EGO

Nov

2020

Learning from A Small Business Leader

We were sitting in the lobby outside of Holder Mattress in Carmel, IN. I was learning from the third-generation leader of this family owned business. A woman who had grown up around her family’s mattress factory in Kokomo, IN.

When she had volunteered seventeen years ago to take over the leadership of this struggling business from her Aunt and Uncle, she had many challenges on her hands. As a young, but determined, leader she refused to allow the business to close while she was leading. This determination paid off. Within a few short years of taking over a business that was being protected by bankruptcy at the time, she made decisions that quickly made it into the profitable family owned small business it has become.

During our time we discussed some of the principles that guided and continue to guide her leadership.

Build the Best

All industries have varying degrees of competition. Instead of focusing on the competition, Lauren learned from her grandfather the value of building the best. As a small company in a big industry that manufactures their own product they are able to control quality. When you focus on being the best you can be, then everything else takes care of itself.

In his book Wooden on Leadership, John Wooden and Steve Jamison state:

“When you start thinking about winning, you stop thinking about doing your job.”

This mindset of focusing on doing your best will help leaders build the best. We can’t control the competition or the market or other situations. Just like John Wooden focused on his team being the best they could be, find what you are best at and excel. This is a significant reason why Lauren was able to turn around the business when she took over.

Treat People Right

I have been reading leadership expert John Maxwell’s book Ethics 101 and he made the observation that the golden rule of treating others as you would want to be treated spans across all belief systems. This was the foundational guiding principle Lauren learned from her grandfather. Watching her grandfather build a small town, family owned business taught her to treat everyone like a neighbor.

When we treat all people right, we get positive results. If we treat others with respect and care they often will do the same. Leading in the retail business Lauren learned from her grandfather that sometimes letting a person leave, with respect and care, is treating them right because you may not have what a customer is looking for.

Put the Needs of Others Before Your Ego

Through an early experience with a customer Lauren learned the negative impact of her strong will and ego. She had a customer whose needs she did not think would be met by the product they purchased. Instead of discussing with them possible modifications and having an open conversation she decided to have her manufacturers make the modifications she thought would be helpful. . . . a few weeks later the customers returned dissatisfied.

She regularly shares with her team how she realized she needed to learn to listen to people well and above all be honest. We can easily think we know what is best for another person, but when we listen we are able to serve others and do what is best for them and not what we think is best.

After looking at these three principles, which of them do you need to grow in? Do you need help thinking into this? Contact me for a thirty-minute thinking partner session at no cost to you. Lead Well.

Oct

2020

Learning from Another Health Care Leader

We were both in our home offices and discussing leadership with the former CEO of a regional hospital in Indiana. I would have much rather been sitting across a table from him, but being in separate areas of the country prevented this.

We both were employed by the same organization, but I never had the opportunity to talk leadership with this leader. While talking I recognized he leads from a healthy foundation. We discussed the top three principles that guided him as a leader in the healthcare industry over multiple years.

Beware of Your Ego

Leadership expert John Maxwell discusses the five levels of leadership and when I provide leadership roundtables utilizing his book Developing the Leader Within You 2.0 we discuss these levels. The first level is positional leadership. As leaders we must be careful not to primarily lead from a posture of position because this will likely lead to more ego driven decisions.

Jonathan created checks in his life to help make sure his ego did not take charge. He surrounded himself with people who told him the truth. This may not have been what he wanted to hear, but what he needed to hear. Great leaders surround themselves with people who think differently who fill in their leadership gaps.

Words = Actions

Indiana winters are cold. Mr. Goble did something that may seem foolish for the CEO to do. He parked in the furthest corner of the parking lot.

As a leader he emphasized the importance of putting patients first. By parking in the furthest spot possible he modeled the values he promoted. If he parked closest to the door then it would be taking a valuable spot from a patient.

By parking in the back, his actions demonstrated this value and his employees could not justifiably complain to him about a long walk in the cold. He made sure he had the longest walk. As leaders we promote specific values and we must examine ourselves carefully to be certain our words match our actions. When they don’t admit it and make adjustments so we are in alignment.

KNOW Your People

“To lead others, you must be able to communicate well, and connecting is key.”

John C. Maxwell

Leadership is about working with people and as the leader Jonathan suggests we must know those we lead and not just what they do. This is connecting. A couple strategies that Jonathan suggested were:

Know people’s names. Do you know the name of the person who takes care of your trash? Even if you don’t know their name do you acknowledge each person and let them know you care about them as an individual?

Compliment in writing. One practice Mr. Goble used was mailing home written compliments to his employees. A written note alone is impactful, but when it goes home the family can celebrate with the employee the personalized recognition from the leader.

One of the biggest leadership lessons Jonathan learned was to listen more and talk less. He found that listening enabled him to lead more effectively and know his people better. When we know those we lead we will understand what motivates them and how to help them perform to their highest ability.

What about you? How are you doing in each of these areas? Do you need help in getting an accurate assessment of how your team feels you are doing? Maybe a Leadership Game experience would serve you and your team/organization well. Set your action step to grow as a leader today and reach the next level. Lead well.