Emergency Management 9-1-1: In God We Trust, All Others Must Be Monitored

By Grady B. Parks

Now that you have read this book, I hope it has brought you new meaning in becoming a better manager and leader. You must learn to address issues more than once; reinforce them more than twice and you will reap the rewards three times over. You must be willing to invest the time required to learn the intricacies of your job. Secondly, you must learn to accept and respect the knowledge of others. The person who has the fountain of knowledge must be identified, praised, and nurtured as an invaluable asset for your personal growth and development. You should not be a clock-watcher. However, you must learn to work smarter and not harder. Always be cognizant of others shortcomings and faults. Ask yourself these questions:

(a) What would you have done differently if the same set of circumstances were on your business plate?
(b) Would you have been more successful in handling the situation?
(c) Were you too critical in evaluating the results of the person making the decision?

Evaluating yourself and the circumstances will assist you in formulating a plan of action to address and resolve issues before they occur.

Successful supervisors, managers, and leaders know the importance of treating employees and customers with dignity, honor, and respect. This is a sacred rule in building a team and fostering good human relations. How many people do you know that are more satisfied with their working environment than their pay? This individual will remain with a company because of his or her supervisors great people skills. It is imperative that you consistently display authentic and humanistic concerns for your employees. They are your keys to achieving success, and without them, you will become an army of none. It would be wise to remember that threats do not produce long-term changes but merely generate survivability skills.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781493108510

Grady B. Parks

I was born at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 28, 1940. Growing up under segregation and its enforced limitations was very puzzling. It was very difficult to understand what a person’s color had to do with human dignity, work opportunities, and social justice. It was even harder to accept the often meaningless service-oriented jobs offered to employable black teenagers. I am constantly reminded that the pains of segregation could have been more problematic had it not been for my grandparents’ limited societal protection and love. They also provided me with a solid moral foundation to employ throughout my life. Let me assure my readers that all my childhood experiences were not doom and gloom. Blacks raised in Atlanta during this era were fortunate to have black-owned business establishments that provided sources of entertainment, eateries, hotels, nightclubs, drive-in restaurants, movie theaters, a bank, an insurance company, a golf course, and a host of other social outlets to sustain the black community during this Jim Crow era. Regardless of these limitations, most of our communities took pride in themselves, their appearance, their properties, and most were achievement-orientated. After graduating from Booker T. Washington High School in 1959, it became increasingly clear that I had to make a life-changing decision—go to college or join the military to get my service obligation out of the way in order to take advantage of future opportunities within our black or white communities. Although my grandfather encouraged me to go to Morehouse College after graduation, I decided to test the job market before entering any life-changing options. Needless to say, my jobs were considered good entry levels but did not offer me future growth or advancement opportunities. Several Jewish families I worked for during this time encouraged me to go into the military to escape segregation and acquire the necessary skills for a brighter future since I wasn’t interested in attending college at that time. I can assure you my earlier life script prepared me for other challenging events I experienced in the military and in foreign countries where I lived or visited. My initial military career was a great awakening because it forced me to take charge of myself. I learned early not to allow others to dictate my personal growth, professional development, and future destinies. One must keep in mind that our military establishment is a microcosm of our society—the military was no better or worse than our civilian counterparts. However, the military’s rapid punishment system under the Uniform Code of Military Justice made sure that civil rights and equal-opportunities violations were addressed and enforced more rapidly than when found in most civilian communities. The military approach to discovered inequities remains an example for our country to emulate in 2011. During my forty-five active years in the adult workforce, I faced many challenging events, crises, and inappropriate business practices here and abroad. My thirty years in the United States Air Force exposed me to many multicultural experiences while attaining the highest enlisted rank of chief master sergeant. As one might surmise, I held many challenging positions and meaningful duty titles. However, my last two titles as superintendent, assistant for social actions and chief enlisted manager, directorate of personnel, at the largest major air command at that time was the apex of an outstanding military career. My military foundation, type-A personality, personal motivation, and commitment propelled me into some key positions during my subsequent civilian career. My efforts, dedication, and positive results reaped me many rewards, awards, name recognition, can-do reputation, great compensation packages, bonuses, and promotions. In retrospect, many challenges became joyous events as I rose from store manager to training manager, from human resources manager to division manager responsible for eighty-six convenience stores and two large truck stops. Some keys to my successes were directly linked to skillfully building a committed team of professionals; taking care of them and their career-development needs; treating them with dignity, honor, and respect; and equally balancing human relations and profitability. At the same time, I learned the importance of actively recruiting a diversified workforce that mirrors the indigenous communities. After retiring, I have continued to provide managerial assistance and resolutions to some of my former managers and business associates. If I had to reach into my bag of bromides and come up with a thought-provoking statement, I definitely would use the thrust of SOSJADD (same old s——, just a different day). The more things appear to change, the more they remain the same. I am proud to say, I was an unyielding warrior and made certain that I walked the walk and talked the talk without hesitation. It was my responsibility to look into the mirror of my soul, and I became very happy with what I saw and learned to love. I learned that people who were trusted into my care were my working-family members, and I had to treat them with dignity, honor, and respect. They were the heartbeat for my continued operational successes and the enablers for my growth and development. It was our blood, sweat, and toil in becoming the best of the best that highlighted our marquee results. I can assure you, nothing can compare to having successfully managed a diverse group of people with different backgrounds and life scripts to the apex of oneness in achievements. When you can do this at various locations around the world with the same successes, you will become an admired leader. However, you must learn to live by my code of honor: In God we can trust—all others must be monitored.

Book preview

Copyright © 2013 by Grady B. Parks Jr.

Library of Congress Control Number:                 2013917791

ISBN:                 Hardcover                       978-1-4931-0850-3

    Softcover                        978-1-4931-0849-7

                           Ebook                             978-1-4931-0851-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 09/30/2013

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CONTENTS

Introduction

You Did Bring Something to the Table

Give the Ego a Placebo

The Me Generation Gap

Think Before You Speak

Who Taught You These Habits?

You Must Address Your Management Flaws

Ethical Decisions

Addressing and Resolving HR Issues

People Produce Performance and Profits

Dare to Make a Difference

Focus

When to Take Administrative Actions

When Is It Time to Move On?

Summary

INTRODUCTION

As most business owners and their employees, workers, and helpers have discovered, the job market is constantly changing. What was good enough yesterday can—or often will—become obsolete in tomorrow’s challenges and opportunities. There are no longer secured job guarantees because of our global competition and the demands from shareholders to continue to grow and improve the profit margins. In addition to this fact, coupled by job uncertainties and lack of job availabilities, the once-shared American dream is becoming more difficult to obtain or achieve.

Those fortunate enough to be employed during these difficult times must become high achievers to continue meeting the demands of doing more with less and satisfying customers’ expectations. These driving forces are requiring the workplaces to reevaluate their culture, their employment needs, and customers’ desires.

This book was written to assist you in identifying your strengths and weaknesses and provide you with some opportunities to improve your management skills. Regardless of your management level, expertise, and job proficiency, you should find some challenging examples and possible resolutions to consider adopting.

In this fast-paced world of doing more with less, coupled with the decreasing workforce population and outsourcing to other countries, most employees are required to stay on their A game. Notwithstanding the current recession that has caused many citizens to modify their styles and standards of living. Some went from eating caviar to sardines while others lost their entire retirement opportunities by the fall of speculative investments. We cannot overlook those who took advantage of the stock market seeking greater returns on their capital investment, or those who were tricked by Ponzi schemes to invest their monies by offering them some outlandish returns. Unfortunately, many investors allowed themselves to believe that the financial establishment would protect them from all harm and most risk. Because of greed, many of us may become vulnerable under these concepts. Some lost their future nest egg, and many who had retired had to seek employment in order to sustain themselves in their later years. Some, having been out of the workforce for many years, will find the job market extremely difficult with limited opportunities. There is a bottom line going forward that must become a paramount issue. All employment candidates, regardless of their age, must reach a new level of competition; the best must get better to regain employment and career-advancement opportunities.

There are many horror stories found in the workplace. I can assure you that many of these faults are ignored because of poor management practices, a lack of managerial knowledge and application, and fear factors when dealing with employment or people issues. Most junior managers are not provided the necessary training skills required for success because of the amount of time and money it takes to gain proficiency. Some companies rely on academic achievements and other related credentials to help bridge their management requirements. However, there are increasing signals that the employment transitions are taking longer and, at times, fail to satisfy management needs.

Let me make a thought-provoking statement: If you are lucky enough to be entered into a company-sponsored training program, you must take full advantage of the allotted time provided to complete this program. Please do not be in a rush to finish in record speed to prove your intellectual ability or self-worth. There are few companies willing to reinvest additional time and money in retraining efforts once the initial training program is completed. At this juncture, you will be held accountable for your results and/or your inability to meet established expectations.

Let me share some patterns of successful management practices I used that proved very beneficial for my teams and staff members:

-   Never forget where you came from and the difficulties you experienced reaching your position.

-   Always remain humble and fully understand it is your people skills, leadership qualities, and commitment to remain in the working arena with your team that truly matters.

-   Remember to give everyone a chance to succeed by exposing them to a quality in-house training program and be willing to invest in retraining when conditions warrant.

-   Be extremely patient, understand and support your company’s mission statement, and be willing to spend the required quality time with your staff to build a dynamic team.

-   Always empower your team members with the authority to make decisions and to learn from their mistakes or errors.

-   Be approachable and available to all your working-family members.

-   Be consistent in testing your communication channels to ensure they are open, understood, and free of reprisals.

-   Ensure your working environment is free of discriminatory practices, fear, and retaliatory factors.

-   Review successes and failures with your team to benchmark improvements.

-   Use the pronoun we to foster team membership, ownership, and enhance human relations.

-   Praise in public and discuss adverse issues calmly and privately.

-   Be quick to recognize and praise individual and team performances.

-   Understand you cannot succeed until your team does, and they must do it first.

-   Remember the buck must stop with you as their manager or leader. This is when the I becomes paramount.

Those seasoned management veterans must be prepared to learn sanctioned management practices when joining a new company. You may find some training flaws that may prove to be out of sync or do not fully capture daily routines or detailed instructions. You must cautiously review and carefully evaluate your concerns based upon your accumulative knowledge, expertise, and experiences. Remember, tact and diplomacy are critical factors that must be employed throughout this