We cannot manage what we do not know

As a partner and potential sales channel to the enterprise selling team, they were faced with a decision to make about an interaction they had with a new account executive they had just started working with. ere was a lack of follow-up on the account executive’s part and the partner was torn between letting the young account executive’s boss know, or not.

Ultimately, he decided to call their boss because they wanted to provide a coaching opportunity for the young new hire. e leader was grateful and said, “ ank you as I cannot x something that I do not know is broken, and I cannot manage what I do not know.” ere is so much sensitivity around what we can say and what we cannot or should not say. We fear that it may not be our place to say anything at all, after all we may become the one where others choose to point the nger of blame. We would rather keep our mouth shut and let the next person who receives bad service or experiences a problem be the one to share their concerns. Maybe they are braver than we are in those moments. e question becomes this, wouldn’t we want to know if something that we, or someone in our family, circle of friends, or company was doing something, or had

CHRISTY STEADMAN

Editor csteadman@coloradocommunitymedia.com

LINDSAY NICOLETTI Operations/ Circulation Manager lnicoletti@coloradocommunitymedia.com

ERIN ADDENBROOKE Marketing Consultant eaddenbrooke@coloradocommunitymedia.com done something, that wasn’t right and could potentially be harmful to others or to our family or business? Most of us would answer the same way, of course we would.

In the case above, the leader did use it as a coaching moment and the young account executive embraced the feedback and became determined to make a change in his response times and doing what they said they would do when they said they would do it.

Another friend I know stopped going to the same co ee shop they had been stopping by every morning for years. When I asked them why, they said that the shop had started serving co ee that wasn’t as hot as it should be. I asked them if they let the manager know. ey shook their head and said, “No.” is was a simple or minor issue that, if the manager had known or been told, could have been easily resolved.

We know parents who have approached the o cials of the school where their child was being bullied. e o cials were given the opportunity to x what was broken. ey now knew what they had to manage, yet they refused to take action. e nal outcome was that the child was transferred to another school and thankfully, was met with a new set of friends who they became very close with, enjoying a wonderful and safe high school experience.

It’s no di erent at home or in any relationship. If we do not know what is broken,

SEE NORTON, P13

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We must focus on the programs that garner bipartisan support

I’ve been around a long time, but the last couple of years of politics has drained me. I’ve grown tired of the constant ghting, bickering and general feeling of resentment. While politics has never been happy-go-lucky, when I was young it seemed like politicians got things done. I am hoping that over the next few years something will change, and we can get back to working together to make our lives and our country better.

Until then, I think it’s important we focus on the programs and services that garner bipartisan support. One of those programs that has wide bipartisan support, both at the federal and state level, is Medicare Advantage. Providing highquality, a ordable health care to seniors and people with disabilities should not be a controversial topic, and I’m glad our legislators seem to agree. e reason for this bipartisan support is that Medicare Advantage has proven itself to be an e ective program, accomplishing its purpose of providing top-quality health care to some of our most vulnerable Americans, while also being a scally responsible program.

I encourage our federal and state representatives to support bipartisan policy, starting with Medicare Advantage.

Sincerely,

Pauline Pfundstein, Denver