I was literally 3, yes, THREE minutes late…

…and walked in to my cubicle at Bradhart Products - only to get immediately called into my manager’s office.

“You’re late, and now I have to fill out the Unexcused Tardy form”, my manager, Rosanne, said. Rosanne promptly filled out this three-part monstrosity and handed me my ‘pink slip’.

I was 17, a senior in high school - and I was livid!

My favorite album at that time was Appetite for Destruction by Guns N Roses (actually, it’s still one of my favorites), and after work I vented the way I knew best - blowing my ear drums out in my car to “Out Ta Get Me“.

As I drove home, I screamed with Axl as loud as I could “They’re OUT TA GET meeeeee!” because, let me tell you, it sure felt like they were.

Like a joke that you don’t get right away - it took me a few years to really understand what happened that day. A few years to subtract my anger, add in Bradhart’s core goal in business and begin to question the reality of why they were so ‘mean to me’!

That reality -> Bradhart was on-time.

To Bradhart’s owner & president Terry Brady, his wife, Karen, my manager, Rosanne, and everyone else who worked at Bradhart — that meant the company delivered their products on-time, meetings were on-time, the clocks were on-time, and guess what — even part time high schoolers who came in after school, were on-time!

As I found out, if you weren’t - WHAM - they came down hard!

Terry, one of the biggest mentors in my life (and, I’m proud to say, good friend), had a saying, and much like Martin and The Golden Rule, I hear it everytime I think of him –

“You get what you you accept.”

Lo-and-behold, 10 years later, life turned that event right back on me — while running ISMI I had an employee who just couldn’t come in on time.

Although he was amazing with customers & excellent in sales, the moment we opened our doors (and people were lined up ready for action) — he just wasn’t there!

For the rest of our team, it started off the day on the wrong foot. People were covering for him, and trying to do their job as well — leading to frustration, unhappiness, and I’m sure the thought “Why isn’t Charly doing something about this?”

After multiple discussions with him promising me ‘it wouldn’t happen again’, I decided it was time - I couldn’t accept it another day.

Rather than take the easy way out and fire him (he was really good with customers & sales - a hard to find trait in the day) — I consulted with our lawyer to assure this idea I had would work and stand up in court.

I had him sign a contract that stated we’d deduct $1,000/year from his pay every time he was late.

He showed up 5 to 10 minutes early every morning thereafter.

So Terry, you’re exactly right - “You get what you accept” on SO many levels, personally & professionally.

Thank you, Terry, Karen, and Rosanne, for providing the best ‘business boot-camp’ I could have ever had - and, more importantly, for continuing to be good friends throughout the years.