I was at the grocery store the other day waiting to check out. The cashier working at the register accidentally dropped a 2 L bottle of seltzer, which exploded all over her, and all over the floor area where she was working. She was quite upset. Right away her colleague in the other aisle came over. The cashier at the register asked her, “Who can I call?” The colleague answered right away… you!
The cashier at the register was the one who had to clean it up. She was looking for somebody else to come and rescue her from being ankle-deep in seltzer.
I was shocked. I was ready for them to grab the walkie-talkie and call a young employee to claim “Hey we need a clean up at register six.” But instead, the answer was “you”. She was told to clean up the mess.
We were both surprised by this. She started to grab some paper towels and got very upset. I jumped behind the counter with her and started to assist. She actually began crying and continued to pull off pieces of paper towels until it seemed like there were 100 paper towels on the floor. We eventually cleaned up the entire mess.
Well, it wasn’t perfectly dry, but it was good enough to move on.
We had a laugh about it, and I finished checking out.
Reflecting on the experience, it reminded me of my own leadership. Who can I call?
Me.
I’m the one. Rely on yourself first to do the things that maybe you don’t want to do. Be the one to take on the difficult tasks, even when you don’t want to.
She clearly did not want to clean up the seltzer, and thought it was somebody else’s job. But after three or four minutes together, we moved on. We could handle the job. This happens to us all the time on our journeys of leadership. Rely on yourself first and then go to others who can help.
Wishing you the best on your journey. Know that you have everything inside you to be successful and impactful!
If I could help you in any way don’t hesitate to reach out at @andrewmarotta21
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Quote: “In matters of style, swim with the current;
in matters of principle, stand like a rock.”
-Thomas Jefferson
