scrambling to get out of the way as Craig seemed oblivious to their presence. One customer yelled, “What an a@#hole!” which only made Craig fume more. I already knew I was in deep trouble, but then something happened that may seem funny but was anything but at the time:
The bread table collapsed like an accordion squishing every package of rolls (display tables aren’t built to be moved fully loaded).
After apologizing to customers and asking my clerk to clean up the mess, Craig and I went outside to the back loading dock to debrief what happened (sanitized description). I don’t need to recount what was said but suffice to say, I escaped being fired but only after a serious conversation about what I needed to change as a manager.
In case you are wondering, I did some sleuthing to determine how the display table kept moving around. The culprit was my floor cleaning person, Dave Poore. Dave was a great employee who had the basics down better than I did. He knew that keeping edges clean around floor displays was important. To do this, Dave would move the table ever so slightly to clean the edges around the table. He was less good at putting the table back to where it belonged because he scraped up the duct tape I put down (remember mistake #3?). Good job Dave!
Reflecting on this story, there are lessons learned from this experience:
- Put your boss’s list at the top of your list of things to do. Do them first even if you think they are less important.
- Choose your battles wisely. I failed to see what Craig was crystal clear about – blocking a congested aisle in the store with a table was unacceptable.
- Basics are named that for a reason. I ended up loving to nail the basics. That was fortunate for me as doing little things right every time are foundational to grocery retailing and probably any business.
- Don’t surprise your boss. My stubbornness put Craig in a difficult situation. I am sure there were more important issues for Craig and me to focus back then but instead, my actions led to an embarrassing moment for us that didn’t need to happen.
- Cut yourself some slack. Business author John Maxwell wrote a book entitled Failing Forward that captured how true learning occurs. We stumble, we pick ourselves up, and move forward better because of it. I could beat myself up about this story but I choose to see the leap in my growth as a manager.
I hope you picked up on me describing myself as a “manager” and not as a “leader” back then. That was intentional and in my next blog, I will share how that metamorphosis happened. I am already cringing just thinking about it.
I want to thank Craig Struken and all my other bosses and mentors who helped shape the leader I would go on to become.
If you enjoyed this blog, join me and my co-host, Joyce Wilson-Sanford, on our podcast, Bob ‘n Joyce Talk HR ‘n OD at:
See you soon!
Bob Stapleton
Breakthru 
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