Bebo
I just finished with a funeral for an old boss of mine, Bebo. Maybe around here (I didn’t grow up in Kansas) Bebo is a nickname for the proper name: Beryl.
I remember starting at the job that I retired from. My boss, Dave, hired me and then decided to move on to another job two years later. All of a sudden, I was reporting to Don, the CFO (Chief Financial Officer). A couple of years after that, he retired and Bebo, the head of the “Accounting Department” was promoted to CFO.
Since I was a transplant to Kansas and the company, I didn’t know Bebo’s background and experience, I offered to give her a high level idea of what the Actuarial department did. I remember she sat down with me and I gave her an overview of the process we used to estimate the claims that had already happened but we hadn’t paid yet, the claim reserve (the day you see the doctor starts a process to bill for and receive money for that claim that takes, on the average, about a month and a half for the insurance company to pay).
She patiently let me talk and, when I was done, she let me know that she had already been the CFO of an HMO subsidiary that the company had closed before I got there. I learned two things that day. First, it would have been better for me if I had found out her background to know that she didn’t need a high-level explanation of the claim reserving process. The second, and far more important thing I learned, was that Bebo would be patient and let the people who worked for her explain what was important to them. I think she learned from me that day that I desired for her to understand all the aspects of what her employees did and that she could trust what I told her. The trust may have came later but the desire to explain was there.
One of the first points of disagreement we had (there weren’t too many) was when the city of Topeka wanted to merge with the county for a unified government. Bebo, who lived in Topeka, was all in favor of that happening and thought the referendum question was a slam dunk. Since, I lived in the county, I explained that I was opposed because I didn’t see any benefit to those living outside of the city (in fact, I was worried that it would shift the counties resources to the city and away from the county residence). She was willing to listen to my side and I was willing to listen to her side. We were both enriched by having the discussion.
We worked together for over 10 years and I never once felt like she wasn’t my cheerleader to the CEO, her boss. We worked together on many interesting projects. Probably the most significant project was how the company was going to change and evolve after the Affordable Care Act was passed (if you remember, it was passed late in 2010 and implemented in 2014. This sounds like a huge amount of time. It wasn’t.). She retired weeks before the first open enrollment of the Affordable Care Act implementation.
“But he who is noble plans noble things, and on noble things he stands.” - Isaiah 32:8 ESV
“The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps. One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is reckless and careless. A man of quick temper acts foolishly, and a man of evil devices is hated. The simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.” - Proverbs 14:15-18
I’ve had many different bosses during my working career. Some were great, some were ok and a few were horrible bosses. Bebo ranked up there with the great.
“But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles Lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” - Matthew 20:25-28
