When a breakdown happens in your production line, you’re ready to do whatever it takes to get things running again. What business leader hasn’t been there? And, if it hasn’t happened to your production line, maybe your computer system has crashed or some other essential aspect of your business. When these breakdowns happen, you’re ready to call anyone who can fix it.
Consider this story, told by former Browns coach Sam Rutigliano at a recent Men’s Fellowship Group in Westlake that wanted to hear his messages of inspiration — and connection.
A parable for the office
One day, a business owner’s production line breaks down. For an hour and a half he can’t get a hold of anyone to get the equipment repaired. And as we all know too well, time is money. While the business owner is frantically searching for help, a guy with a small hammer is sitting on a chair nearby claiming he can fix it. The owner says to himself, “This guy doesn’t have both oars in the water. What does he mean he can fix it? Forget it!”
Another hour goes by and the owner has now become so frustrated, he tells the man with the hammer, “Go ahead and fix it.” So the guy with the hammer gets up, takes aim, makes a sharp rap and everything is instantly in working order! The owner is ecstatic; he can’t believe the man fixed the machinery so quickly and asks how much he owes him. The guy says, “You owe me $1,000.” The owner can’t believe his ears, “A thousand dollars? It only took you five seconds!”
The man with the hammer replies, “That’s right. I’m going to charge you $1 for hitting the bolt, but $999 for hitting the right bolt.”
The lesson — making connections is important.
“Isn’t that what we are all trying to do every single day — connect?” Rutigliano says.
After all, the man with the hammer had the skill, but he and the owner had no connection.
People skills are a priority
It’s been said that the higher you go in business, the more your people skills are important and the less your technical skills matter. So as you climb the ladder, remember that it is more about relating to people than it is about clearing off your desk.
Soft skills shouldn’t get such short shrift. Some leaders may think it’s a weakness to show emotion toward the workforce. They simply need to realize the importance of regularly making a one-on-one connection that will build and help the organization achieve significant goals.
But who is that leader who will connect with you personally?
“For all of us, there is that one guy, that one person who sometime in your life is able to connect with you and get you on the right path,” Rutigliano says. For the former coach, who makes it known he has accepted Christ as his personal savior, focusing on one’s self will never reveal life’s purpose.
“It is in Christ that we find who we are, what we are and what we are living for,” he says. “The elemental purpose for our being on earth is to bring others to Christ. You make a living by what you earn, but you make a life by what you give to others.”
And giving to others means connecting to people — their values, the causes they support, their likes and dislikes, goals and desires, friends and families, their boundaries — on a human level. It’s as simple as that. ●
Dennis Seeds is managing editor of Smart Business Cleveland. If you have an interesting story to share about a person or business making a difference in Cleveland, please send an email to [email protected].
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