Sheesh...where has this guy been you might be thinking? Obviously not providing new posts as much as I would like. Thanks for not jumping ship and we'll get back going here.....
Last week I was in one of my Starbucks offices cramming a few to-do's on the web. I really like to observe quality work environments and find the certain learning experiences that lie within them. You know, who stands out, who has the highest level of emotional intelligence, who smiles the most...pretty much who seems to lead the mood state? Well, in Starbucks case...it's more like who ALL leads the mood state because it is likely to be more than one person who help create the extraordinary environment they are known for. There was one particular young lady...we will call her Jamie. You see Jamie was creating a rock show of leadership and customer service. She was enthusiastic, smiling, productive and attentive to many more details than she had to be. Oh yes, the partners working with her were quite appreciative of her as well. They shared laughter, efficiency and passion was prevalent.
Within my 1.5 hours in the store, the district manager comes by and he as expected is conducting business with the partners in the store, checking on things as you would imagine and fielding a call with what sounded to be uber corporate. Not a bad guy, but something was not right with him.... for all I know he may have been having a tragically grum day. One minute he was trying very hard to seem authentic, the next it was just drab and no not once did I see him smile at a customer. Very inconsistent with his tone is my diagnosis. Well - it went toxic.
District Manager (call him Bil)....Bil calls Jamie from behind the counter to talk with her and to his credit he does spend a moment connecting nicely with her and a smile nearly cracked through (almost dude!). Jamie was receptive and respectful as you would expect from her towards her boss or anyone for that matter based on my observations of her leadership. Bill proceeded her to go and take a look at the front display because "it looks Horrible!"....whoa Big Bill--- watch your mouth! I watched the color in Jamie's face go from vibrant to vile and the mood state dropped to a frigid temperature. Bill continued on with his disruption amongst the crew. He never dropped another nasty negative, but his presence sunk the place.
As a leader at Bill's level - do you have moments where your word choice stands to shatter the positive mood state of the environment you are responsible for? If you have an issue, present your thoughts in a manner that is more respectful than say "horrible" and do not lay the egg of conducting this conversation with Jamie in earshot of your customers or anyone for that matter.
I would have taken Jamie to the dabbling display and asked her how we can make this look extraordinary so it matches the excellence in witch she is doing things already? I could have done this with confidence because I was paying attention to the environment she was creating....not looking for the worst.
My extra advice to the Bill's (no offense if your name is Bill): Read the preface and first seven pages of Primal Leadership by Dr. Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Anne McKee. Especially this excerpt:
"Understanding the powerful role of emotions in the workplace sets the best leaders apart from the rest- not just in tangibles such as better business results and the retention of talent, but also in the all important intangibles, such as higher morale, motivation, and commitment. This emotional task of the leader is Primal---that is, first---in two senses: It is both the original and most important act of leadership."
And yes: Watch your Language...
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