Last week, I was blessed to be able to attend two days of the National Christian School Association annual convention which this year was held in San Antonio. Our hotel was The Menger, founded in 1859 and located across the street from The Alamo; talk about being surrounded by history! We had wonderful devotional times as you might expect from a meeting of those whose calling is educating children in the Lord. There were also terrific speakers on a variety of topics and challenges which American schools, public and private, face today. My favorite was David Cottrell, a well-known expert on leadership with an emphasis on Christ. (Here is his website if you would like to take a look: http://www.davidcottrell.com/) We heard David several times but I particularly enjoyed the three hour morning session when he used references from his highly regarded book, Monday Morning Mentoring. I think in every effective presentation, there is one moment or illustration that grabs you. This the one that grabbed me.
Before launching his career in the motivational/leadership field, David Cottrell was an executive with FedEx. He told us about the company and how FedEx made it a goal to win the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, despite the fact that no service company had ever been the recipient. FedEx poured a substantial amount of energy into obtaining this prize. The award process had elimination rounds and the FedEx execs were called to a meeting where they would hear an evaluation of their performance by a third party. The FedEx group listened while an advocate, an elderly gentleman none of them recognized, stood up and told the committee why he was endorsing the candidacy of FedEx. The stranger, who was from Wisconsin, related it went back to Lucy Nigren, a FedEx employee in a Milwaukee branch. Three times he had visited the same FedEx outlet, a former Fox Photo hut in a parking lot, with a package. All three times Lucy Nigren handled his order. Three times, he asked her questions about the company while she was handling his shipment and three times she answered in an incredibly enthusiastic and insightful manner while treating him as her most valued customer, even though she did not know she was being evaluated. The advocate, whose input could be positive or negative, stated his interaction with Lucy was so impressive that he was of the opinion that FedEx should win the Baldrige Award. When he finished and sat down, the FedEx executives looked at each other and asked, "Does anybody know Lucy Nigren?" None of them did. FedEx went on to win the award, a ground breaker for service industry candidates. David stated they might have won anyway- they had the data and the statistics to convince the judges they were doing a great job. But who knows, the reason they won might be traceable back to a worker that some mistakenly would consider low level. I would guess nobody at FedEx ever viewed that young lady from Milwaukee with those eyes!
We never know who is watching us or listening to us, do we? Often, it's the overlooked or maybe under appreciated who make biggest differences in major events. What was the name of the widow in Israel who gave two pennies and received praise from the Savior for her generosity? Who was the boy who brought the loaves and fishes when 5000+ were fed in the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels? And Andrew, the apostle who brought the boy to the attention of Jesus, seemed to live in the shadow of his more charismatic brother, Peter. I've had students come back and tell me they became teachers because of what they heard in my classes... and usually, I had no idea I was having any impact. I'll bet Lucy Nigren was just being herself in her tiny outpost but look how she blessed FedEx simply by being faithful to what she believed in, her company. Can the Lord expect anything less from us, His followers? Someone will be paying attention.
Applicable quote of the day:
“Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.”
Henry Ford
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
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