Free Beer Tomorrow!(personnel management) (Brief Article)

• Author: WIESNER, PAT

There are at least two great restaurants in Sedalia.

You probably know about Gabriel's, the fancy bistro in a beautiful old Sedalia house where the waiters are dressed to the nines, and you had better be, too. It's well worth the trip because the food and service are spectacular, while the wine selection and ambiance are second to none in Colorado. It's a great place for a special occasion.

But you might not know about the great restaurant right across Sedalia's main drag.

Bud's Cafe and Bar is the kind of place you used to find in the neighborhoods of Chicago or Milwaukee. Bud's has only one menu item -- hamburgers -- and claims that they are the best in the state. Most people who know, agree. You can get 'em regular or double, with or without cheese. Don't ask for fries -- they don't serve them -- but the hamburgers you should try.

One of the things I like best about Bud's is a sign in the window that hopefully proclaims, "Free Beer Tomorrow!" When my 22-year-old son first saw it, he eagerly started planning his activities for the following day until he came to a realization. When he arrived the next day the sign would still promise the same thing.

I love the irony of the sign, because it reminds me of the many times I have been seduced by the comforting thought that tomorrow will bring a fix to all my problems; that today I could just relax. I can't help but think of all the money it cost me to put off sales calls until "tomorrow," the employees I've messed up by not dealing with people problems immediately and the accumulated effects of putting off decisions simply because they were tough.

If we were to sit down and make a list of the qualities we would like to find in our employees, certainly the list would include characteristics that define a doer, not a procrastinator. But we only get...