Okedoke and a Horse named Pokie.
After many hours, cookie balls, sugar comas and the endless new age sound of Grunge playing all the time I decided to move on to something bigger and better for my psyche wealth and health. I was going to be a Store Manager at Wendy’s. ….they did have a salad bar, baked potatoes and the illegitimate daughter of Ronald McDonald and Velma from Scooby-Doo as their Mascot.
First couple of weeks were OK, if you liked coming home smelling like bacon and having three layers of grease coating your face; which would explain my clear to crater marked complexion. Who’s complaining…. I AM….this wasn’t the glamorous job I was sold. There were no Women lusting after me because I was in uniform, nor I did not get into clubs any faster if I waived my Wendy’s badge, but I did meet Wendy…or at least I thought I did. It was actually a guy named Ralph with a RED MOP (#1) on his head and two pigtails. How the frig could I tell the difference when my glasses were coated with grease.
In my wildest of dreams I would never have expected to have an encounter or have 2 stories from the same company to tell that ALL INVOLVED MOPS. so here goes the second one.
👉This is the one that had the biggest impact on my Career and the way I treat people. Go figure.
Anyways, it was a busy Friday afternoon, and my so called Regional Manager in title only came to me and advised me that their was a tasty beverage spill on the floor and it needed to be MOPPED UP (#2). As I was going to get the mop off of Ralph’s head, (sorry just had to) my Regional Manager put his hand on my shoulder and whispered in my ear
“I am Kaiser Soze, and if you do this job yourself I will fire you.
This is not your job to do” WTF. So with the fear of Kaiser Soze killing me, I did what I had to do…..I grabbed the mop and cleaned like I never cleaned before. By the time this was floors were mopped, stripped and waxed twice, the parking lot was cleaned and the building was repainted. How can in my right can I ask my team to do something when they are sweating over the grill (which is another issue) and I am just standing there. Never Ever wold I do that to my team.
We as Leaders, Coaches, Mentors, Sherpas, need to lead by example and set the watermark. If you are unable to do the job how can you dare ask someone else to. There will be times that we definitely need to delegate, as this is why we have our Teams but…..but…..but…but and I like big buts and just just don’t know why. Stop, Look, Listen, take Action and Lead by Example and not by Show.
👉ALWAYS ask yourself the following. ASK | DO questions:
- In the moment is my Team able to complete the task being requested. If yes, ASK. If no, DO.
- Is this a menial non time consuming task I can do easily instead of playing Candy Crush. If yes, DO. If no, ASK.
- Will this benefit the team. If yes…WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR. If No…than it shouldn’t really be that important.
- Is this a Safety Hazard and will it save your ass from litigation? If yes…WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR...There is NO NO answer to this.
- Will this help and ease the customers, internal and external experience? Than DO IT, JUST DO IT and don’t expect applause or go running around advertising what you just did. Cmon man….this is your job.
LIKE IT OR LEAVE IT.
Thank you everyone for reading as this ends today’s session and I am out of here.