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Do you know Smokey the Bear?

Deadlines and your employees

As we were driving through a town recently, my wife asked if we needed to stop at a business to visit the owner who is a key part of a non-profit we created. There was a project that was to be completed in the next month and perhaps we could check on how this person was doing with getting their part done.

My response was that we shouldn’t stop because that person is one that has traditionally not been able to see what needs to be done until it is within 24 hours of a deadline and only then do they get to work.

Her response is, “This person is a ‘Smokey the bear’ type of person. They have to see something as a fire that needs to be put out. Some people just have to wait for a deadline as their call to action.

Our friend, the local Smokey the bear, shows multiple signs of an inability, or lack of desire, to act in a more timely manner. He does not return customers’ phone calls. He is unable to find things in his office. Post-its appear to be his favorite form of paper as there are many hanging all over his office and desk.

This is not meant as an attempt within four paragraphs to change an individual whose tendency is to work only by a deadline. Instead, the purpose of this article is to ask what an owner or manager who is working only by deadlines is doing to their staff.

“Only you can prevent forest fires”, my wife said.

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This article is copyrighted by Tom Shay and Profits Plus Solutions, who can be reached at: PO Box 128, Dardanelle, AR. 72834. Phone 727-823-7205. It may be printed for an individual to read, but not duplicated or distributed without expressed written consent of the copyright owner.