15th
July
2007
Breathtaking Leadership
posted in Leadership |
I saw this in an ezine I get from the Oxford Club – an excellent investing organization – and they were discussing the Ultimate Intangible on Wall Street, which turned out to be leadership. The article was written by Alexander Greene, the Chairmen of Investment U, this has nothing to do with investing but leadership and is something we all should take to heart…
Last month in Forbes, columnist Rich Karlgaard described an excellent example of business leadership. It was told to him by Nancy Ortberg, an emergency room nurse, who was finishing up work one night before heading home.
“The doctor with whom I was working was debriefing a new doctor, who had done a very respectable, competent job, telling him what he’d done well and what he could have done differently.
“Then he put his hand on the young doctor’s shoulder and said, ‘When you finished, did you notice the young man from housekeeping who came in to clean the room?’ There was a completely blank look on the young doctor’s face.
“The older doctor said, ‘His name is Carlos. He’s been here for three years. He does a fabulous job. When he comes in he gets the room turned around so fast that you and I can get our next patients in quickly. His wife’s name is Maria. They have four children.’ Then he named each of the four children and gave each child’s age.
“The older doctor went on to say, ‘He lives in a rented house about three blocks from here, in Santa Ana. They’ve been up from Mexico for about five years. His name is Carlos,’ he repeated. Then he said, ‘Next week I would like you to tell me something about Carlos that I don’t already know. Okay? Now, let’s go check on the rest of the patients.”
Ortberg recalls: “I remember standing there writing my nursing notes – stunned – and thinking, I have just witnessed breathtaking leadership.”
I agree 100 percent.
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