Perhaps one of the most valuable lessons I learned in my ten years at Six Flags, occurred the day I was promoted to Supervisor. To provide a little context, the role was the most senior seasonal position you could achieve. With it carried a great deal of responsibility – more than you would expect from a seasonal 18 year old employee. You were responsible for hiring, firing, budgeting, daily operational management. ….
Our manager had a way about him. To be honest most people would express hatred in association to their relationship with him. My assessment was this hatred was really a manifestation of fear. The paradox was that blended with this animosity was a deep founded respect and desire to be respected.
When called into his sanctum, my heart pounded fiercely. Within minutes, he told me I had been called there to advise me of my promotion to Supervisor. He proceeded to explain the role and responsibilities associated with the position. Just as my comfort increased and the voice in my head began to say “yah, yah, yah – I got it already”, his tone became very intense. I recall it vividly.
“There is one thing you can do to lose your job on the spot. As a supervisor, you are paid to make decisions. If you make a good decision, you did your job – you did it well. If you make a bad decision, you did your job – not as well as we would want, but we can fix it. If you don’t make a decision, you didn’t do your job and you don’t get to keep it.”
Nuff said.