Real Life Mining Stories With Leadership Lessons:Goal Setting and Perseverence Led to Success
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When I worked in the coal mine in the mid-1970s, I was also pursuing my undergraduate degree, taking two courses a quarter at the Eastern Campus of Ohio University in St. Clairsville.
I was on shift work and taking classes in the evening, so I always missed classes to work the afternoon shift. My professors were very understanding of my situation and allowed me to do extra work to make up for the missed classes. I also completed correspondence courses from Ohio University when I was not in the classroom.
Since I worked shift work as a roof bolter I had precious little time for my studies. My family and the library competed for my free time. My work days were filled with sweat and dust requiring every ounce of energy I had available. I crawled around in 5-foot high coal maneuvering my machine into place and drilling holes in the roof in preparation for the installation of an 8 to 12-foot bolt to support the top. Other days were calmer with long periods of time waiting for the opportunity to use my machine. Usually, the guys sat around and talked or watched others operating machinery.
One day I came up with what I thought was a bright idea. During lunch and the breaks that occurred during the course of mining, I often had some free time. I always wore a heavy jean jacket for the cold trips in and out of the mine. I decided I would cut the pant leg off an old pair of jeans and sew it into the inside lining of my jean jacket. In this pocket to protect it, I placed a novel that I was required to read for my French class and a French dictionary. Anytime that I was not required to run my machine or perform other work, I would take out my novel and translate it.
I was determined and creative. I had a goal that if I could succeed in accomplishing would change my life. I also had commitments to my employer for which I felt a strong responsibility. One of my work goals was to become a supervisor. I also used the pocket in the coat to carry my book of state laws upon which I had to be tested to become a foreman. I sandwiched into every idle moment activities that enabled me to proceed toward both goals. Setting and working toward these two goals simultaneously resulted in a high level of motivation. I was focused more so than most other times in my life.
If a wall arose between me and my goals, I invented a way through or around it. It took me five years to obtain the supervisor’s job and nine years to reach my goal of an undergraduate degree.
I am not sorry that I sacrificed as I did for these goals. The experience reinforced my belief in a strong work ethic, perseverance, and the rewards of clear systematic planning.
Leaders should reflect on the experiences that have brought them to where they are today. If they do, they will highlight the lessons that may benefit their employees. They should also enable their employees to set significant goals because goal setting is often the key to high motivation.
— By R. Glenn Ray, Ph.D.
R. Glenn Ray, Ph.D. spent nine years working as an underground coal miner in Southeast Ohio from 1972 to 1982. In his book, Tons of Stone above my Head: Coal Mining Stories with Leadership Lessons (2010), Ray gives readers an intimate understanding of the challenge, excitement, danger, and pain common in the life of an underground coal miner.
His union classifications included ventilation man, rockduster, scoop car man, and roofbolter. For the last five years of his work in coal mines, he served as a production supervisor and track construction foreman. Along with over a hundred stories cataloging his experiences in all of these positions, his book offers leadership lessons he learned at the time or in retrospect.
R. Glenn Ray, Ph.D., is the president of RayCom Learning. To learn more about Ray’s new book, Tons of Stone above my Head: Coal Mining Stories with Leadership Lessons, or his leadership and communication development business, RayCom Learning, visit his website, CLICK HERE
