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The Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training.

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Yesterday was devoted to running errands. On our way to shop at Costco we stopped to pick up some things at a Walgreen's drug store. We go there often because it's convenient and because it's clean and orderly and the people are helpful.

When we walked in, we noticed a young man and woman who worked there chatting amiably. We walked past them and started examining the selection of products. The young woman came right over.

"Is there anything I can help you find today?" she asked.

In the course of our conversation, my wife mentioned a magazine she was looking for. A check of the magazine rack revealed that the store carried the magazine, but didn't have the October issue that my wife wanted.

The young man offered to check in the back to see if there were any left. There weren't, but we thanked him for his effort. As we were checking out, we asked the young woman if she liked working there. We ask that question a lot because it usually gets an interesting response.

"I love it!"

We asked why. The young woman's answers compared the Walgreen's where she worked now, with a CVS she had worked for in the past.

She liked the fact that the manager treated her like an adult. "The other guy was always popping out of the back to make sure we were doing something," she told us, "My manager here trusts us to work."

There were other things about the manager she liked. When "things get crazy" the manager sends help so that customers get served. If the young woman wants to re-arrange her schedule, it's usually possible. "Not like at CVS," she told us.

The encounter got me thinking about an example that was often used by the late Sumantra Ghoshal. I've heard it several times, but the best rendering is part of an entry on Freek Vermuelen's blog. I quote it at length because I can not tell it nearly as well.

"He would tell executives that every year in August, during his children’s summer holiday, he would take them to his native Calcutta for a month. However, down-town Calcutta would be so humid and hot in August that he could not do anything else than lie on his bed and be sleepy all day. However, when he’d spend spring in Fontainebleau – where he lived for many years when he was on the faculty at INSEAD business school – which is located right in the middle of a protected forest in France, he could not help become cheerful seeing the flowers blossom, start to whistle a song, run through the forest and leap up to grab a branch!

'The problem with large organisations', he’d say, 'is that most of them create down-town Calcutta in summer within them'"

The young woman at Walgreen's was working in the equivalent of the Fontainebleau forest. The main creator of that forest was her manager who treated her like an adult, created an environment where it was great to work, and made it easy for her to give customers the excellent service she gave us.

So what will it be, managers? Will you create CVS or Walgreen's? Calcutta in summer or the Fontainebleau forest in spring? Whichever you choose, you reap the consequences.

Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.

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Wally Bock has helped people learn to be great bosses for more than a quarter century. His latest book, Performance Talk: The One-on-One Part of Leadership, makes learning key leadership principles almost effortless by teaching through a story and providing lists of resources for further growth.

Click here to find out more about Wally's coaching services.

For weekly tips and resources pointers, check our Wally Bock's Three Star Leadership Letter.

Click here to find out more about having Wally speak to your company or convention.