Courage in Leadership: Lessons from Rose’s Experience

Rose

If you think of Momma from Momma’s Place, this would give you somewhat an idea of Rose. But a more professional less heavy version. I worked with Rose for about five years. She was a peer of mine and one that I admired for rising above the challenges thrown her way. Rose had salt and pepper short curly hair. She wore glasses and often dressed in flowered dresses. She would accent the dresses with suit jackets. She wore flats as she was 5’ 10”.  She was active in her church and the community. 

She sticks in my mind for what she had to endure.  A merger was taking place at the bank. People inside the bank were jockeying for positions. They wanted to make sure they had a role once the merger was complete. Rose was sure to be okay, she had been with the bank for twenty years. But is was the awful shenanigans of the current bank President that really tried to put the screw to Rose.

The bank President had been having an affair. This was with a much younger and perkier branch manager from one of the three branches. Rose was in charge of the Main Office.  Rose was good friends with the President’s wife and helped her see the error of her husband’s ways.  They planned a stake-out. They followed him to a local motel. There, they witnessed him rendezvousing with his perky little girlfriend.  The President was so mad and humiliated that he fired Rose.  Luckily for Rose, the merger was already in the works. She approached the new management team. This action led to the President being removed from his role.

The bank management dragged 75 employees into this mess. They called a meeting and made the President publicly apologize to Rose in front of us all. Then he announced his departure. He would be moving to a different bank already owned by the parent bank. It was awkward and uncomfortable. I am still not sure of the motive of doing this, other than maybe a deterrent. Or maybe that was Rose’s wish as a negotiation for not suing.

Rose has always been a hero to me. The awfulness of all of it. How she was put through so much because a man just can not keep it in his pants.  I really admire Rose to this very day. She was and still is an inspiration to me.

Always stand up for what is right. Don’t look the other way and let people get away with bad behavior.  Rose may no longer be with us. But, she will always have a place in my heart. Her memory resides in my soul and my mind. I will sing her praise for as long as I can sing.