Kicking the Winning Field Goal…
I've had the honor of doing my best to help out a couple friends this past week. Randy McClement is the man of the moment; but I have to brag on his wife and business partner.
Mayor-elect Randy McClement and his wife Maryjane, affectionately known as Mayor and First Lady McBagel, are quite the team. I have owned and operated a restaurant business but have been gone long enough that the memories have slightly faded as to the 25-hour days and eight-day weeks required. You are never truly ‘off.’
Owning your own small business is in some ways much more difficult than a large corporation; here you can't hide and blame others. There is no running away. What makes you personal and profitable is not only how you handle one aspect of your business, but literally how you handle every single aspect.
You can find, fall upon and cultivate good employees and without them you couldn't be, or do, all you do but...... they take off, they leave for various reasons, sometimes without warning. The Queen and Mayor McBagel are lucky to have some excellent staff. Even so, you still have to be prepared to step in without hesitation, adding their duties to the things you are already doing to make it all appear effortless, all the while, thinking on your feet, delegating and being able to navigate that very dangerous non-productive area of micro-managing. The strength of their management/supervisory skills lies in how well they delegate and train. They do both well.
Randy and Maryjane have a small business in-so-far as the square footage is concerned, but what they produce within those walls far, far exceeds the actual footprint. Even though I was there on a temporary basis, I left more impressed with these two people than I already was; they make it all seem effortless, which is the sure sign they know what they are doing and have people around them doing the same. I know from first hand experience it is not a walk in the park; it’s extremely hard work on top of difficult hours and hard and fast deadlines that must be met.
The dance performed by these two individuals every morning with nary a word spoken is a dance to be seen to be understood. It's a dance I've done in the past and am shocked how quickly even I lost that strength. It might be because it's not mine, maybe just out of practice or, heck, maybe it's just being older. Who knows, but my hat’s off to them.
Without hesitation I can say Frederick City is going to be better four years from today than it is today. No status quo for this new mayor. The best campaign promotion Randy could have had would have been a camera to follow him for just one day; a mere 24 hours would have sealed the deal. It would have been a slam dunk, walk away win.
I have not spoken to Randy at all about his teams, choices, etc., concerning the city. Heck, he was in the shop at least a couple hours Wednesday morning and I don't think, other than mumbling mornin’, we even spoke. It was a comfortable atmosphere, but people were focused and working.
His transition team – if this is any indication of his future decisions, I can’t wait. I looked at each member of his team and know most of them personally. They all bring such different and specific talents to the table. I was thrilled to see certain new people coming forward, and equally happy to see some that had taken a step back in recent years coming forward again.
Frederick City, you are the ultimate winners by your choice of mayor. Congratulations to all of you for an excellent choice.
Now if he could just lower taxes enough that I could once again move back to the city, all would be good. A girl can dream can’t she?
. . . ’til next time…
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