Miguel looked at me. I looked at him. A stare-down.

Miguel spoke first, “You are adding a swing shift, so our production will run 18 hours a day. As a manager I am working 12 hours a day, as it is. And you want me to be responsible for the production of this additional shift?”

“And I want you to cut your hours here at the office from 12 hours to 10 hours per day. Nine hours per day would be better. What changes will you have to make to accomplish that?” I asked.

“Quality is going to suffer,” Miguel protested.

“No, our quality standards remain the same.”

Miguel took a step back. His head went down. He disappeared from the conversation momentarily. “I cannot do it alone,” he finally responded. “I will need to pick a couple of people to help me out, one to head up each shift.”

“And what if one of them gets sick or has to take a personal day?”

“Then, I am back to working 18 hours that day.”

“Not allowed,” I responded.

“Then, I will have to pick four people. Two people to supervise and two people as backups.”

I looked at Miguel and smiled. “Come and see me when you have made your selection. We will talk about your next steps.”
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No one person accomplishes anything of significance, by themselves. While we may single out, give accolades and awards to a person for accomplishment, without a team around them, they would be nothing. What does that mean for every manager?