Surprised

I find it interesting that people are surprised when a process or plan fails when they have very little input or knowledge of the process. Or worse yet they have a half hearted attempt from the beginning then try to act surprised when it fails.

Most higher ups really do not want to get their hands dirty so they pass things along and delegate to the point where they really do not even know what it is that needs to be done.

That makes it awfully hard to lead.

And make no mistake, people need leadership. Given the choice most will skate or take the easy road.

Paul Arpin never rested until he knew the process and the plan.
Yes, he would delegate but he always followed up and asked questions before, during and after.

He actually did tell me to be sure that I did delegate and that it would be too much for me to take on all by myself. The higher up you go the responsibility you have. You find yourself involved in everything, that goes with the title.
But YOU still need to be sure that everyone is still looking at the details.
Paul would call me in his office and ask me about a particular job, be it a account job or a military move or a civilian move, he did not care. He looked at them all as his customer and wanted them all handled correctly and wanted everyone to care about each one.
There could be days that I just worked on twenty difficult moves and found a solution for each but he would call me on the carpet on one move out of South Florida going to Michigan that he saw was not assigned and we were in danger of not making our delivery dates and he would focus on that.
He never rested, therefore you could not rest.

If he asked you a question - you best of an answer or get back with one right quick.

If you are a leader or a boss and you are surprised- perhaps you are not doing YOUR job.

STAY INVOLVED-