October 2004
Orders Are Orders
A young soldier stood on sentry duty at the main gate. His orders were clear: no vehicle was to enter unless it had a particular sticker on the windshield. About midnight, an Army jeep roared up to the gate with two men in it.
The sentry dutifully said, "Halt, who goes there?"
"I'm sorry, I can't let you through," the sentry said.
"Drive on!" the general barked.
"Hold it!" the soldier said, "I have orders to shoot any unauthorized vehicles."
The general said, "I'm telling you, drive on."
The sentry leveled his rifle at the jeep and said, "General, I'm new at this. Do I shoot you or the driver?"
Obedience is often more complicated than simply doing what you're told. We must remain loyal to our direct authorities, alert to jurisdictional boundaries, and discerning enough to know how to accomplish an authority's goals under changing conditions.
Safe and Sound
Circus performers walk a tightrope by keeping their weight balanced over the rope. As long as they work with the law of gravity and balance themselves, they will not fall. Though most of us use bridges rather than tightropes, the principles that allow us to walk remain the same.
Similarly, we arrive safely at our destinations in life when we exercise obedience to the rules governing our physical lives and regulating our interactions with others. When we make choices inconsistent with these principles, we experience the pain of broken bones and damaged relationships.
We usually don't set out to disobey; we merely come upon "good" reasons to alter this or that. When our boss asks us to do something, we find time to do something a little bit "better" than what was wanted. When we know the building codes require a certain thing, we devise something slightly different for the sake of convenience. These slight deviations sometimes require drastic, often expensive, course corrections.
The operations of an authority structure are critical to maintaining order in life. Thus, obedience must become a part of our lives to the point that we honor proper authority as naturally as we walk.
The habit of making little compromises will slowly erode the soundness of our judgment and undermine our ability to move forward. Obedience to what is right provides the internal confidence we need to move forward without the constant pressure of guilt, fear, and frustration.
Taking Care of People
Tommy Ferguson founded Ferguson Pontiac-GMC on November 15, 1974, beginning a pursuit of customer service that continues today.
The strategy appears to be paying off. Ferguson has been the number 1 seller of Pontiac-GMCs in Oklahoma for fourteen years. In 1980, Ferguson became the first dealership on what is now Norman's "Mile of Cars." In 1996, Ferguson added Buicks to the lot.
Wallace said his primary goal is to be available to answer questions and help each customer make the best decision. Whether a person buys immediately or not, Wallace follows up each visit with a phone call or post card, thanking people for taking the time to stop by. When someone does buy a car, he checks back with them to thank them and make sure everything goes well.
Comptroller Jeff McKee sees Character First! as a continuation of the dealership's commitment to training good people and building good customer relationships. "Everybody that works here respects and doesn't want to disappoint [Mr. Ferguson]," McKee said.
Since beginning the character emphasis in February, 2004, General Manager Ralph Chlore and McKee hold monthly meetings with the employees from the sales department, the service department, and the body shop. During these meetings, Chlore introduces the monthly character quality and managers recognize employees for their character.
"People that work here appreciate the meetings and talking about character," McKee said. The meetings provide a "chance to get together and learn about each other" and have positive discussions about character in a way that probably would not happen otherwise. The recognitions provide a way for everyone to be recognized publicly.
"Customers appreciate doing business with people who care about character," McKee said. It would be hard to argue with the Ferguson formula once you have actually looked at a car and then been greeted by someone who apparently does care what you need instead of only what the dealership needs to sell.
Beautiful Horizons
In late August, representatives from Character First! held a week of seminars and lectures for school teachers, parents, university students, and children of all ages in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The host school, Colégio Batista Mineiro, scheduled this week of seminars to learn more about Character First!.
By the end of the week, the leadership, staff, and parents began planning how to translate the curriculum into Portuguese and start a pilot program before year's end. Colégio Batista Mineiro has 7,000 students on its roll and is among the most well-known and well-respected schools in Belo Horizonte.
In English, the city's name means "Beautiful Horizon," which paints a picture of what this character movement could do in a city of 3.5 million people. Today's efforts can provide an opportunity for the people of Belo Horizonte to strengthen their core values and open new horizons for themselves and those around them.
International Character
Community and government officials from nineteen states, Mexico, the Philippines, Guatemala, Australia, Korea, and China attended the 2004 International Building Cities of Character Conference last month.
Delegates listened to Mayor Richard Craig from the first character city, McDonough, Georgia; Oklahoma Lieutenant Governor Mary Fallin; Robert Powell, president of The Character Council of Greater Fort Collins; Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett; and many others involved in government, business, and community leadership.
City manager Rodney Ray from Owasso, Oklahoma, spoke about the impact that
character has made in his community. "In the three years prior to our character initiative, we had 42 different labor grievances and employee grievances, and seven different lawsuits," Ray said. "In the three years since we put the character initiative in place, we have had 2 grievances and no lawsuits from employees."
Dr. Earlene Smith described how the community of Alva, Oklahoma, uses a multifaceted character education model that includes Character First! Education and community mentoring. This approach tapped into the community's families, businesses, faith-based organizations, schools, and civic and social clubs to create partnerships to help ensure all youth receive the training they need to lead healthy and productive lives. Annual evaluations of the program have shown improved attitudes, reduced behavior problems, and elevated reading levels.
"I really enjoyed the conference. There was so much to learn from the various speakers. We could benefit greatly by incorporating these ideas into practice," wrote Virginia Simpson, a City Council Member from Paradise Valley, Arizona.
Mark your calendars to attend the next conference September 21-23, 2005. Visit www.charactercities.org for more information.
