This is a story about a real person.  Of course this is really just a moments in time, but since we constantly repeat our patterns, what we see here is a reasonable facsimile for how this man chose to do life. For more information about writing your own story go to Freedom.

The Quality Connoisseur

As I sit and reflect, I remember a man much younger than me who knew what he knew and he knew it very well indeed. One day this man decided to strike out and seek his fortune.

For years he had put in such long hours and traveled so much. It became hard on him and difficult for his family. When he looks back he feels he missed a lot of his children's growing years. In business, it would frustrate him that sometimes his clients would listen and sometimes they would not. They were too busy or too locked in to their own way of thinking to be able to hear that there was another way. What bothered him the most was that if there were snags or problems, these clients wanted to blame the problem on him. He hated being blamed for something that was not his fault. To blame someone who tried so hard to deliver a quality product seemed so unfair and so disrespectful.

And so he decided to start his own business. This would allow him to be with his family more often and to do things the right way…the way he knew a business could be run.

He knew what to do and what not to do. He was committed to doing things differently and doing them well. He was going to run his business efficiently and make his company the very best place to work. Quality was his guiding principle. He understood that quality meant more than machine parts working smoothly together and that quality was about timing, balance and harmony. To make a beautiful, quality product required care and attention to detail and he wanted to hire talented people who would make his dream come true. He knew he could make these people care as much about his dream as he did.

He vowed when he began that his company would be the best place to work and it was. Over the years, he tried in so many ways to show his care and concern for his employees…in sickness and in health. He was an honest man who believed that his word was his bond and he made it a policy to offer quality money for quality work. And the business grew and grew rapidly and as the business expanded, it became harder to be the kind of leader, husband and father he wanted to be. The price of success meant long hours of work and far fewer hours at home than he had anticipated when he chose to start this business. The price was far higher than he had imagined.

And with the rapid expansion, things changed. Staying close to his people became more difficult. He was trying so hard to keep his promise and make this a good place to work but the more he tried it seemed to him that everyone expected so much more from him. Everyone was quick to blame him if things weren't just perfect. He hated when people blamed instead of trying to help to make it better. Did no one ever think to say thank you?