What I Learned Hanging Out in Bars...

“Light is the task where many share the toil “- Homer

I wasn’t always a psychologist and hospital administrator.  Like many of us, I held a variety of jobs through high school, college and graduate school…I cut grass as a youngster, played in a band in high school and was a DJ and bartender during my college years.  When I moved to Baton Rouge to start graduate school at LSU, I got a part-time job as a bartender and weekend DJ at a local club called “Dax.”  The absentee club owners owned clubs from Houston to Jacksonville Florida and depended on the team in Baton Rouge to manage the club for them.  Over time, the unofficial management team duties fell to 4 of us:  Terry was food service/day manager, Steven & Brian were bar/night managers and I was bar manager/DJ. 

 One day, Mark & Bobby who owned the club announced they were putting it up for sale.  Figuring we were already pretty much running the place ourselves (and being young, fearless and somewhat foolish!), we bought the place.  What we quickly found out was running a bar & restaurant is a complex business involving inventory management, point-of-service tracking, personnel management, payroll, team building, security, marketing, financial management, marketing and a hundred other tasks.  We also found out that it was a lot of FUN, mostly because we figured out how to work as a team and leverage each owner’s skill set:  Terry was great with inventory, payroll, personnel, legal & regulatory issues; Steven & Brian were naturals behind the bar, leading the other bartenders and entertaining the guests and I enjoyed bartending for the happy hour crowd and would move over to the DJ booth later in the evening.  Management was a fulltime job for us full time students but we made it work, enjoyed the times and were successful because we shared the load. 

And we see that every week here at my hospital both on the floor and in the many “Shout Outs” each week in our in-house newsletter:  When we pull together as a team, the load each of us carries individually is lightened.  We provide better care, patient satisfaction improves and we enjoy our time together more.

So, here are some questions to ask yourself: 

• In what ways are you personally reaching out each day to support those around you?
• How can you utilize your teammates the next time you are feeling overwhelmed with responsibilities?
• How can you relieve someone’s burden by reaching out to offer assistance, even before being approached?

~ Bob Prehn