“Leadership” Definition by Bob Atkinson

Leadership = Providing others with the ownership of a given orientation toward a particular goal or process.

“Jefe for the Week” by Bob Atkinson

(c)2010 Bob Atkinson

they worked hard

each in his own way

giving time and talents

to the company every day

had their problems

                           getting things done

their own way of doing

                           felt under the gun

an idea here

                                an idea there

could be for nothing

                         if the boss didn't care

so through each day

                             they toiled away 
                           giving their energy

for a fair day's pay

                              always was hard

always much work

                       here in the warehouse

the boss was a jerk

pull this right now

or you goofed it again

work harder you slacker

fill that there bin

Cecil gave

as good as he could

but never was seen

as really that good

then came an idea

in my small little brain

we can this handle

with my little plan

the men they must have

pride in their efforts

and must be shown

first hand

how it is to direct work

the workers complained

didn't matter what for

not to their liking

what was done on the floor

instead of dealing

with issues abundant

I set out a goal

to make here some progress

Larry was dictator

of this non-eager crew

tried his best

what was right to do

but fussing and fighting

backstabbing and lightning

always was there

because nobody cared

now, Larry was senior

in the company had been

a fixture at SCT

since I was a kid

he was a good man

always sincere

as were the rest

but eyes were

aligned to ears

a meeting I held

to get them together

Larry was leaving

for vacation two weeks

men we have here a problem

your supervisor is off

starting next week

for fourteen days

we won't him see

as the manager

of this fine institution

I could work back here

in his place and be useless

or, if you all agree

we can appoint a “Jefe”

the warehouse to oversee

“Jefe” means head,

chief, boss, manager

a leader and someone to go to

when directions needed

or decisions to make

l

the problems

the good stuff

the bad stuff

no title official

there's no extra pay

or recognition of it

you just work your butt off

no personal profit

but, me you won't see

I'll come back to say hi

with no intentions

of giving you hows

the “Jefe” will rotate

when Larry is gone

I want all of you

to see how it's done

now all the men

before I had come

were workers of rote

not a bit of the mind

Adrian took

the first two weeks

then the others in turn

were boss for some weeks

Cecil was a bit reluctant

'cause he knew in his heart

his work was marginal

he felt that he could

at any moment lose his job

and it made him so nervous

was hard getting along

Adrian took him aside

said “you must this do”

and Cecil agreed

as a full member of the crew

Manuel took his turn

and also did good

in spite of his language

no English understood

in summary we had

all men who were solid

as supervisors or workers

no one could knock them

the operation became a success

when hard working men

gave being “boss” their best