I struggled to hold back my tears.That was when Mike breezed in with the new report.“Here we go,Dan”he said plopping it on his desk.“Guaranteed accurate down to the decimal.To me that was worth taking an extra day.”Dan flipped through the pages.“Why didn't you work on Saturday to finish this!”“It seemed like a huge waste when we could just use the computer and get is right”Mike said“so we waited until Monday.I had to follow my own judgment.”Dan stared at the top page for a long while,then nodded.At that moment the tension went out of the room like air going out of a balloon.We spent the rest of the morning helping Dan prepare for the meeting.He even cracked a smile.
我极力克制着自己的泪水。正在这时，迈克飘然而进，手里拿着新的报告。“丹，给，”他啪的一声把报告放在桌子上。“保证准确无误，分毫不差。在我看来，一天的耽误是值得的。”丹快速地翻看报告。“为什么你们不在周六完成？”“那会是对人力的巨大浪费，因为这活儿我们可以用电脑来做，而且准确性高，”迈克说，“这样，我们就推到了周一做。我得遵循我自己的判断。”丹花了很长时间看第一面，然后点了点头。在那一刻，紧张的气氛顿时烟消云散，就像气球泄气那样。我们用了整个上午帮着丹为会议做准备，他甚至咧嘴笑了。
That afternoon he called us into his office and said“The executive committee felt our presentation was the most thorough.”We all congratulated each other as if there had never been a problem.Later,finally on my way to talk to Dan about my pregnancy,I stopped by Mike's cubicle.There he was,working as had as ever,surrounded by the photos of his boys,his T-ball team,his family on Easter Sunday.They weren't a distraction.They were his inspiration.That's why he didn't make time wasting decisions or worry about his status and office politics.He had his priorities right:faith,family,then work.And because of that he was good at all three.
那天下午，丹把我们叫到办公室，对我们说：“董事会认为我们的陈述最为全面缜密。”我们互相祝贺，就好像根本没有发生过不愉快的事情。过后，当我最终要去找丹谈我身孕之事时，我顺便去了下迈克的隔间。他在那儿，和以往一样努力地工作着，周围贴着孩子们。阻截手训练队和复活节全家福的照片，这些不是分心的东西，而是他力量的源泉。正因为如此，他从不做浪费时间的决策，从来不把自己的地位或办公室政治放在心上。他对轻重缓急心中自有原则：信仰口家庭，然后才是工作。正因为如此，他在三方面都很成功。
“Thanks,Mike,for everything you did.”“It was just a report”he said.“No,it was more than that”I said.I'd gotten my priorities straight.Now I was ready to tell my boss the good news.
“迈克，谢谢你为我做的一切。”“不就是一份报告嘛。”他说。“不，不仅是报告。”我说。此时，我也有了自己的轻重缓急的原则。我这就去告诉老板我的那个好消息。