My First Management Job

When I started my career in management I was really green, but I always tried to stay upbeat and positive on the job. I was working for a new company that was having a rocky time with their only major customer. Actually, there was one point where my General Manager told me he liked me and suggested I should start looking for a new job as we were about to lose our only contract. Life at work was hectic, to say the least. Every day we were faced with people quitting, the customer complaining, and upper management preparing to close the place.

One night, I went home thinking about the problems and I honestly didn't know what to do. My wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, told me to forget about work and go see a movie. We went and saw "Jerry Maguire". It was during the mission statement part of the movie that I realized what we needed to do to fix the situation. We needed to be honest with the customer. Upper management might not like airing the dirty laundry, but honestly it didn't matter because we were about to lose the contract any, either way there was a good chance I might lose my job.

The next day I called my customer to have a talk. I explained the issues as they were with no sugar coating. I promised to do my best to resolve the issues if he would just give us some time. As a result we were given one month to turn the operation around. This was our one and only chance to correct the situation. As a result, I worked day and night with my team. I can remember working from 6AM and not going home till 1:45AM the next day three or more days a week. It was do or die time.

To make a long story short we succeeded in resolving all of the issues and at the same time increased our production capacity. The customer was very happy, management was happy and I knew at that moment we had saved our jobs. Actually things went so well that our customer ended up doubling our volume and over the next year. We later expanded the facility and eventually helped launch another larger facility across town.

When the yearend review came around, my department was awarded a Little Engine that Could award. It was a made up award based on the lessons of the book. This book is more than a kids story it is a life philosophy for success. This book as an attitude booster that will change your life, not only does the story a fun read, but the moral of the story is awesome, "You can achieve what you believe as long as you work at it and stay positive."

Submitted by Anonymous

Persistence