I was tremendously blessed to have the acquaintance of Andy Hines – at one time the chief executive officer of Florida Progress, the producer and distributor of electricity for a heavily populated part of Florida. My own personal recollection of Andy included his faithful carrying out of bulging garbage bags after church suppers. It also included his meeting with me at Chattaway's Restaurant for a sandwich during my mental crises. Employees characterize Andy as the man who after severe weather could be found standing on-site amidst storm debris – not barking orders but offering hands-on assistance. Leonard tells me that once he and a fellow employee were assigned to the beaches during a storm. Policy was that only headquarters could approve shutdown of a significant area of the power grid. The storm by the minute was becoming increasingly dangerous, yet the order for shutdown did not come. Finally, Leonard and his friend took matters into their own hands and cut power to a large area. Perhaps this could have been viewed as a firing offense. From one point of view, think of the money saved if seasoned employees were terminated for cause. Yet, Leonard tells me that nothing was said until sometime later he passed Andy in a company hallway. Andy did not say "Wow it's great you violated policy and procedures!" Rather, he simply said, you "saved the company [and he named a figure] millions of dollars." Andy was my Sunday school teacher and it was a privilege and an honor to attend his conversational style lessons. Once I privately mentioned to him that I admired his humility. He replied that he had a lot to be humble about. A religious man, he knew that he did not occupy God's throne, nor did he monopolize Spiritual guidance. In organizational parlance, Andy minimized micromanagement and maximized accountability. This organizational approach is most in accord with the view that all men are richly gifted and to be held accountable for personal integrity and ultimately to divine directive. --------------- For a brief bio of Andy see link below: http://revolutionmotor.com/management.html ---------------
