Palmer Muench is shown in the picture, he was my mentor, hero and next to my father the most important man in the world to me. Coach Muench taught me as much about life as he did baseball, one of those lessons is what I want you to consider today.
Coach Muench was teaching me how to deal with an athlete that was feeling his oats..... (arrogant little bastard, that thought he was better than the team). We were talking about what to do when I suggested the kid had broken team rules. But coach cut me off asking exactly what rule he had broken......
Much to my surprise he had not actually broken a rule..... that was when I learned Coach Muench had very few rules in place, and that gave me many many questions. Coach then explained you have to be careful what rules you make, because you must enforce every rule you make equally to members of the team.
Coach then said, you might not mind benching your worst hitter for a rule violation. But are you willing to lose a game, or end your season because a star player breaks a rule........ or are you willing to lose the respect of your players because you treat the star differently? Of course he went on to explain a good coach, coaches both on and off the field. Expectations can be established without formal rules tying your hands in regards to discipline.
When I became manager in the adult world I experienced first hand that not every organization had been blessed with a leader like Coach Muench to help them understand how to lead people. Ironically rules regarding attendance was one of the first examples I experienced. Unlike the star baseball player that Coach Muench turned into a "track star" (he ran that kid until he grasp the error of his ways while the team watched) I was forced to terminate my best employee for being late to work.....
What I am about to say should draw different reactions depending upon what generation you were born in.... what you do for a living.... and your relationship with time. So let's talk about being tardy for work.
My first adult job had simple rules regarding attendance, you were permitted to be tardy 5 times in 12 months,..... your 6th tardy would result in you being terminated. Through the years I have worked for a few corporations with vey similar rules. Over the last 4 decades I have seen some really good employees walked to the door by Human Resources for being late to work one time too many. Each time I would hear Coach Muench's words echo through my mind asking if it made sense to fire a great worker for walking through the door a few minutes late every so often.......
This is the point in which you are either thinking, ".....good, if they can't follow the rules fire them...." or you are questioning "......in the scheme of the things are a few minutes here and there really that serious?......"
As a manager I can understand the questions, opinions and answers regarding this topic from about every single angle, so I feel quite qualified to express my thoughts. Keep in mind I have walked more than a few people to to the door, sending them "to the house" simply because they were late a few times for work.
I think my opinions began to change when I advanced far enough up the chain of command to understand management did not follow the same rules they used to control the "little people." Simply stated I have seen people making 10, even 20 times as much as employees on the floor insist we fire employees for being tardy once month, when in fact they would come in late several times each week........
Coach Muench, long since deceased was in my ear reminding me we need to treat the star and the scrub just alike......
Where do you stand? Are you "sending them to the house" or are you going to find a way "to make them a track star?"
