What I learned about business from a 70-yr old jewelry counter clerk.

One of my very favorite jobs ever was as a supervisor in the Merchandise department at Sea World of Ohio (yes, there used to be a Sea World just outside of Cleveland).  Most of my coworkers were people my own age, all having grown up within a 20 mile radius of my home town, so we had a lot of similarities in our  (very narrow) outlooks on life.

One coworker who did not fit that demographic was a jewelry counter clerk named Marianne.  She was great with customers and kept her station clean and straight, but she was not too fond of her much younger supervisors - a fact she did not try to hide, even a little bit.  I always did my best to keep her happy because she did her job well, albeit begrudgingly from time to time.

One morning before the Emporium gift shop opened up, Marianne called me over for a quick chat.  I did not have a good feeling about what she was about to say, but since my main goal was to keep her happy, I ran to her side immediately.  There, from the stool I had fetched for her earlier in the summer due to her frequent bouts with shingles (as a 19-year-old, I could not relate), she leaned in - "Jim, do you know what I like about you?"

Thinking this was a trick question, I responded "No, Marianne, I do not".

She said "I like you because when you tell me you are going to do something, you do it.  Most of the other supervisors (she didn't use that word, she regularly called us by other names) around here just tell me things to shut me up, but never follow through.  When I ask you for something and you say you will do it - like getting me this stool to sit on when my legs hurt - you actually follow through and do it and I wanted to thank you for that."

Her comments initially made me feel pretty good about myself but then forced  me take a look at the other supervisors and their actions regarding Marianne.  Unfortunately, she was dead on - us younger folks frequently ignored or simply forgot the requests for help from our more experienced coworkers in favor of socializing with our peer group, hurrying off on breaks or goofing off.

But the lesson I learned did not evaporate when Sea World of Ohio closed its doors years ago.  How many of us have been frustrated - whether in professional or personal settings - by associates who tell us they are going to do something, but don't.  Broken promises are a quick route to destroyed credibility, don't you think?

Do you have any examples that you can share?

To put a cap on the story with Marianne - what do you think I did for the rest of the summer after my talk with her?  I spent the rest of the summer busting my butt to make sure I kept every promise to her, no matter the cost.  To this day, I don't know if she intentionally manipulated me to get her what she wanted, but I don't really care.  What I care about is that I learned a lesson in  how to work with people, no matter their age or where they come from.