We had just arrived at our new posting as Salvation Army officers and so I was anxious to get to know the community, take a look at our neighbourhood and see the building. As I looked about the building I noticed an exit sign upside down.

Now I had it the practice in the early days of an appointment to keep a note pad and record a list of things which I noticed – maybe a tired looking paint job or an out of date notice. How were the entrances – did they look inviting, were they unobstructed? Were the washroom damp and dark or clean smelling and bright?

Some of those things it is best to wait to deal with as time progresses and you gain the confidence of the local leadership. But of course health and safety issues do require more immediate attention. sSo I thought it reasonable to ask the janitor to fix the sign.

So I asked him to meet me in the gym, where the sign was, and pointed it out and asked if he could get a ladder and turn it so it was right as it appeared, at least to me, to be upside down.

He looked at me quizzically and replied, “the sign isn’t upside down, just the T”.

I could hardly contain myself, but without laughing I replied, “I think you’ll find if you take out the panel that E X and I can be either way, but you can turn the whole sign over and get the proper signage for our EXIT sign.”

Sometimes people are so use to seeing something that they can’t imagine anything wrong with how things are or how it could be different.

Leaders help other people turn things around.