This is a guest blog post written by Andrea Hewett, Social Media Business Director
for Holt Marketing and Management Services, Inc.
We all have those days when we look back and think “What just happened?!” I don’t care who you are, or how organized, I refuse to believe that you haven’t had a day beyond your control that just left you stunned. I mean, here you are; kicking butt and taking names; pumped for your next big project or deal, and you end up with a flat tire on the way to work.
That’s what happened to me, and it got me thinking…
I started to pull out of the garage, with my son in tow, and I heard an awful scraping sound. My son asked, “What’s that?” I said, “I don’t know but I’m about to find out.” I got out of the car, thinking I may have latched onto something and was dragging it with my car…I wish that had been the case.
My left front tire was flat. I’m not talking about low; I’m talking about the scraping I heard was the rim hitting the ground! Fortunately for me, I was still at home and my husband has an impressive collection of tools; including a quality air compressor. I carefully pulled my car back in and filled the tire quickly with air…I’m no slouch on basic car maintenance. If I’d have had time, I would have changed the tire (I heard the leak so I knew that wasn’t a good sign) but I didn’t want to make my son late for school.
My plan was to make the 15 minute drive to his school and then re-fill the tire with air at the gas station across from his school so I could make it to the tire shop to be replaced. I almost made it…
About three city blocks from his school, I heard the scraping sound again and it was starting to sound worse. I knew I couldn’t force it, so I pulled into the first parking lot I reached. I grabbed the small portable air compressor from the trunk, started filling the tire (much slower this time), and called my husband. I told him I was in trouble, explained what was going on and told him that our son hadn’t been dropped off to school yet. He said, “I’m on my way.”
My husband’s a busy guy. Between working full time, going to school for his NP degree, and clinicals; he has a lot on his plate. He was already at work when I first discovered my tire issue (and I leave around 7:15 a.m.) so I didn’t want to bother him if I could take care of the problem myself.
Unfortunately, that thought process caused a domino effect of my son being late for school, myself being late for work (of course I called my boss to give a heads up), and my husband having to leave work for awhile and needing to work late as a result.
I forgot for a moment, that we all have our strengths and weaknesses. We are taught from an early age to be independent & do things for ourselves, yet it is seldom mentioned that everybody relies on someone. (click to tweet) Whether it is relying on your boss for a job, relying on your friends for moral support, or even relying on your accountant to get it right…we all need people in our lives. Had I remembered this, I could have met my husband along the way, gotten my son to school on time, and reduced the time and distance my husband had to go out of his way to help.
Some things to consider when you are looking to increase productivity at work and improve performance:
- You shouldn’t trust your business finances with just anyone.
- You wouldn’t expect your mechanic to cater your parties or your hairdresser to perform surgery on you…why would you expect these unachievable expectations from yourself or your employees?
- You can’t do it all.[Please don’t get angry and defensive with me. If you’re thinking, “Who does this lady think she is, trying to tell me what my limitations are?” then you aren’t thinking realistically. I really mean it ALL; i.e.: running a company all by yourself (no employees) AND working your job plus your coworkers’ jobs AND homeschooling your kids plus bringing them to work with you so no one else has a hand in raising them AND fixing your own car AND…well you get my point. IT’S IMPOSSIBLE!]
One of the greatest things I feel that a Consultant contributes to their clients is the gift of time. By finding the best people for the position or reassigning a task from one overburdened employee to another who is better suited for it (or already doing something similar and can reduce the time it takes to get it done), Consultants help free their clients to focus on more important things.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help…plus if you pay them for it, they can’t lord it over you! (click to tweet)
Okay, I’m ready… lay your thoughts, comments, and criticisms on me. I can take it (you can see in this post a little bit of what I’m capable of, plus I have friends to lean on if you’re super brutal!) If you like this, I’m happy to send more directly to your inbox. Subscribe to our blog community and you’ll get messages ONLY when our new stuff comes out!
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