Phyllis was not stunned, but the approach with Ben surprised her.

“You want me to ask his advice on how to deal with the mess that he created?” she asked, wanting to make sure she heard correctly.

“Absolutely,” I replied. “You know you will be very involved in the cleanup, but Ben needs to know this is his responsibility. Most managers would immediately jump in and take over the cycle counts themselves until everything was straight.”

“That’s exactly what I was about to do,” said Phyllis.

“And if you take over the cycle counts, what message does that send to Ben?”

Phyllis had to think for a moment, but she was smart. The consequences slowly washed over her face. “If I jump in, the message to Ben is that I will straighten out any problem he has. If I jump in, it lets him off the hook for these cycle counts.”

Phyllis was quiet for another moment.

“Okay,” she said. “Now, I am ready to talk to him.”