Reference no: EM132176222

Alan looked anxiously out of his office window. The sky was very dark over the nearby hills and storm seemed to be advancing rapidly towards the valley where his auto repair shop was located .Just to be on the safe side, Alan went out and rolled up the window of the customer’s cars in the parking lot. He noticed the creek was already running high, the result of melting snow during the warm spring days. Before he could get back into the shop, a sudden downpour of huge drops of rain soaked his clothing. Some of the mechanics laughingly teased him for “not having enough sense to come in out of the rain”. After 15 minutes of the pelting rain, Alan realized that this was no ordinary rain storm. He went out to look at the creek again and found that it has already risen to almost the height of its bank. Alan figured it would not be long before the muddy water would flood the parking lot and come swirling around the shop doors. He ran back into the shop and announced in a loud voice that the creek was going to flood. He told three of his mechanics to drop everything and start moving cars. The cars that were parked next to the creek needed to be driven, pushed or toward up to the high ground across the road. Alan told the other mechanics to put the tools away and help move all the boxes of parts and supplies off the floor and into the storage racks in the storeroom and the office. Alan had everybody’s attention but nobody seemed to be moving. If anything the mechanics seemed to be amused. Kirk strolled over to Alan with a tolerant smile on his face.” come on, Alan,” he said “there is no sweat .The water’s never been more than an inch deep in the parking lot. We’ve never had any inside………………………………………….” Alan interrupted him, looking him right in the eye and said in an assertive way,” Listen Kirk, and listen well! You and the rest of the crew are going to do what I say, and you are going to do it now! We can talk later about whether it was a good idea.” This time, the mechanics dropped everything and began preparing for a flash flood. Alan barked instructions as he helped them move everything that could be damaged by water. All of the boxes were off the floor before the first trickle of water came under the door. By the time the water was ankle-deep; all the cars inside the shop had been jacked up and all were sitting on cement blocks. At its peak, the water was 10 inches deep in the shop, but by then the rain has stopped and the sun was already shinning. The water level began to recede slowly, but it didn’t drop below shop-floor level until 9 p.m. At 10 p.m. the mechanics voluntarily returned to the shop to help with the cleanup, which was not completed until 3 a.m Alan personally thanked each one and gave them all the next morning off. The next afternoon, Alan gave an informal speech during coffee break. He gave the mechanics all the credit for avoiding thousands of dollars of property damage. He even went to the trouble of pointing out particular contributions each of them had made. For instance, he thanked Lamont for his quick thinking in throwing the master switch before the water reached the electric outlets. He thanked Kirk for the ideas of jacking up all the disabled cars inside the shop. And so on until everyone’s contribution, no matter how minor, had been recognized. At 5 o’ clock, everyone left but Gil, the oldest mechanic. He decided to stay and chat with Alan. “You really surprised us yesterday!” Gil told Alan. “We could hardly believe it was you.” “Whaddaya mean?” Alan asked, pretending to be offended. “You sounded like my old drill sergeant!” Gil chuckled. “Usually, you’re so mild mannered we forget you’re the boss!” “Maybe I’m a little too mild mannered,” Alan replied. “When I told you guys to prepare for the flood you all laughed at me.”

How should Alan behave towards his employees in the future?