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There is an old saying about a person who is a “jack of all trades;” that they are also “master of none.” Some may have thought that my third cousin, Bradley, was a jack of all trades. But if the second part of that phrase (master of none) is true, then Bradley would not qualify because he was definitely master of some.
At the age of sixteen, Bradley showed up at a local rock crusher and asked for job. I can imagine that the owner was skeptical about hiring a teenager on a job that involved so much difficulty and danger. Bradley wasted no time impressing his new boss with his eagerness and a work ethic that quickly turned into ability to do his job as well as some that had much more experience than he did.
It wasn’t long until Bradley’s ability surpassed that of many of his fellow workers and was seen as a person to turn to if an especially hard situation came up. There was no job too hard, too dirty, or too time consuming that Bradley was not willing to tackle. His willingness to help in any situation was not limited to his duties on the job, but he was willing to give this same effort if any of his friends or co-workers had troubles as well. Bradley’s co-workers describe him as a person that never said, “I can’t” when faced with any situation, instead “I can” or “I will” were familiar words heard from him.
Everyone was Bradley’s friend because Bradley was himself friendly and exhibited all the qualities that could be expected in a friend. He understood loyalty at a level that most have never thought about. He had several offers to go to other jobs for more money or other benefits that would cause most to make the change. He understood the value of having a job that he liked and working among people who had been friends for a long time.
One day a worker at the crusher went to the owner with the bad news that a piece of equipment was broken down in the pit. The owner replied “no problem, where’s Bradley?” I am impressed with what is implied by that statement and believe that each of us can find ourselves somewhere in that situation.
First, there is possibly another worker involved, a worker who may have caused the breakdown by neglect or failure to perform his job as he should. This is not to say that every breakdown is caused by human error but sometimes we may find ourselves as part of the problem rather than part of the solution.
Second, we could be like the worker who reported the breakdown. Is it the extent of our ability to just report that something is wrong and that someone else needs to fix it?
Third, we could be like the person who asked the question, “Where’s Bradley?” The question implies that the asker for some reason cannot handle the situation either. That could be because of several reasons such as inability, time constraints, or even unwillingness to do the task.
Fourth is the person to whom the question is asked. It is implied that the person asking the question recognizes that the person to whom he is talking does not have what it takes to handle the situation as well or he would have asked that person to handle it.
Fifth, there is Bradley, the person who will take on any job regardless of difficulty, dirt, how long it will take or whether or not he has prior experience with that particular problem.
Every organization can use people with the “Bradley” attitude. It doesn’t matter if it is the place you work, civic organizations, your family or the church. There is never a shortage of the first four types of people in the illustration just mentioned but never enough of those with the “Bradley” attitude.
Too often a lot of us find ourselves in one of the first four categories. We may see something that is wrong and needs correcting and never see ourselves as the person that should take action. We might make a statement such as “Someone needs to do that” and even criticize others for not doing that which we are not willing to try to do ourselves. We ease our conscience by making statements like “I wish I could help, but..” and offer an excuse that we hope sounds good and legitimate.
All of us know people who are the “Bradley” type and may wish to be more like them. We only fool ourselves if we think that can be achieved overnight. Bradley and others like him became what they are by doing the small things that they were capable of doing on a day by day basis and developing from there. The rest of us can become more like them by doing the same.
Bradley Scott Terry
12/30/64 – 6/01/05
Darrell Thompson is the manager of Lawrence County Exchange in Moulton.
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