It is interesting how sometimes unrelated experiences can come together to create a new idea or perspective on things. A friend of mine, who owns a relatively small trucking company, was over the other night for dinner. In the course of the evening’s conversation, he mentioned that, several years ago, he hired a management consulting company to help him identify ways to improve and grow his business. One outcome of the consultant’s review was that he was “kicked out” of the maintenance shop and into the front office.

My friend is very much a hands-on manager, having performed probably every job within his organization, from driver to technician and everything in between. But, where he really felt comfortable was in the shop, solving the problems of keeping his trucks maintained and in service.

In the process of doing that, nobody was “minding the store.” So, he needed to get out of his comfort zone and get actively involved in the business. Of course, the result was a predictable growth in the health and size of his business.

Now, the “unrelated” experience. Recently, I had the pleasure of joining Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, LLC, Dayton Parts LLC, Haldex and SKF in presenting their Technician of the Year award during Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week in Las Vegas. Tyson Sontag, of McKee Foods in Gentry, Ark., was the 2006 award winner. Sontag, you may recall, also won the TMC SuperTech competition this past September.

Two things impress me about Sontag. First, he is never quite satisfied with his performance and constantly sets new goals to improve himself. For example, he was a competitor in the first TMC SuperTech competition (2005), where he placed, respectably, in the middle of the pack (this among a group of the best in the business). But, he was not satisfied and decided to come back this past year to win at least one workstation. In the intervening year, he studied, practiced and worked to improve his knowledge and not only met his goal, but also won the entire competition. He said he is vowing to compete next year and wants to win the Electrical/-Electronics workstation. He is never completely satisfied.

Perhaps more important is his extremely positive attitude toward work and competition. He is not merely proud to be a technician but, according to Jim Robertson, fleet maintenance superintendent at McKee Foods, “(he) challenges his peers to increase their technical and professional abilities so that they may become the best technicians possible.”

Much of the positive energy that Sontag exemplifies is part of his personality. But, I am convinced that part of it is a product of the environment in which he works. And, that is where these two stories converge.

I think it is safe to say that most of us in fleet management came up, like my friend, through the technician ranks. And in my experience, that implies an understanding and a certain passion for machines. We are, for the most part, more comfortable using logic, physics and observation to solve problems than we are dealing with human characteristics such as emotion, feeling or attitude.

To develop the attitude and enthusiasm that Sontag brings to his work, we, like my friend, need to get out of our comfort zone and develop the coaching and supervisory skills that will create an environment in which our technicians thrive.