Twenty-seven years ago, I was managing a large team of IBM specialists dedicated to a very large insurance company here in Hartford. Things were going pretty well until one day the IBM branch manager called me into his office.
I went in and he said, “I want you to fire Moe Schmo today!”
I was startled. I asked “Why?” The branch manager replied, “Because he’s not wearing his false teeth when he’s with our customer!”
I was knocked over, “His false teeth? I didn’t even know he had false teeth. What happened?”
“The CIO of the insurance company just called me to tell me that his people are disgusted when Moe takes his teeth out when he’s over there. They want him gone immediately.”
I was faced with quite the challenge. IBM Management School had taught me that there were only three reasons to fire an employee on the spot, and this wasn’t one of them. I said to my boss, “I’ll tell Moe that he’s not to go back to the customer. But, before I terminate him, I want to talk to him and see if there’s something we can assign him to do that doesn’t require teeth.”
The branch manger replied, “OK … But I’ll give you only one week to find something for him to do or I’ll fire him for you.”
So, I sat down with Moe in my office, closed the door, and asked him what was going on. He admitted that his false teeth are sometimes uncomfortable to wear. I said, “You need to get to a dentist to fix them.” He responded, “I’ve been to several dentists, and they can’t do anything more for me.” I told Moe that I could not put him on any customer-facing team with this problem. He understood.
One of IBM’s basic beliefs was “respect for the individual.” Basically, if any IBM manager is faced with a problem for which we were not specifically trained to fix, we were to fall back on our basic beliefs. So, I said to Moe that I wanted to find some other role for him to play at IBM, and I needed his help. We would have to meet for a few days so I could explore Moe’s interests and personal skill sets.
So, we met for about seven hours over a three-day period. I learned a lot about Moe I didn’t know. For example, he told me that his greatest thrill was working for a major handicap organization as their secretary. Wait a minute! Three weeks earlier, the branch manager had assigned me to work with a large handicap services company in Hartford that was converting its training program from manufacturing to computers. I asked Moe if he would like to attend a meeting with the director of this company. “Of course!” was his answer. So, off we went.
We sat down with the director and Moe was in his element. He started asking her questions. The director became very engaged in the conversation with Moe. I soon realized that I was of no value to the discussion. So I excused myself, asked Moe to give me his thoughts after the meeting, and returned to the branch office.
When Moe returned, he was excited like I’d never seen in him before. He had worked out a plan and asked if he could just run with it — keeping me updated as he progressed along.
In the meantime, I received a promotion that was to take me away from the Hartford branch of IBM. I said my good-bye’s and moved to IBM in San Francisco. I couldn’t stay in touch with Moe or most of my other employees. Two years later I was recruited to form the Consulting Division for Lotus Development Corp. (remember Lotus 1-2-3?) in Cambridge, Mass. One day while at Lotus, I received a letter from Moe Schmo at IBM headquarters in Armonk, N.Y. He explained what he’d done to finish up the Hartford project and how successful it had become. And, he told me that he knew the Hartford IBM branch manager had told me to fire him because of his teeth. He went on to thank me for respecting him, saving his job, and giving him such a great opportunity.
The letter was signed:
Moe Schmo
Director,
IBM Handicapped Services
Yes, this is a true story.
In summary, above all else good leaders act with respect toward people no matter what. Improving your company’s people leadership behavior will reduce employee turnover, and increase productivity and profits for your company. The resulting health or sustainability of your business is dependent on it.
George Hathaway is the author of the best-selling book, “Leadership Secrets from the Executive Office.” He is a strategic partner with Sustainable Business Coaching. Reach him at george@sustainablebusinesscoaching.com.
