Transformative Leadership: The Power of Observation and Effective Communication

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:37

I think one of the healthiest things that we can do as leaders is to simply observe people. Now, sometimes we can't just sit within the vicinity of our own people and observe. Yet I would encourage you to partner with people, but you want to be careful, you don't want to have people spying on your employees, but just simply to observe and maybe condition the response to be sure. Three things that you see that my team is doing well. Make sure you nurture and celebrate those, and maybe an area where they could improve. Let me share with you something that happened this morning and on February 21st 2025, I don't know if I've ever seen somebody do this. I won't mention the company because I don't want someone locally to read into what I'm doing or saying and it was a local coffee shop and I live in Cedarburg, wisconsin, and there are a couple of ladies there have gotten to know me and I'm not a coffee drinker, I'm a hot chocolate person, and when I walk in they ring up my order every single time. They just know me. Remember me. Hey Tim, how you doing? How was your trip to Florida? And just incredible service.

Speaker 1: 1:40

And one of the ladies that I know ended up having a conversation with a young gentleman who I think was the new manager and you could tell he was emotional, you could tell he had a higher emotional level than the two ladies who was working behind the counter and the one woman who knew me looked at him and said do you want us to do that through you or get approval through you? And he goes yes, I'm, you know, I've got it. And he's really amped up. And he said I've got to have this. I'm obviously the number one guy here. And I sat there and I was really stunned because she had turned and whispered. He had yelled back from behind the counter loudly well, obviously I'm the number one guy. Well, first of all, it was two ladies. He used the term guy, he didn't say person, and he said I'm the number one person here. And the woman that I know turned. She goes okay, I'd be happy to do that, I'll go through you.

Speaker 1: 2:45

And it was some internal thing where you know he didn't want to be blindsided or didn't want people to do something arbitrarily on their own. I'm not really sure, to be honest, and I watched the facial expressions and the one woman who was not involved in the conversation raised her eyebrows when she heard him say obviously, I'm the number one guy. Think about that statement. Think about that statement. If you were one of two or three people and someone said well, I'm the number one person here and you're talking to other people or customers, that comment should never have been made. Then afterwards he said well, we're all doing a great job, you know we're all doing. I'm just so happy with the way things are going. And then he kind of countered his first message. So now it was a little bit inconsistent and clumsy and then it started the domino effect. So I got my hot chocolate. I pretended not to listen, I pretended not to react to it, and I got my hot chocolate and as I was walking out, I could see the two ladies whispering. He had left behind the counter, went in the back room and they started to whisper. They didn't turn their backs. You could see they were whispering. You could hear they were whispering. You couldn't hear them in their defense, but they were whispering.

Speaker 1: 4:05

Now, as you hear this narration of the story, it seems simple, right, it seems trite, doesn't seem like it's a big deal. Oh, I think it's going to be a huge deal, because here is a young guy, very clumsy-like, telling people I'm the most important person here, I'm the number one guy, and I sat there and I thought, wow, how would I have reacted to that? What was his point? Now, what could he have done differently? I think we all agree I wouldn't even give the solutions because, you know, quite frankly, he could have brought her back in the back room and said look, not trying to play the role of manager here. Yet, if you wouldn't mind, yes, I'd love to have it come through me.

Speaker 1: 4:47

Sometimes, if somebody asks me what's going on, I could be undermining your guy's work by not knowing, and I really want all of us to be a united front, or whatever the solution is. Yet he got amped up, emotional and said, obviously and this is verbatim, this is not my interpretation. Obviously, I'm the number one guy. So when I watched the reaction, when I heard the women whispering when I was walking out, that culture just changed instantly. And when you're in retail, you can't hide. It's tough. People are watching you as a customer, probably because my antenna is probably too high. Yeah, I was a little taken back. I was a little bit. Wow, I can't believe he said that. So, with that being said, I would just share with all of you that sometimes we make mistakes.

Speaker 1: 5:45

He realized, I think subconsciously, and I'm assuming, by saying, hey, I also think we're doing a great job also. He used the word also and I think that can be a mixed message right, it goes through me, but you're doing a great job. And it really undermined his leadership. And I could tell he was in a very reactive emotional state. You could tell because he was amped up, his blood pressure was up. You could tell because he was amped up, his blood pressure was up and he used language. You could just feel even other people in the coffee shop kind of cringe. Well, obviously I'm the number one guy. So sometimes when we observe, it teaches us so much. Have somebody, observe your people, not spy, just sit and absorb. It's one of the healthiest things that we can do.