Kelly Nelson

How Important Are Your Key Players?
November 16, 2007

Sometimes we take for granted all that one key player may do within a small business.  I have had the opportunity this week to walk a mile in another key player's shoes.  Let me start, well, at the beginning...

When I started at the store 12 years ago, I was an awkward and anti-social teenager.  Shirley, my manager, trained me, taught me, and stood by me through many tough years.  She helped to groom me into a confident leader and effective follower.  She taught me the difference between respecting authority and being a doormat for tyrants.  Shirley knows, not only who I am, but who I was.  She has had such great influence on my life.  I cannot tell you how much she means to me.

Yesterday I got the call that Shirley's brother had passed away.  I knew that I would be the one to fill in while she was out of work.  I have filled in for Shirley before.  This time it's different, though.  This time I really have to do all of her work to keep her caught up.  There is no shoving things to the side for when she comes back.  I am able to do her work therefore I must get it done.  Such shoes to fill... but would I have her return to piles of paperwork after her loss?  

I always knew what Shirley did.  I knew the paperwork, the headaches, the stresses...  I knew but never appreciated in full.  I think that's what happens when you work with someone for so long... you forget to appreciate them.  This blog is written out of great respect and admiration for my Shirley.  She is a very important key player both in our store and in my life.

Posted by Kelly Nelson on November 16, 2007 | Comments (0)