“I would have fun with them on those spring mornings, the older ladies, dressed so nice for a Sunday outing at my little garden store. They would be clutching their purses as they bent down near the trays of yellow marigolds wishing them right along the borders of their welcoming sidewalk to their front doors. They greeted me as I passed with hose in hand pulling it carefully around them. I would stop short and grin broadly as I did each season on a May Sunday.
“Now ladies, I would say as I looked into their bright eyes, All winter long you have been reaching into that purse to give me a few of the coins you have collected. Now its spring and now it is time, Now, I would chuckle; it is time that I got all of the bills at the bottom of that purse.”
They would pull their purses close to their breasts and laugh heartily,
“Oh no, you are not getting any of them.”
The would leave happy with a cart full of our flowers and their dollars now in our pocket.
Nick Hudson
Former garden store owner
Signature Smiles
It is that welcome, that signature smile, that invitation to green garden gates that brings gardeners to our stores season after season. It is that ability to call upon our employees to look forward to an enjoyable working day. It is our store managers who set the stage for this delightful experience. This personal appeal cannot be learned. It is already part of a person. It is a special sense, an inborn ability to reach out to people and receive from people. It is the smile, the empathy, the sharing, the calming voice and eyes during the hectic hours of a springtime day. Above all, that is what we want.
Signature Leadership
In 1952, Les Schwab, the crusty old tire man, led his one store company with a small shed, a two-holer out back, and an outdoor pump for water, into the largest independent tire business in the
Les Schwab in his book, “Pride in Performance” sets down the leadership rules for his managers. We, at green garden gates believe in his model for leadership. Here is how Les Schwab wants his managers to perform in making all of their employees important.
1. Give them all the responsibility and authority that they can handle.
There are employees at garden stores who have the skills, experience and enthusiasm to contribute much more for their company than what they are assigned to do. For any number of reasons, jealousy, personality conflicts, different styles of leadership, they are ignored and relegated to dismal jobs way beneath their abilities. This is simply a waste. Managers must get over all of this, recognize the skills of the employee, and move them to a place where they are the most valuable to green garden gates.
2. Include employees in what’s going on
Because others have captured the title of “the deciders”, employees on the front lines of a business are often left in the dark in the process of decision making. Get them involved! Seek out their advice and council. The choice cannot be the best choice unless all of the people who place their hands on the problem each day are allowed to contribute.
3. Assign employees work which is important in their eyes, work that they can take pride in doing.
The kid that blows off the walks for the gardening customers is just as important as the accountant sitting in his shiny oak desk. Don’t forget it. Tell that kid. Make him understand that his pride in getting it clean and ready is a real contribution to the garden store.
4. Let them share the limelight now and then with you.
Don’t gather it up and keep it for yourself. Find the employees who really made the suggestion or completed the task and give them the credit.
5. Take a sincere interest in the employees as individuals
Find out what makes them tick, what has meaning for them in their lives. Explore and learn about them. Help them achieve their goals. Make their pathway smoother in their lives.
6. Never belittle or ridicule them
The surest way to lose employees is to make them small. The good ones will soon be gone and the store will be left with only the people who are forced to stay there and take the ridicule because they need the paycheck. STOP IT RIGHT NOW. If it is a bad day, take a breath and end it right there. Don’t let it spill down to the employees in your charge.
7. Ask and listen to his or her advice
Chances are the employee has a valuable answer. Go to them. Give them the problem and listen to their perspective. It could just save you much time and money.
8. Confide in them once in a while.
You will be amazed how much lighter you load can be if you share the problem with your employees, it is a team, this garden store. Remember that.
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