The day after the Manefay slide was a time of great uncertainty. Pictures taken from a news helicopter showed that the landslide was larger than anticipated and did much more damage than expected. Many people believed that it was the end of the mine and there would be no way to recover.

After the slide, there was a lot of communication being sent to the entire workforce to keep everyone apprised of the situation. During these communications both the General Manager and the President/CEO of the company included one of the most powerful management techniques I have witnessed – they asked for everyone help to “Rise to the Occasion” to keep people safe and save the historic mine. This act of asking everyone’s help, followed up with by giving people the time, and platforms to provide ideas, solutions and input motivated the entire workforce. This motivation is what lead to the success of recovering from a massive crisis and returning the mine to full production.

So, the question is, have you asked your work force for their help to meet your critical goals? And if you asked for their help have you given them the ability and environment so they can rise to the occasion?
If you have an example of the power of asking for help, please share them on this blog or send them to me at stories@risetotheoccasion.net