Listen

Jon sat in his office staring at the picture frame hanging on wall. He wondered, how did he forget the most important area of his supervisory skill set.  A very simple situation got carried so far out of hand that it will take a good amount of time for everyone involved to get past the incident.  The department Jon supervised was three days away from setting a record month in fabrication sales. The boss and Jon made the decision to not tell my team of the situation. Jon did not want to add anymore stress into the workplace. Later that day Ivan came and asked to speak with Jon. Ivan was the sawman and without him cutting material the production line would come to a halt. Jon stated he was busy right now, but would come and get him when he had a moment. Thinking only of the record Jon gave no further thought to Ivan’s request. The next day Jon’s boss came a told him that he gave Ivan the next two days off. Jon became furious, thinking how could Ivan go over his head for the request. The record was achieved and Jon rewarded the team minus Ivan. Jon’s boss and the head of HR called him to the front office. Ivan reported Jon’s actions. It was explained that Ivan’s wife was hosptilized for a very serious condition. Jon’s heart dropped and he felt like a real idiot. Jon later apolized to Ivan and promised that there would never be a repeat of his non-feeling actions. Jon moved the picture frame in his office and placed it directly above the heads of people entering his office. The quote in the frame is as follows: I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen. Ernest Hemingway