Many, many moons ago, in fact before
the Millenium, I worked for a company
where the number two and three men in
the company were nicknamed Fred and
Barney, after the Flinstones.
Fred was a huge guy, and a former Hall of
Fame National Football League player. Barney
was also a former NFL running back, who
wasn't a Hall of Famer, but he did have some
outstanding moments.
If you saw Barney you would never guess he
played in the NFL for nine seasons. Fred, on
the other hand, was huge, and when he shook
hands with you your hand would disappear.
Fred was quiet, and I don't think I ever heard
him raise his voice. All the employees in the
company loved him. When he called, or visited
a jobsite, everybody wanted to talk to him. When
he needed a favor, he had a hundred volunteers
ready to do whatever needed to be done.
Barney was a loudmouth, and nobody wanted to
be around him. There was a pipeline in the company
that warned anybody and everybody when he was
coming. He relished firing people for slight rule
infractions.When he left jobsites many people would
be in tears.
Fred used to go out and mend the damage Barney
did over the years. He would shuffle a fired employee
to another unit, or see that they got another job.
Barney never noticed, and people used to joke that
he couldn't name five employees in the company.
In the company bulletin, Barney would list the names
of the people he fired, always with the line, "We wish
them well in their new endeavor."
Barney fell ill one day at work. He was taken to the
hospital, and he had a heart attack and died. In the
company bulletin it said, "We wish him well in his new
endeavor."
At his funeral were #1 and Fred, myself, and Barney's
secretary. No employees wanted to attend. Having
cocktails later that day #1 asked Fred, "He couldn't
have been that bad, could he?"
Fred swallowed his drink, looked at #1, and laughed.
"No..." he said, "He was worse."
About 30 days after he died a large picture of Barney
was put up inside the HQ front door. When Fred arrived
the next morning, the picture and frame were destroyed.
He called maintenance. The maintenance man asked
him what he wanted to do with it. "The dumpster might
be a good place for it," Fred said.
The maintenance man hesitated, then burst out laughing.
Fred burst out laughing too.
Fred had his office emptied out and redecorated quickly.
Fred died a couple of months ago.
A couple of thousand people paid there respects.
People stood outside the church because there was
no room inside.
I heard scores of stories about things Fred did that I
had no idea about, and I knew a lot about what he did.
Fred and Barney were my education about the right and
wrong way to approach business problems. The scenarios
played out every day, right in front of me.
Nice guys do win. Sometimes it may not seem that way,
but they always come out on top.
Whenever I had a tough problem Fred would say, "Do what
think is right. You'll always know what that is."
From the big saddle,
Jim Whelan
P.S. I remember Barney screaming at a 17 year old kid who
had been on the job for about two days, "Son, did you hear
what I just said?" The boy said, "Yes Sir, I heard you, and my
Momma did too."
Barney paused, then said, "You're momma heard me too?
What's so remarkable about that?
"She's deaf," he replied. Barney walked on out of the building,
and drove off. He stayed at HQ for over a week before he resumed
his normal behavior.
At The James R Whelan Agency, we like to behave like my old friend
Fred, who had thousands of friends. Call us now at 206 407 3124.
Leave a comment