Stanley, E.L. (Stan)
The Quiet Leader
Much is discussed and written about the good and innovative General Motors products. This is about a General Motors employee who did his part to maintain and add to the GM legacy.
When I was being interviewed for a job by management of the Denver branch of Motors Insurance Corp. I was only thinking of making a living for my family and working at something that I would enjoy. Little did I know how many outstanding people I would meet and get to know over the course of my thirty-one year career, and how they would enrich my life.
I had looked forward to working in the Denver branch but, alas, someone who spoke "southernese" was needed in the Little Rock branch and I was elected. So I reported to Little Rock on August 9, 1961 and began my pre-school training (pre-school training was completed in the branch prior to formal training at the General Motors Institute in Flint, Michigan).
Shortly thereafter my newly appointed claim supervisor, E.L. (Stan) Stanley, spent several days in the field with me. I soon saw that Stan said what he meant and meant what he said. His product knowledge was superior and he knew exactly what it took to properly repair an automobile or truck to General Motors standards.
He had begun his career in the Little Rock branch and I saw immediately that he was highly regarded and respected by MIC and dealer personnel. If he was talking to a dealer regarding an adjuster complaint and said, "Mr. Dealer, I have checked my adjuster’s handling and found that he is without fault", chances are the dealer would apologize and the matter would be closed. Wherever he served General Motors he was respected in the same manner.
Stan knew EXACTLY what quality of work I was doing and reported it fairly on my field and other reviews. He was absolutely objective and fair in all his dealings. He looked for the good work I was doing but if he caught me off base in a review I was disappointed not only by my performance but also for how it might reflect on him. By the time the review was completed he would have pointed out my shortcomings clearly and concisely with a firm understanding as to what was expected of me in the future. Then he would build me back up to a reasonable level of self-esteem, highly motivated to do a better job.
I eventually was promoted into supervision, then management, and adopted many of Stan’s management skills. After all, the man who convinced me I was stubborn and needed to change certainly had a lot to recommend him (I still don’t admit freely to being stubborn but say that I am “righteously persistent”, as a good GM guy should be).
Stan served in a number of management positions around the country and was control branch manager in New Orleans where he retired.
E.L. (Stan) and Kathryn Stanley are retired on their K & S Cattle Ranch out of Atkins, Arkansas. I talk to him now and then and we discuss the old days. It has been my great pleasure to know and work for a man that exemplified General Motors excellence.
C. L. (Bud) Nelson, Jr.
Retired from Motors Insurance Corp. in 1992
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