Dedication.....

Sticking with a related subject to the recent theme in this blog... Yesterday while having some time to reflect, thanks to Mr Truman or someone else who was significant enough to have a State Holiday named in their honor...My phone rang, it was the CIO. Yes you are right, I'm thinking wow, cool, he's calling to see how my Holiday is going... OK, now back to reality. I actually thought, hmmm wonder what's broke.

He relays to me about the Emergency Task Force (ETF) assembly in Jeff and what he knows about the group. He asks me, "Do you know what's going on with Staff, to prepare for this?" Let me clue you in, just in case you don't know, I hate not being able to provide info when asked for it. In this case, I had nothing to say other than...."No".... As a result of my negative response, he's on his way over to the Head Shed to check on staff and the progress made.

So, reacting post haste and perhaps "in the rears" in this case, I contact my ever responsive Desktop Manager's (DM) cell phone. He answers!!!! (Wow, what a refreshing change from previous experiences I've had with other staff I've supervised over the years!!) Hey, not being cruel, I'm stating facts as they exist, there is no value for me to embellish the facts. ....and yes there IS a message there too. So my DM answers, we exchange quick pleasantries and I ask his understanding/involvement in the work for the ETF. He quickly relies his understanding and what he had done the previous day.

I ask if he's had any contact with the involved parties yet on this day....negative reply. He relayed he had plans to swing by the office to check progress (see the trend here----dedication). I passed along I received a call from the CIO and what that conversation was about and even shared with him some of my thoughts about how the CIO ticks.... I'll take the time here to spell that out for you in case there might be some value or enlightenment that can be gleaned for others. ----Our CIO likes to be INFORMED! When adequately briefed, he is like a elegant beautiful sail ship on the sea on a light breezy day. When not provided with enough info so he can answer questions AND feel confident that the situation (whatever it may be) is being adequately addressed---he is more like those vessels in the cable show "Deadliest Catch" during a horrible winter storm on the Bering Sea. The message here is: keep the man informed, let him know that we/you are all over the situation, provide details as to what has happened and what is going to happen as a result of our/your action.

Now, back to my DM conversation. I ask him to follow up with the CIO and relay his understanding and positioning---he acknowledges and affirms he will and he will head over to the office very soon (he uses his cell phone, his car and drives on his day off---....dedication). A short time later we have another phone conversation, he has touched base with the other IT staff and things are shaping up. He has made the effort to contact a Forestry Lead and confirmed the required set up (initiative) and let me know of the status and direction. He also relays he will come back to the office at 4 p.m. when the ETF group plans to assemble to ensure all is well with them (DEDICATION!). Armed with this info, I phone the CIO and tell him the status and plans to address the groups need---he has no other questions.

Moral of the story? We've talked about adding value to Conservation, also about whether or not Conservation is getting their money's worth from us.....I believe this short depiction represents a prime example of where the answer is YES! I'm proud I have an example of such on my team! Let's all work towards ensuring that we can all provide our Supervisors with many such positive examples....

TAFN