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Yesterday I watched another black life lost in a grisly video.  The police arrested an un-armed black man for a minor offense.  The police knew that they were being watched.  They had to know that their actions were being filmed.  Yet they did it anyway.  Why?

My colleague’s call created both pride and stress at the same moment.  Pride because he had asked me to take an assignment, but also stress because I was to work with him closely for the next few weeks and to coach him in his new role as a quality manager.

Managing people is like fishing, especially in a regulated environment.  A lot of ideas that should work, just don’t.  Like, for instance, telling people what to do.  You’d think that if you’re the boss, the employees would do what you tell them to do, right?  At least most of the time…

My good friend, Chuck, once worked for a charismatic leader.  That leader was Howard Hanson, Director of South Dakota Services to the Blind and Visually Handicapped.  When Howard walked into the room, people would look up from what they were doing.  When Howard spoke, the crowd got quieter.  When you talked to Howard, he would look at you and absorb everything you were saying.  You felt like you were alone in the world with him; which was amazing because Howard was stone, cold blind.

The call came on a relaxing Sunday afternoon.  I was just reaching for a second beer.  The football game had just started when the phone rang.  It was the guard at the front gate of my plant.  It ran 24/7, but it had been a quiet weekend before that. 

“Hey, Norm,” he said.  “No big deal, but there’s something funny going on here.  One of the employees is standing over in front of the sign.  Looks like he’s got his whole family with him and he’s taking a selfie.”