Discussion with Mentor-Challenge #6

I asked Gary, one of my mentors, to tell me a little bit more about his leadership philosophy. He said that he believes in giving members of his team a lot of room to express their individual creativity through ideas, which will help the company. As an example of this, he told me about one employee who suggested offering their products and services to a new industry. Although Gary usually discourages growing too rapidly or taking on the needs of too many industries at once, he felt the employee might be correct in his suggestion. Gary allowed the employee to take time to research the needs of the new industry and to put together a team from within the company to make a recommendation about whether or not to move forward into the new market. The committee ultimately recommended the move and now the trucking industry is one of Gary’s largest purchasers of his GPS time clocks, Trak-It. Gary rewarded the employee’s dedication and initiative with awards and a promotion. Gary’s companies maintain a high level of employee retention and satisfaction because of his supportive leadership style.