Some of my favourite leadership stories

There have been times in my career where I have witnessed leaders show up when their teams really needed them. I have decided to capture some of these moments before I forget them.

1. The receptionists salary

We had a receptionist who returned back to work from maternity leave after giving birth to her first child. She was a temporary contract employee and, therefore, did not have full maternity benefits. She had basically gone 4 consecutive months without an income. For some reason our company’s HR department failed to reinstate her salary through some poor administrative rigor and come pay day her salary was not paid. Her line manager had tried to exert pressure on the HR department to no avail.

By pure coincidence the exec for our department was in our office that day. He noticed the receptionists crying and asked her what was wrong. On hearing the story he got into his car and drove out of the office to the nearest ATM where he proceeded to withdraw the entire amount required. He returned to the office, handed her the money in cash and arranged for the company to refund him at a later date. What a guy. He didn’t hide behind admin and process. He fixed it. Immediately.

2. The security guards TV

Picture the hype of the FIFA World Cup in 2010. The entire office was clearing out so we could watch the opening ceremony and opening game. As I was driving out I noticed the CEO parked by the gate. He had realised that the security guards had no way of participating in the hype of this event as they had no TV. He had gone home to get a spare TV and set it up so that the guards could also enjoy the game.

3. The R500k finger error

I had just been appointed into my first customer facing role. Part of my job was to negotiate pricing deals with my customers. On one of the deal sheets I had made a finger error which resulted in the quoted price being almost 20% less than it should have been. The way this was brought to my attention was that one customer ordered almost 6 months worth of stock as they tried to take advantage of what was an obvious finger error. The value of the error was over R500 thousand, which coincidentally was significantly more than I earned at the time. I was terrified and convinced that I would lose my job but reluctantly I called my director to let him know.

Instead of yelling and screaming the director phoned the customer on my behalf and convinced them to cancel the order. Apparently he questioned the integrity of capitalising on a finger error by a junior employee. He called me back and asked me to make sure that from then on I make sure this does not happen again. 6 months later he promoted me as I was rated the top junior account manager in the country. He had the option to bury me but he didn’t. He could have ended my career back then but he didn’t. Now many years later I apply the same example to employees that work for me.

4. BOLD WINS –

We had an executive who used the theme of Bold Wins to encourage our department to step outside of our comfort zones. However, the interesting twist was how he was looking for Bold Wins in both our professional and personal lives. After a short period of implementation we had hundreds of testimonials by employees of bold changes they had made in their lives.

The activity was fascinating with some people deciding to learn how to swim, some undertook fitness challenges and lost weight, some took on further study, some had the difficult conversations they had been avoiding with a loved one. It was truly amazing to see. Sadly the executive in question was later transferred to a role in Asia. However, the legacy he left behind was of a department that was willing to take risks and challenge what was thought possible in both our professional and personal lives.

5. Names are important

I worked for a general manager who had over 400 employees in his division. One of the first things I noticed in my first three months was his commitment to learning peoples names. Every morning we would arrive at the same time and he would choose the highest traffic route to his desk. He would then greet everyone as he walked in. Most of the people by name. Almost everyone got a personalized good morning from the boss.

That’s it for now. As I remember more I will amend the post and add them to the list