By Francis J. Kong
(The Philippine Star)
What do you do when employees intentionally disobey
rules and regulations? Get out the company manual, reinstate capital
punishment or subject the violators to non-stop torture? I don’t think
either of those would be the solution.
Besides, pretty soon, you’ll end
up with human rights advocates banging on your doors.
You can deal with the problem using a little creativity and some
understanding on employee empowerment. Just look at the following story.
At a large private high school somewhere in the Midwest, a young girl
created a mini scandal when she made an impression of her lips on the
bathroom mirror using bright red lipstick. The principal, a bright,
well-educated woman with more than 20 years of experience in public
school administration, was appalled. She immediately addressed the
students over the school intercom:
“It has come to my attention that someone has been leaving an
impression of her lips on the mirror in the second-floor girls’ bathroom
with her lipstick. This behavior is considered vandalism and will not
be tolerated. I hope that whoever is responsible for this will not do it
again and will apologize for her inconsiderate actions. And I will warn
you all that if this incident is repeated, all guilty parties will be
suspended for a period of one week. I trust I won’t have to address this
problem again.”
Naturally, the principal’s announcement had precisely the opposite
effect. Despite the teachers’ best efforts, an epidemic of lipstick
imprints spread through the girls’ bathrooms. In desperation, the
principal listened to an idea from the school janitor and allowed him to
try it.
The janitor gathered together about five junior and senior girls who
were the unofficial leaders of their classes, and led them into one of
the bathrooms with a bucket and a washrag in his hands. “I wanted to
show you girls just how difficult it is to wash this lipstick off the
mirrors,” he told them. The girls rolled their eyes and folded their
arms, signaling their utter indifference.
The janitor then proceeded into one of the stalls, dipped his washrag
in the toilet, and swirled it around in the water. He went over to the
lipstick impression on the mirror and wiped it off with the
toilet-water-soaked rag. Wide-eyed horror replaced expressions of
boredom as the janitor finished wiping down the mirrors.
The lipstick problem ended almost immediately.
Talk about empowerment. The school janitor came out with the
best solution in dealing with the problem, which teaches us a lesson:
Empowerment means listening to the suggestions and recommendations of
the people working under us.
Our Ph.D.s and business degrees do not necessarily mean we know all
the right answers, all the time. You might be surprised to find out
that, all along, the very practical and logical solutions to our
problems had been in the hands of those simple folks without fancy work
titles who were just waiting for the chance to show us what they’ve got.
Theories, books and high-sounding concepts pertaining to “employee
empowerment” abound. Just take a trip down your favorite bookstores, and
you’ll find title upon title dealing with the subject. And try looking
the term up using your favorite search engine – you’ll get the same
results: endless articles about “employee empowerment”. But really,
employee empowerment is just about giving due respect and attention to
those who are working for us. It’s according them with the right degree
of honor and respect. All this begins when we adopt a teachable mindset
and remind ourselves that there’s always something to learn from others.
Successful leaders understand this principle, that’s why they get the
most out of their people. The bonus here is that, people like how
things are run, and so they’re motivated to accomplish more.
The Bible teaches, “Consider others better than yourself.” So the
next time you find a lipstick impression on the mirror, don’t call out
the “death sentence” just yet. Call the janitor first for advice. This
is good advice.
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