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Saturday, July 28, 2012

Ken

Ken, Linda, Pam, Sandra, Janet - December, 1997

Writing that last post, about my 26-year career with the large truck manufacturing company, started me thinking back to those days; and I decided to introduce you to Ken. I worked for Ken longer than I worked for any other boss in all my working life.

Ken was my immediate supervisor for the last 14 years of his career with the company. He is pictured here, on the occasion of his retirement, with the four women who had worked for him at some point during those 14 years. I was the only one of the four who worked under his supervision for the entire 14 years, during which we developed a close working relationship and a deep respect for each other.

Ken, as my boss, is what made my job fun for so many years. Through all the changes implemented by the company during that time, Ken was the one constant. He always expressed the highest confidence and trust in me, and that made me want to live up to his expectations. I'm sure I was a better employee because of it.

Ken exemplified respect for people, even before that phrase was formally adopted as one of our company's values. I know there were many people, including me, who had faced a crisis of one sort or another only to find Ken standing by ready to help and encourage in any way he could. And he never seemed to be irritated by the many interruptions that came his way as people popped in and out of his office with questions or complaints or just a friendly greeting. He set an example of patience and consideration that anyone would do well to emulate.

I count myself blessed to have been able to work with Ken all those years, even though I never quite forgave him for retiring before I could.

Update: I had forgotten that Sandra had also done a blog post about Ken, back in June of 2008. For anyone who's interested in her take on him (she's much funnier than I am), click here.



5 comments:

  1. he sounds like a wonderful person to work for and with. i was blessed with one of those, too. her name is renee. i first worked for her, then worked in conjunction with her from another dept., then returned to the same dept. to work in tandem with her until the company was sold. they only come once in a blue moon.

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  2. A good boss is worth so much. I have been blessed to have several really good men to call my boss.

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  3. So many people have horrible boss stories. It's refreshing to read about a good one.

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  4. Who you are working for and reporting to directly makes a HUGE difference. I had one like that for 23 years and don't think I will find another like him. We were blessed!

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  5. Nice to know, Linda. Usually the "great boss" stories come from those who are self-employed. ;)

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