A Lesson Learned

Stay "small in your own eyes"

1 Samuel 15:17

Recently I had to take my wife and daughter to the Oakland Airport. On the road leading to the airport, there is a golf course adjacent to the road where I got my first job. It brought back memories of one of the greatest lessons I have ever learned about leadership.

When I was about 14 years old I held a job as a ball picker on that golf course. The job entailed picking up range balls by hand with a ball retriever on the driving range. I worked with several other boys, two were my best friends. I was the fastest ball picker on the range, (dodging golf balls makes you very fast and nimble). One day I was called into the head golf pro’s office and he promoted me to Range Boy Supervisor which came with a whopping $.10 per hour raise.

Before the promotion, I got along with all of the other range boys. That all changed the day I became supervisor. My head suddenly grew about 3 hat sizes. Instead of working together, I began to dictate and threaten any range boy (including my friends), who did not meet my standards or obey my orders. It was not long after that I was called once again into the office of the head pro, but this time it was to inform me that I would no longer be a supervisor. He explained to me that all of the ball boys complained that my head was way too big for the job! I am lucky they did not bury me on the driving range.

That day I learned a very important lesson on how to treat people, and how to accept responsibility, that has served me well over the last 36 years. The lesson is, as a leader it is essential that you check your ego at the door. No matter what position you hold, humility is a characteristic one must possess if they are going to be great leader. It is not necessary to tell everyone that you are the boss and that you are in charge.

As the Northern California General Manager for a division of a fortune 500 company I led by these guiding principles: 1. give your team the credit when it succeeds, and take the blame when it fails, 2. do not ask anyone to do what you are not willing to do or learn how to do, 3. lead with compassion, 4. treat each member of your team as if they were the only one in the room, and 5. walk your talk.

When I lost my job as a range boy supervisor it was one of the best things that happened to me because I learned “to stay small in my own eyes”.

What are some of the important leadership lessons you have learned?