Two short days after participating in a teleconference on The Power of Professionalism, Amber Peebles— President of the Athena Construction Group— experienced first-hand its impact in handling a thorny issue that had generated a lot of negative energy in her organization.
The issue wasn’t their company’s most important but was typical in the way it sapped valuable time and energy. The question was: should hourly employee David (or at least let’s call him that) be allowed to use a company-issued lap-top while on an out-of-state family bereavement visit? The circumstances involving the visit were nuanced, but—bottom-line—David was offering to keep up with his work while away.
Amber’s colleagues (business partners in an affiliate company whom David was supporting) said no. It was their computer (loaded with everything David would need) that was in question.
The frustrating decision prompted a number of semi-contentious meetings and a stream of frustrating phone calls before the issue finally got to Amber. Relying on the principles in The Power of Professionalism, Amber cut to the quick. She made it clear to her affiliate colleagues that David was a professional and should be treated as such. Her expectations were clear.
With that, the issue had been resolved without additional drama. What made the difference? Amber’s re-framing! She not only helped facilitate a solution but educated at the same time.
The big idea upon which The Power of Professionalism is based is that is that the central role of professionalism has not been fully appreciated, let alone understood well, in the quest to perfect organizations. Amber got it…big time!
Amber had raised everyone’s sights (mind-set #7) and also held to her high standards (mind-set #4). But most critically, she reinforced the importance of putting professional values as the centerpiece of her organization’s culture. Amber’s approach quickly shifted the energy from negative to positive.
Sure, this was arguably a small issue. But the principle behind it can just as easily be applied to ‘the big stuff’ too…as we’ll see in subsequent posts.
Congratulations Amber!