"The King is only fond of words and cannot translate them into deeds." Sun Tzu
These famous words are etched into the memory of every warrior worth his salt for two and one half thousand years. The great Chinese instructor of war spoke with all the dynamics of a marked man. The King had sent him to find out the reason of the lack of discipline in the troops and upon drill after drill Sun Tzu was confident that he had created an army that would not disobey.
He called for the King to come and inspect. The King called for him to cease drilling and come to the city to celebrate. The rebuke that followed shatters the silence of the golden dome leadership suites across our world. "The King is only fond of words and cannot translate them into deeds."
The need was not to celebrate but to inspect. Once the best salesman I have ever known, Dub Phillips, told me as a young pastor these words. "Pastor, you have to inspect what you expect." In kindness he was telling me to put the golf clubs away, step out of the palatial offices and get down to the troops and inspect what I expect in the organization's multifaceted operations. And then the crowning words, " You just can't expect folks to perk up for managers the way they do when you come around."
Well, I am not the King by any stretch of the imagination but the message was not lost. So, the 6 foot 3oo and something pound frame was hoisted out of the big leather chair and bundled into the truck headed for the warehouses. No one expected it and it showed. Then off to the stores, 4 or 5 of them at the time, can't remember, but it was the same surprise that the honorable potentate would come visiting. It was the, "we got this handled...you don't have to worry;" routine. But the bottom line was sagging and pulling us toward extinction.
And it hit me. I was only fond of meetings and words and was even called a word Meister, whatever that is. But it is in the field that words are translated into deeds. I thought it was just us preachers and reverends who were acting as if it would run if we just spoke the word!
But my baptism into the Service Industry the past few weeks showed me that great and wonderful Presidents, Vice- Presidents, Managers, Regional Supervisors, you know, fancy sounding names, were having the same problem. They must have had lots of meetings. Spent thousands of dollars traveling to seminars. Lots of power point presentations and dinners. But all that and no translation of their words into deeds.
It happened in the portion of Service Industry purgatory I was in and am still in just that way. A few of the greats of the Industry got involved and the troops came into line and it looks as though there is going to be a very positive result. Perhaps it was a wake up call. Perhaps it was a bad day in the business. But maybe, just maybe the Kings of the RV Industry have proved that they are not just fond of words but can translate words into deeds!
