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ADVERTISEMENT Milton Heard IV HART'S MORTUARY AND CREMATORY President 765 Cherry St. What are the most important leadership lessons you have learned over the years? One of the first lessons I learned came from my father when I was just getting started at Hart's. He told me that we all make mistakes. If we aren't making mistakes, we aren't doing anything. It is how the situation is handled after the mistake that is important. Two things need to happen. We need to immediately address the situation and correct the problem because the issue only gets worse the longer you wait. And it is critical to find out how the mistake happened to prevent it from happening again. We only have one chance to make sure each funeral is conducted just as the family wants it. I have also learned there are many people in all walks of life who can provide knowledge to improve the business. Do not be afraid to ask for advice. On the flip side, 70 l MACON MAGAZINE 6324 Peake Road make sure you are available to help as many people as possible to succeed. What qualities do you look for and how do you hire good people? When I interview someone for a new employee, I look for someone who loves to help others and has a compassionate heart. We can train people to do particular tasks, but compassion and empathy cannot be taught. Since working at a funeral home can be stressful with long hours, unpredictable schedules and working with people in many stages of grief, I need someone who is energized by helping others. As a leader at Hart's, what is your biggest challenge right now? Our biggest challenge right now is to be aware and respond to a rapidly changing world. We must continually innovate to meet the demands of a new generation of people looking for something different from what their parents wanted. We cannot expect someone to call on us just because we have been in business for 114 years. Everyday, we must earn our reputation. We are constantly studying and implementing ideas that we hope will be beneficial such as providing a venue for a wide variety of food and beverage offerings for before and after services, professionally created and printed programs that are custom designed for each service, and unique audio and video productions. Our goal is to create a service that is uniquely tailored for each individual. My goal is to keep Hart's Mortuary an important resource for this community by meeting the needs of those we are truly honored to serve. AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2013