I’ll underline some, some people miss me, but the operation didn’t come to a halt. You know, the gentleman that took my spot, he’s still working into it. He’s doing a great job, he’s achieving great things, but the place just didn’t, you know, crumble. Not that I’m anybody special… Read More
I think some people were in fear of me. Even though I’m not a guy you need to be afraid of. Very approachable. Read More
I always had people that would pause, think about it, and make the decision. And whether that be an animal health issue, whether it be a policy issue, whatever that is. And I’m hoping, I’ve hoped, and I think it’s proved that I’ve given those people that ability to do… Read More
And what was gratifying to me when I retired, yeah, did some people miss me?… Read More
And rarely did I have a case, Mark, where it was like, oh my God, what were you thinking?… Read More
You know?… Read More
And the testament to that is in traveling and not being around, my phone’s not ringing off the hook when I was there, you know, they’re making decisions. They’re letting me know if there’s something really big. But when I get back, I’m looking at their decisions and they’ve made… Read More
You know, Larry’s not here to make the decision. I want those people to be able to step in and make the decision. Now, that’s taking risk. And, you know, some days, I have to be honest with you, I felt we were vulnerable. Not to the point where we… Read More
I want people to be able to think on their feet so that if I got run over by the bus, the whole place doesn’t go, oh my God, what are we gonna do tomorrow?… Read More
And I’ve tried to instill that into the people that when I retired are still there. And I’m still seeing very favorable results. So don’t just be happy with the status quo. That’s not the way I was raised and the way I ran the collection in San Diego. As… Read More
Or do you pause and go a different direction?… Read More
When I was growing up, never really had a boss that was an over-the-shoulder kind of person, you know?… Read More
I want people to grow. Read More
Is that the best move you can make for the collection?… Read More
If you have an opportunity to collect and get something for the zoo, is that the right move for the zoo?… Read More
What is the best?… Read More
Already had a vision. I mean, again, I had watched and learned from people that made a lot of mistakes and people that were successful. And I tried to pick what I thought was the best approach to managing people and managing collections. One of the things, and I still… Read More
Yeah, maybe a few additional responsibilities, but basically, it was just getting the mess cleaned up, making sure they’re all getting paid equally as well, or if there’s a seniority issue, making sure that that was addressed as well. So, you know, again, there’s a lot of rudimentary work that… Read More
Now, during this time, were you forming your philosophy about zoo management or did you already have a vision?… Read More
This is just not gonna work. So again, we got all that cleared up and I didn’t lose anybody in the process of doing that. They all understood it. I was just honest and open with ’em. I said you’re not curators, you will be someday if you wanna stick… Read More