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From the Region 5 Director-Sponsor Director-Sponsor's Campfire |
March/April 1999 |
by Judy Glick-Smith
Judy Glick-Smith is the Region 5 Director-Sponsor
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We were at the Casa Diablo camp on Sunday night of the Spring horse drive in the eastern California Sierras. Monday morning, before breakfast, we were getting the horses ready. Some of us were brushing horses. The wranglers were saddling the brushed horses. Other guests (I was one of these) were tying up the saddled horses. It was quite an assembly line. We had about 50 horses to get ready that morning. Casa Diablo is a unique camp site on our drive because the corral for the horses is right next to the chuck wagon. Every morning, the cookie plays music—usually cowboy music—while she gets breakfast ready. That morning, though, someone put on the Eagle's "Hotel California" CD. As you probably know, you cannot just listen to the Eagles! I was suddenly aware that we were all singing along while we worked. What an amazing morning: As the sun rose over the mountain behind us, it turned the mountains to the west of us a beautiful pastel orange while we watched, while we worked, while we listened, while we sang "take it to the limit one more time." Have you ever been in an environ-ment like this, where everyone knows what they are supposed to do and how to do it? And the work seems to get done effortlessly? |
At the time it seems magical, but when you break it all down, you can see how it works. Someone took the lead, delegated the tasks, and made sure everyone knew how to perform the tasks. In my case, one of the wranglers showed me how to tie his style of slip knot and told me how he wanted the horses lined up so they would not get in each other's way. He watched me tie a couple of horses and then left me alone to do my job. Every now and then, he would check back to see if I was OK or had any questions. This was good management, pure and simple. Even better, as I was tying the last horse, cookie rang the breakfast bell. There is nothing like a hearty meal as a reward for a job well done. We can apply these simple principles to our management activities, whether we manage an STC chapter or committee or manage our projects or our business:
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