This 'n' Data

The Poll Position

Here’s what industry folks have been telling us in recent online polls. Be sure to check www.gardencentermagazine.com each week to cast your vote on various pertinent topics.

// Yalesmanship 101

It’s time to take the Lead
 

It's not a stretch to call 2011 a bomb in many (most?) garden vending locales. Consequently, it won't be a stretch to call 2012 a pivotal year. And while most of us are looking to the heavens for decent weather and watching the debates for decent politicos, we all might be best-served by peering into the mirror for decent leaders.

Indeed, I would suggest that's where you're most likely to find your best ally in the bid to build a successful business, even during the most trying of times.

During my career as a scribe of various sorts, I've had good bosses and bad bosses and a lot of bosses that landed somewhere in the regions between. But I've had only one boss who could pore over a proof of one of my stories and say to me: "After reading this, I got the impression that you didn't have much to say. And, besides that, you didn't say it very well."

Why did that less-than-ringing endorsement ultimately become a positive recollection? There are two reasons: (1) That supervisor never settled for excuses, from himself or from his staff. (2) I never once doubted that said supervisor had my best interest at heart. He invested in me and my progress, from the day we met. Consequently, I always wanted to do my best, not just to please him but because I knew from watching him that it was the right thing to do.

There's something else this boss taught me, in another quote I'll always remember, despite the fact that it was uttered some three decades ago. "Every job stinks somewhere," he said. "Get over it."

– Yale Youngblood, editor/publisher