I know a story about a man who does not know I know this about him. I shall not name him nor his industry other than to say it isn’t entertainment related in any way, shape, form, or fashion.

The previous blog (Put Your Foot In It: Part One) set the premise for this narrative. I’ll call the man Wesley, though that is not his name. (It is my daddy’s name, though, so I like it.)

Wesley was a young man whose father was very well known and had made plenty of money in Industry A. Wesley grew up in that business, but decided he wanted to be in Industry B. He went for it whole hog, too. He bought an existing business that was in a wee bit of trouble and decided, like all people do who have never been in a particular business before, that he had it all figured out and, easy-peezy, he’d whip it into shape and make a ton of money real fast.

That didn’t happen. The mess was bigger than he knew. I won’t even go into it, that’s how big the mess was. Anyway…

Wesley had some pretty bad days. Profit? What profit? Bills didn’t stop coming. Customers weren’t paying. His vendors demanded money now. Wesley had meltdowns some days so bad, he was throwing things in his office. He was cursing employees. He was screaming worse obscenities. He was slamming his fist on desks and wagging his finger at everybody.

Just so you know, that did not help the situation because then all the other managers and employees started doing the same thing.

It wasn’t pretty.

But Wesley, some how or another, realized this and he changed. Not overnight, true. But quickly. When he decided that, come hell or high water, he was going to do the best he could and help others do the best they could, the business began to turn around.

Wesley, you see, decided to put his foot in it, and he stopped wagging that finger at others.

I met Wesley many years later. He, too, was now very well off. His business grew. He added others in both Industry A and Industry B. Those grew. He attracted and hired good people. I respect the man.

But, when I was told this story by more than one person who knew him way back when, I respected the man more because he had his meltdowns and came through them and had the undying respect of grown men and women who knew him in the salad days and saw him evolve for the better.

Which brings me to the next part: Put Your Foot In It: Part Three