Epilogue

It was almost one year later, and Dave was again delivering a package to Gorman-Scott Inc. His route had changed shortly after Excellence returned, but he was filling in on his old route today. This organization had a special place in his heart because when Excellence disappeared, it had caused him to think deeply about his own personal and professional excellence. And what a difference that had made in his life. He walked to the administration department to see how Darnell was doing.

“I am fine!” Darnell answered. “Things are going well around here,” she added, smiling.

“So how is your Passion doing?”

“Great!” she said. “Once the word got out to everyone that the frontline employees had a voice and that meaningful dialogue had begun between them and management, things changed. The employees come to work with more pride in themselves and their work. They see challenges as opportunities.”

“Communication doing OK?” asked Dave.

“Oh, yes. Conversations have moved from being critical to being productive. The communication between managers, employees, and leadership is more focused, meaningful, and honest. We are getting better at having the right people address the issues in a timely manner, and guidelines are in place to ensure that everyone has a voice and important messages and information are available to all concerned. Effective listening is now an important focus of Gorman-Scott Inc.”

“Improvements in Competency?”

“There certainly are,” Darnell related. “The company is seeking out more educational opportunities to help employees not only with the technical aspects of their jobs but also with the interpersonal skills to improve their customer service. Employees are more interested in their personal goals and how to integrate those goals with the needs of the organization.”

“What about Flexibility?”

“Oh, our Leadership was astounded by the increased openness to change from the employees. That doesn’t mean there aren’t questions and concerns about the changes, but there is a difference in how management handles them. It is,” she paused, “well, it is being done professionally, and the questions and concerns are legitimate; some are raised that management has not seen. The employees and management are actually working as a team now. They stopped keeping score of who got what and began paying attention to what is important to the success of the organization.”

“Need I even ask about Ownership?” Dave said with a grin.

Darnell was beside herself with excitement. She said, “You know, before long, most people took ownership. They abandoned the victim mentality and took more responsibility with fewer excuses. This doesn’t mean that mistakes aren’t made or that all is perfect. What it does mean is that everyone has stopped pointing fingers at each other for mistakes or bad outcomes, and instead they have begun to look in the mirror and ask themselves, even in the presence of barriers and constraints, what they can do to improve the outcome. And then, they constructively ask what they can do better as a team.”

“And Performance?”

“Sure enough, our Performance has risen. Average and his crew are nowhere to be seen.” She added, “Our sales have increased, our customer-service survey responses are getting better, our profitability is rising, and that has created more opportunity for our employees to advance. We’ve actually started hiring again!”

“It almost sounds too good to be true,” Dave said.

Darnell blushed and then said, “Well, perhaps I have embellished a bit. We certainly still have challenges and opportunities here. It’s not quite that simple or easy, but overall we are headed in the right direction.”

Darnell noticed a difference in Dave, perhaps a little more pep in his step. “Enough about us,” she said. “How are you doing?”

“Never better,” Dave replied. Leaning in close to Darnell, he whispered, “You know, when your Excellence here was kidnapped, it had a tremendous impact on my life.”

“Really?”

“Oh yes,” Dave replied. “It really caused me to think about my own life, both personally and professionally.”

“And?” Darnell urged.

Trying not to let his pride show too much, Dave said, “And I am up for a promotion at work. I think my boss must have recognized the changes in me. And things have never been better at home. My relationships with my wife and kids are improving.”

“It affected me too,” Darnell said, misty-eyed. After a few moments, she said, “This is not something I have really talked to anyone about, but my husband and I were on a path that probably would have ended in our splitting up.”

“Oh, how awful!”

“Yes. I had a wake-up call, too, when our Excellence was kidnapped. Things were not going well for me at home, and I had placed most of the blame on my husband. But when I saw how the organization came together here to get back our Excellence, well, I had to question my own passion, communication, flexibility, and competency in our relationship. Once I began to take ownership of our relationship, my own behavior began to change, and, well, we still have issues, but we are together, and our relationship is getting better every day.”

Dave got up and patted Darnell on the back. “Keep up the good work!”

After they said their good-byes, Dave went back to his truck. From his glove compartment, he pulled out a journal he had begun just after Excellence was kidnapped from Gorman-Scott Inc.

He read one of his favorite entries and smiled:

Make the choice each day not to be burdened by the sludge of negativity; instead, rise above it with a zest for life and desire for personal excellence.

The return of excellence to Dave’s own life had truly transformed him. He closed the journal and thought about where he was going today after work. It was to the local animal shelter. Katherine and Jonathan had wanted a dog for some time, and Dave finally relented, with one stipulation. They had to name the dog Dooley. His Dooley would be a living, breathing reminder of how precious life is and how we should wake up every morning and choose to greet the day with excitement, a positive attitude, and a desire to do and be our best.