Another week is behind us, but this one proved to be very sad if not heartbreaking for my co-workers and myself. Our favorite Sales and Service Director left our company after nearly 23 years of impeccable service.
Tim Dooley, or Dooley as he was lovingly known by those closest to him, is truly a man among men, and the reasons are many.
A good family man who loves his wife and daughters more than he loves life itself, Tim always displayed their pictures in his office proudly, and you could see the love in his eyes when he talked about them.
Dooley was beyond reproach and ethically a saint. He always "did the right thing" for the company and his employees. There were many occasions when Tim went to bat for one of the employees when it wasn't in his best interest to do so. The employees knew his loyalty and kindness and appreciated it by going the extra mile for him.
Not only is he a great human being, but he is a born leader. Dooley could take the most negative people in the most trying of times, and after just a few short minutes have those same folks motivated into a winning team! I'd seen it time and time again.
For instance, I remember a few short years ago, around 1997 to be exact, when the Regional VP was terminated and suddenly a staff of strange men walked into our office acknowledging that they were now the "SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM" and things were going to change. They were the movers and shakers and they let it be known that they did not appreciate or revere tenure. In fact, they were so bold as to say that it'd be cheaper to get rid of the tenured people and replace them for 1/2 the salary with new employees. Many people were shaken, some quit, some just buckled under the bulldozing. The overall atmosphere was so heavy with dread on a daily basis that you could almost cut it with a knife. Until Dooley started sending out his own little newsletter to the entire staff acknowledging employee's good customer service calls, and printing customer appreciation letters with his own brand of Dooley-ism. He kept telling us privately to hold in there, this too shall pass, and it did. One day we came into work and found out that the SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM had been canned by home office! What a day that was for us all. Dooley was our Savior of sorts and he'd walked us through a trying time, but we'd made it!
Of course there were other times too when this wonderful man rose tothe occasion and reassured us over matters that seemed dreadful, but true to his word everything always worked out in our best interest.
Tim was the kind of man that asked his staff what we thought about situations. He not only listened, he took action when necessary. You could walk into Tim's office anytime and know that you would be greeted with that award-winning smile. Anything that was discussed in Tim's office was confidential and he never, to my knowledge ever repeated a single word, whether it was work related or personal.
Tim is an extremely personable fellow. He'd often walk through the office with a camcorder asking folks questions like, "What does world class customer service mean to you?" He captured the moments and the people at their best. Later he'd put together a video, which he'd show on various monitors throughout the building and the folks got a real big kick out it! What a morale booster!
There were wonderfully hilarious power point presentations that were sent out at least every month with Tim always the butt of his own jokes, but with a powerful underlying message about what great people we all were, and giving us kudos for the great jobs we were doing.
My company sponsors a big west-coast marathon every year, and who was the coordinator? That's right, it was Tim Dooley. Every year he'd muster more and more joggers and walkers and they'd commit to one or more legs of the race. If you couldn't physically handle the jogging or walking, then he'd find a van for you to drive. There was a place for everyone who wanted to be involved.
There were the United Way campaigns where he'd sit at the helm of a dunk tank on a cold Pacific Northwest Morning, heckling the crowd with dares to spend a buck to "dunk Dooley". By the end of the day he'd be shivering cold, but the campaign would be many dollars richer for his valiant efforts.
Tim promoted me into management on April 2, 2001. I will always be grateful to him for that. He believed in me and that meant the same to me as if my own dad had offered me the job, although to be fair here, Tim is my age. But you know what I mean. I wanted to prove to him that he hadn't made a mistake, and I wanted to do the best job possible for HIM.
That was how the guy affected those around him. He motivated and coached; he was inspirational and revered.
Tim will do great wherever he goes. I envy those of you who will be lucky enough to work with him, becausesome of you will.
Get ready folks, because you are in for the time of your lives!
God Bless you Tim Dooley and may the force always be with you, my friend. You are loved and greatly missed.
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