This past weekend, I had the proud honor to watch my son participate in the 2014 USA Weightlifting National Collegiate Championships.  It was one of those experiences where you watch with awe as that child you nurtured and lost sleep over shows up strong
(literally and figuratively) and reveals that the delivery room fear of 'screwing him up' might have been a little unfounded.

During the final preparations prior to his time slot his coach worked impressively to keep him focused, upbeat, and confident in himself.  As you may know, in the sport of competitive weightlifting, verification of an athlete's weight is a critical step before gaining final acccess to the platform to perform.   As such, the days leading up to such an event can be filled with special attention to diet, rest, and more-than-a-few trips to a sauna. 

   In an early morning pre-day weigh in, we discovered a few too many kilos were registering on the scale for my son, and so his coach laid out a plan for a few visits to the sauna and a strict focus on intake for the next 24 hours.   Unfortunately, that's when we discovered  the event planning committee's snafu to book a sauna facility that was would be available when we needed it. 

As a 25+ veteran of the meeting planning industry, I quickly found "I'm on this' coming out of my mouth.   Within a few phone calls, I found an upscale hotel a few blocks away that had a sauna.  I quickly walked to the hotel.  

I approached the front desk, spoke as any passionate parent would to a very buttoned-down front desk manager who promptly shut me down with the no-exception policy that sauna use was for

hotel guests only. The conversation then went something like this: 

me: Can I buy a day pass?  him: no 

me: Why not?  him: it's a liability  

me:  I will sign any waivers you have guests sign.  him: you can't. 
me: Can I speak to your boss?  him: I am the boss
me: Is the General Manager in house today?  him: no 
me:  Do you have children?  him: no
me: Are your sure there is no way I can just buy a pass? him: no
me: I'm sure we can figure something out.  him: I don't see how
me:  So, can you help me?  him: no, it's our policy

Coaching Moment:
Do your job.
Follow the rules.
Enforce the policies.
But, more importantly, know how to be a reflection of this:  
THE CORE OF WHAT YOUR COMPANY STANDS FOR

Yes, this guy did his job, followed the rules, and enforced the policies.
On paper, he performed well. but:

HE DOESN'T GET IT! HE FAILED MISERABLY IN REFLECTING THE ESSENCE OF WHAT HIS COMPANY IS IN BUSINESS FOR.
(I know this because this hotel is part of one of the most well respected providers of top quality hospitality service in the world.)

If the CORE of what your company stands for is somehow not understood by you, or seems to be less than top priority in guiding your behavior, or you can't find it in yourself to live and breathe it :  
IT'S TIME TO MOVE ON. GET OUT OF THE WAY.

PS to the outcome of this coaching moment:
I left the front desk, went to the hotel's cafe and found the restaurant manager.  I explained my situation, she quickly paged the General Manager (who actually was on site that day).  As a former athlete himself , he completely understood the importance of weigh ins and last minute sauna visits.  We walked back to the front desk as he directed my 'friend' there to cut a key for multiple day gym access for my son.  And, yes, I did share with him my expeience with his front desk manager as we exchanged business cards.