Years ago, I opened a fortune cookie just to read, see what my fortune was, and to have a good laugh. This one rang a bell with me. I placed that saying in my wallet and have carried it with me for almost two decades now. What it said got me thinking about how small sayings can become something much larger. Something that you can refer to when you need support or are not sure what you should do. The saying that I have been carrying around as reminder: “Management is Doing Things Right, Leadership is Doing the Right Things.”
In this time of ever-increasing change and challenge, this saying becomes even more relevant. We are all faced with the difficulties of the pandemic, material and labor shortages, and higher demands to provide for our teams and the people that we lead. Costs are higher, lead times are longer, and both our customers and co-workers feel more stressed by the challenges that we all face. As leaders we are often placed between the proverbial “rock and hard place”. When this happens, I ask that each of us decide if we are only doing things right or are we doing the right things.
What I have found is that with a little extra effort you can find ways to do the right thing while doing things right. An example of this is that during the pandemic we needed to spread our staff out to help keep them safe and provide for social distancing. To accomplish this, we placed people on shifts other than the normal Monday through Friday from 8am till 5pm. We could have assigned people to the various shifts, but instead we told the team what was happening and asked for volunteers. As our team continuously does, they stepped up and filled the various shifts. They even offered some options that we had not thought of and were able to use. In fact, some of them have requested to continue working altered hours after this current need has passed. These altered shifts allow for better customer coverage and employee engagement.
I am not saying that this is easy. However, if the opportunity presents itself, try it. In our positions as leaders and members of TAPPA, we have the ability to help others. Higher Education at its simplest is providing people a path to make their lives and the lives of their families better. We already started down the path of doing the right things when we became part of the Higher Education family. Taking an extra step down this path will not only benefit others, but also ourselves. Knowing that we have helped others is a worthy journey on its own accord.
Chad Crocker – MBA, CEFP
TAPPA Vice President
