-A HEADS UP FOR all:

THE TALE OF THREE LETTERS.

Back in the early 80s I was about to take over the truck sales dept. at Doenges bros. Ford in Tulsa Ok. and was told this story by Ed Vowels who had been the truck manager for decades.

In the safe you will find 3 letters marked 1,2,3, if you run into trouble and are about to be fired, go get letter #1 and do as it says. it will save your job. On the second occasion #2 and so on.



I saw the letters every time I opened the safe but never gave it a thought until, one day several months later the Gen manager came to me and said mike we are going to have to let you go, your department just isn't producing what it should be.

I was beside myself end just didn't know what to do when I remembered Ed's words and the letters. I went to the safe and took out letter # one. it read as follows:
Blame all the faults on me. T he sales staff was trained by me in the old ways of selling and this is a new world and new market.

I threw away the letter and went to the gen mgr. and told him almost the exact words and fired most of the long time sales staff, The G mag. gave me a six mo. reprieve to turn things around

The crises as over just like magic . Six months later the GM came to me again to fire me . I told him I would have the guaranteed solution the next day.

I went to the safe and opened letter #2 It read Mike tell the gm the finance dept is not doing his job and is kicking out to many deals, it is his fault not yours. So he fired the f&i mg not me.

About 2 years later once again the GM called me up to a meeting with the Board and they told me, unless I had some new Ideas to boost sales I would be fired!

With a a smug attitude I went to my office and opened the safe to get letter #three, knowing , with self assured ,smug confidence my problems would be solved.

Up on opening letter #3, this is what it read:

Dear Mike:
Wright 3 letters your about to be fired!

The Above story is taught in many top training courses and top Business universities today including Harvard. Yale, Wharton. Att (Bell) and IBM. and many others. one reason we are failing as a corporate nation in my opinion are. Our "leaders" are blame the other guy ethologists. and,, will not accept responsibility for their own actions
.
Its time WE, each of us must step up and be real leaders and as such take responsibility for our own actions, successes we must share with those who helped make them so. The failures are ours alone, WE are the leaders.