I can't even put enough words around how important I think this is at the moment. The times we find ourselves in require us to be more professional and better leaders than at any time in the years I have been a manager. People need us to be the voice of reason as well as a voice that helps to identify the path we should follow. I have a couple of examples.
I got an email from Bob Tursi at the Latin King. The Latin King is a generations-old restaurant on the east side of Des Moines, and yes, before you ask, I am on their distribution list as what Bob referred to as "longtime and loyal clientele." For those of you who know me, get over your laughter before we move on. He told us that Latin King would close to dine-in patrons. The thing most impressive to me was the Tursi family decided to do this before the Iowa's governor made a similar decision for the state. Bob saw it as his ethical responsibility to take a leadership role and make the hard decisions.
This morning I received an email from Kyle Krause from Kum & Go. Yes, another food vendor. Go ahead and laugh again, it's okay. He wrote that they were working to protect the community and take care of their employees. The note even went on to say in the event one of their employees needed testing, the company would cover the cost. If people had to self-quarantine, their jobs were safe and they would receive their regular pay.
I find this type of message amazing in the times we find ourselves. And, interestingly enough, I find these behaviors tremendously forward-looking.
I went to work for Payless Cashways in the eighties. There had already been several housing crisis, but one of the worst was in the early eighties. It came on the heels of the 1973 and 1979 energy crises and the Fed deciding to tighten the money supply. This crisis was tough on home-builders with many of them unable to weather the storm. The only way some of the big builders made it through was that their lumberyards carried them for months and even years. Many years later, I worked for a different company here in Des Moines. One of the first stories I heard was how they'd carried their largest customer through a particularly difficult time. In both cases, when those companies came out on the other end of the crisis, they were incredibly loyal to the supplier who cared for them. This was, and I think still is, the kind of loyalty which does not go away over time.
So, what am I thinking about today? I wonder when this is all over, and it will end, will the leaders of companies making the right decisions today? Sometimes we are so short-sighted that we forget people and companies who do the right things for each of us. My hope is this is not the case here. We need to recognize those who take care of us in this uncertain time. When normal returns, we must remember and recognize them. All we have to do is to continue doing business with them and continue to expect to be taken care of the way we always have.
I don't know about you, but I find this amazing. Companies are doing incredible work right now to make sure we stay safe and continue to have items we need in our homes. On top of this, the companies doing this for us aren't even talking to us about it. They are doing the right thing because it is just what they do. They hope we will remain loyal when we come out on the other side. So simple.
If you can do anything to help any others, I encourage you to do it. Even if you can't, recognize those doing the extra and when we're back to normal, remember them. I will tell you with certainty there were home-builders who remembered lumberyards. Trying to sell to one of them from a different supplier was impossible; their loyalty ran deep. I can only hope I can remember that for those who are caring for me right now.
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