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The “IT” Factor

Have you ever been around someone that just has the “it” factor?  It seems like others flock towards these types of leaders.  The real question is what is the “it” factor and how can we all get better at developing our own unique “it” factor?

  • I feel that people can have the “it” factor in many different forms but at the end of the day, I believe that the “it” factor is simply making others feel great about themselves and helping others succeed.  Usually the people full of personality make others feel better about themselves when they are in their company because they are usually up beat and happy.  We have talked before about how important it is to build relationships with the people you are trying to lead.  Management turns into true leadership when a relationship is formed.  This is when people want to follow you instead of when people feel they have to follow you.  It is the soft skills of leadership that will either take you down or raise you up to the next level of leadership.
  • Here are a few adjectives that I feel describe people that have the “it” factor: leader, trust, self confident, firm, clear, safe, understanding, inspirational, encouraging, self esteem, loyal and one that inspires action.  Here a few words that I think kill the “it” factor: ego, pride, not being humble, being a know it all, judging, demeaning, always having an excuse and always having to be right. 
  • The good news is that your brain can get rewired if you are willing to feed it differently.  What you focus on is typically what will improve.  Here a few ways I feel that we can all work on developing our own unique “it” factor.
  • 1. Get to know little things about others.  Once a week ask everyone on the shift a question that is not work related to get to know more about them and start to build the relationship.  People’s favorite subject is usually themselves, their least favorite is usually you. 
  • 2. When someone shares a story, don’t try to one up them.  Truly listen and then ask them 1 follow up question to dig a little deeper, this will make someone feel that you really are listening and that you truly do care about what they are saying.
  • 3. Write down one thing that you are grateful for everyday.  After a few months, this one step can help rewire your ideas and thought process.
  • 4.  Say a sincere, specific thank you to someone every day.  If possible thank the person in front of others as well.  People tend to remember how you make them feel more than what you actually say.  I have learned this the hard way with my daughters. 
  • 5. Be consistent and communicate often.  The two worst things you can do to kill your “it” factor is to be all over the place to where people are afraid to approach you and to make others try to read your mind.  The more clear and consistent you can be, the more likely other people will reach the goals you set out which leads to a better relationship.
  • 6. No complaining rule.  Don’t complain about things around others that you are trying to lead.  I remember Zig Ziglar saying that the problem with a pity party is that too many people show up and no one brings a gift. 
  • 7. Don’t speak poorly of others.  Always try to build others up, don’t tear them down in front of others.  Other people listening will start to wonder what you say about them behind their back. 
  • The only way to really stir up someone’s soul is through a human connection and building a real relationship where you care about the other person’s success as much as or more than your own. 
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It’s Not My Job

As we built our latest Culver’s restaurant there was a saying I heard too many times to count during the construction process.  “It’s not my job”.  On our next store I want to build a clause into the contract that charges our builder $100 every time I hear a worker say this statement.  The word accountability seems to have been erased from the dictionary over the past decade.  There were a few times where the people spent more time arguing about who’s job it was than it would have taken to simply do the item in question. 

  • When you are in the service business, as we are, everything is your job.  Our number one job is to serve others.  This means the customers, our coworkers and even the vendors that supply services to us.  Once you believe that statement, you will realize that you succeed even more as others around you succeed.  You will begin to realize that it may not technically be our job but it is our responsibility and quite frankly our privilege to serve others.  We need to build a culture where everyone knows that everything is everyone’s job.  It will be noticeable from our team members all the way to our guests if we all take on this level of accountability.  It is very hard to fake service.  It is easy to tell when people truly have a heart to serve others. 
  • Too many times people try to focus on becoming a person of success vs. a person of value.  Once you realize that the more value you can bring to others through serving others the more success that will naturally follow.  Serving others comes down to adding value.  When you are in any organization and you want to move up you need to add more value to those around you.  Whenever I look at promoting someone I ask the simple question: do they add value to the organization and help us move towards our mission?   
  • In closing remember that we as leaders set the standard.  If we make everything part of our job others will follow.  If our company coat of arms point at each other, others will also follow. 
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$2000 Empowerment

I was listening to an interview with Horst Schulze, the CEO of the Ritz Carlton and he really inspired me to think about our organization.  One thing the company stressed whenever a new person came onboard was that the person was “selected”, not hired.  It made an every day position feel special.  He also made the point that the goal of every team member whenever they came in contact with a guest was to get that guest to return.  That is the #1 objective of everyone in the building, to make the experience so great that the guest cannot wait to return.  He mentioned that every team member is empowered to correct or fix any situation to make the guest happy up to $2,000.  Can you imagine every team member being able to say they have that kind of latitude?  That really takes our motto of it takes two people to say no but only one to say yes to another level.     

  • He mentioned that as an organization they have 24 key points / values which everyone in every hotel around the world reviews each day.  Every day they review 1 key point and set a daily goal for everyone that works to achieve that 1 value.  They do this every day of the year, once they get through all 24 they restart from the beginning.  This got me thinking about how we could use some of our SERVE core values and Rules of the Bus on a daily basis for our shift goals.  I think it would be pretty cool to continue building our culture daily by reviewing some of our key points.

Below is a sample of what the next 10 days could look like:

  • 1. Core Value #1 is to serve others and to create loyal, raving fans.  Ask the team to give you 1 example of how they went about creating a loyal, raving fan today.  Ask them if they learned a new guest’s name.
  • 2. Core Value #2 is empowerment.  We all have the power to make someone’s day a little brighter.  Challenge every team member to try to make someone’s day today.  Maybe it is a surprise and delight by offering 1 guest a free sundae.  Maybe it’s helping a fellow team member to do a difficult task. 
  • 3. Core Value #3 is renowned cleanliness.  The store may be clean but does it sparkle?  Ask each team member to make one part of the store “sparkle” and have them show you before they leave for the day.
  • 4. Core Value #4 is having a 360 degree view.  Challenge the team to look for a way to help out in another part of the store.  Have them watch during the shift for a time when a certain area gets busy and have them float over to help. 
  • 5. Core Value #5 is teamwork.  Tell every team member that before they clock out you want them to tell you of at least 1 time today when they helped out a fellow team member. 
  • 6. Create the Wow!  Print out a copy of the Wow! worksheet and have every team member focus on 1 item from that sheet today in their specific station.   
  • 7. One of our rules of the bus is to smile.  Challenge the team to try to get at least 3 other people to smile today.  Smiles are contagious and people can hear the smile in your voice.
  • 8. Another one of our rules of the bus is to choose a positive attitude.  Challenge everyone on shift to have a positive attitude and set a challenge of no one complaining for the entire day.
  • 9. Be grateful.  Encourage everyone on the team to say a specific thank you to someone today.  The more detailed your thank you is, the more impact it has on the other person.
  • 10. We should all have the opportunity to learn and grow each day.  Challenge everyone to try to learn 1 new thing today.  Maybe it is the kitchen person learning how to scoop 1 dish of custard.  This only takes a few minutes but it can make people feel more valuable. 
  • I think that if we keep our core values and ideals front and center, we can achieve and maintain a culture of greatness.  The more we can challenge each other to continually raise our standards, the better we will become as an organization. 
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The Hard Choices

The statement about hire slow and fire fast has been around for ages and most of us in a leadership position can say that we all agree with the idea.  Even though we all may say we believe this statement we need to ask ourselves if we really live by these words.  Last week I talked about the article written by Eddie Jackson that talked about how Alabama football stays at such a high level every year.  This article made me look at all of my teams and ask the following question: who is raising the bar and who is lowering the bar on the team?

  • Most of our team members come into their job with a great attitude and a desire to succeed.  Not all of them, but I believe that this statement is true more often than not.  It is interesting (sad) to see this level of excitement slowly fade away at some stores.  Our retention and growth of our newest team members can really be a true reflection of how our long term team members treat their daily tasks.  Over the past couple of years we have tried to pair up all of our team members with mentors.  Our hope was that not only would new team members feel more welcomed but existing team members would also have a direct line of communication with leadership.  Looking back at the past year I can say that we didn’t fully embrace this ideal.  Even though we didn’t have 100% commitment for the entire year we did see some wins and loses along the way.  We did notice some trends with certain leaders and how many people that they were mentoring had either moved up or moved out of the organization. 
  • This brings me to the main point of today’s post.  One of the hardest decisions we have to make in any company is to let someone go.  Typically the longer the person is in our organization the harder that action becomes.  It is sometimes our veteran team members that we feel that we cannot live without so we let them get away with actions that we would stop immediately in a new team member.  The problem is that once we accept certain behavior from our veteran team members, the newer team members learn this is how we do things.  This attitude can spiral out of control if it is not addressed quickly and convincingly.  Performing a life raft exercise at least once a quarter is a good way to evaluate who is really part of your inner circle.  List all of your team members on a piece of paper and then pretend that they were all floating in the ocean and you drove the life raft.  Who would you pick up, in what order and why.  Is there someone that you would not pick up?  Sometimes we get too comfortable in our daily flow and are afraid of the change that will come with letting someone go.  At the end of the day we will experience much longer pain by keeping the wrong people in the company versus the short term pain of letting the wrong people go.  Think about how much time and energy the wrong people can take from you, imagine if you put that same time and energy into the right people that always move your team forward.    
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Inspiration From a Broken Leg

I was sent the following article written by Eddie Jackson and I was inspired to write a post on a few key points.  Eddie Jackson was the starting safety and punt returner for the Crimson Tide this year.  During a return, he broke his leg and has been out for the season.  I was very surprised to read this amazing article that really spoke to the culture of Alabama football and Nick Saban. 

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/eddie-jackson-alabama-football-to-my-brothers/

  • The first point I want to talk about is how Eddie makes the comment that at Alabama you are either teaching or learning – always.  The veterans use practice to teach the younger players and help them get better.  Yes, the coaches also coach but having the individual team members helping elevate the younger team members is one of the keys to their success.  Think about your day at work, is everyone either teaching or learning?  Are you as a leader spending your time both teaching and learning?  Any idle time or missed opportunity to either teach someone how to do something better or to learn something new yourself is wasted time that you cannot get back.  As I have talked about before, you can either spend your time or invest your time.  Never waste a chance to help someone improve.  If you see it, say it.  
  • The second point he makes ties into this in the fact that the reason the Alabama program remains great is because the players live up to the standards of the players that have come before them.  Think about your current team and the positions at your company.  Do we have the right people leading the correct way in those positions so the newer team members live up to the standards we want to see?  As new team members observe our existing team members, they learn what is both expected as well as accepted.  Ask yourself what is expected as well as accepted from all of your key positions.  As you pair up new team members with mentors make sure that it is someone whose actions you want replicated.   
  • The third point also ties into the first two. He mentions that everyone on the team demands the best out of each other.  Imagine a team culture where each team member helps hold everyone else accountable.  As I have touched on in many posts, accountability is one of the keys to our success.  He mentions that the accountability is so high that people who don’t fit in don’t last in the organization.  It doesn’t matter how many stars they have or what position they play, they are all held to the same high standard.  Who sets the bar at your company?  Do others help keep the bar up high or do they try to lower it along the way?  How do you stay on top as long as Alabama?  Everyone around you keeps raising the bar! 
  • I know that Nick Saban is always credited for the process but it sure is inspiring to see how the process is living, breathing and morphing into the teams’ DNA along the way.  Remember to keep the standards high and to always be either teaching or learning every day!
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Will 2017 be a good year for YOU?

new-year-blog                                        A few years back I read a book “One Word That Will Change Your Life” by Jon Gordon and Jimmy Page.  This one idea has been very impactful to me personally as well as professionally over the past few years.  The concept is that you choose 1 word to try and live your life towards during the year.  In 2016 my 1 word was “intentional”.  Every action that I took during the year I would try measure up to see if it was helping me be more intentional.  With the help of the Freedom Journal written by John Lee Dumas and my daily journal using workflowy I was able to accomplish so much more this year than in years past.  The key was that I really had to make choices and be intentional with my time.  Every time we say yes to something we are actually saying no to something else.  If you want to learn more about “one word” & “Jon Gordon” search for it on youtube. 

  • I heard a quote by John Quincy Adams the other day that boiled down leadership into 1 sentence.  “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”  That pretty much sums up our job as a leader in a nut shell.  Given this definition it doesn’t even take a title to be a great leader.  Think back to a time where you felt you worked or played for a great leader.
  • The worst thing a leader can do to try and attain long term success is to use the power of their position to get people to follow.  This is a leadership shortcut designed for those that do not want to take the time to build relationships along the way.  This may work for a short time but this type of leadership is not sustainable.  The number 1 step to being a successful leader is that you must care.  You need to care about yourself, you need to care about the purpose and most importantly you need to care about the people you are trying to lead.   
  • The other interesting point about the quote by Adams is that he uses the words “your actions” to start the whole quote.  This may sound subtle but notice he didn’t say your words.  The leader has to be setting the example to get 100% buy in from the team.   
  • As I look forward to 2017 I have put quite a bit of thought into the one word that I will try to base my life around.  I have decided that my one word for 2017 will be inspire.  I really feel that this one word hits both my personal as well as my professional goals for 2017.  As I continue to write this blog I hope it can inspire some of you along the way.  Feel free to reply with your “one word” for 2017. 
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Embrace the Suck

army-soldier-iraq-795439-hFor some reason this military term has hit home over the past couple of weeks with our new store opening.  As with any new business we are crazy busy and most team members have been employed for only a few shifts.  As hard as we try to get every order correct we do sometimes fall short and make a few mistakes.  As the phone rings during the first couple of weeks we all cringe as we answer it.  We are all hoping it will be a “are you open” call vs. a “you got my order wrong” phone call.  We all tend to shy away from even wanting to answer the phone at times. 

  • I believe that this is the time it is even more important than ever to look forward to answering the phone to gain as much feedback as we can from our guests so we can correct any training opportunities moving forward.  I always believe it is easier to retain a guest than it is to acquire a new one.  So many companies spend more money on getting new customers instead of placing those same resources in keeping their current ones.  By embracing the suck as they say we can learn a lot from our business.  Sometimes when we are in the business every day we fail to see it from the lens of the guest.
  • I have found that some of our most loyal guests at one point had an issue and it was how we resolved the situation that turned them into a loyal, raving fan of Culver’s.  Culver’s does not compete price wise with other fast food options but our secret weapon is our level of service.  This is why we must go out of our way to be different and embrace those opportunities to improve.  Smart competitors can steal everything we do except how much we love our customers.  By creating a relationship with our guests we set ourselves apart from our competition.  The best way to build a relationship with the guest is to be present and engaged during your shift and be available to the guest as much as possible. 
  • I read a statistic the other day that mentioned that 80% of companies surveyed said that they give superior customer service, yet only 10% of customers surveyed said that was the case.  This is where we as the company need to really ask and then listen to the guest.  In the past, most complaints were made in private, today, customer service has become a spectator sport.  Customer service is one of the new forms of marketing.  Embrace every opportunity to turn a complaint into a loyal raving fan of your business and remember that we are always on stage! 
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Seasons of your life.

Seasons of your life

  • The last couple of weeks I didn’t get a blog post up.  As some of you know we are in the process of opening our 3rd Culvers in AZ.  We had our grand opening last week and we exceeded our expectations.  As I am working crazy hours and people ask how do you do it, I am reminded that we all go through various seasons of our lives.  There are times when work comes first and there are times when family comes first.  I am very thankful that my family understands what it really takes to get a new store open and how much they support me along the way.  It may be a couple of months of crazy but that pace doesn’t last forever.  As Dave Ramsey says, “you have to live like no one else so later in life you can live like no one else.”  This is what always drives me to do better and achieve as much as I can, trying to build a better life and change my family tree along the way.  I always have felt that work life balance is misunderstood.  I believe that you need to give 100% focus and attention to the main task at hand.  The key is that even if you spend 80 hours at work and only 20 hours at home awake during the week make those hours at both places count.  Be intentional and give 100% in both places.  When you get to the season of your life when you are able to spend more time with your friends and family make those count as much as possible.  I heard a comment the other day that we all have 168 hours in a week and we either invest those hours by being intentional and doing something important or we spend or waste those hours on tasks that have no real significance.  Ask yourself over the next couple of days if you are investing your time or spending your time.  Thank you to everyone who helps me invest my time on a daily basis to become a better version of myself!    
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What can our business learn from the election?

After watching the election results last night, one theme kept popping up.  America seems tired of the establishment.   People wanted to make their voices heard.  People are frustrated and feel that the leaders are not leading. 

  • From a business point of view we need to ask ourselves if we are really aware and listening to the needs of our team members?  As the leaders in our store it is up to us to engage every team member on every shift to ensure that the overall team happiness level continues to rise.  It is our combined job as a leadership team to do this together.  We all must be the blow torch on our shift and bring the energy level up.  The energy level in the store usually starts with you!  Even if it is lowered by someone else it is up to you to change the temperature.  We have talked before about being the thermostat but it bears repeating.  As leaders we must set the temperature and not react to a negative feel.  We all must be consistent and we all must deliver the same message every shift so there is no confusion on the overall vision. 
  • Here is one question to ask every team member on your team.  Do you love coming to work?  If they say no or not really, ask why.  Find out what we can do to make Culver’s a better place to work.  We have the ultimate power to create the type of workplace that we want to achieve.  If the team doesn’t love coming to work it is a reflection of our leadership.  Given the current increase coming to minimum wage for AZ the battle for great team members is going to be tougher than ever.  Our best strategy is to retain as many team members as we can.  It will be much easier to retain 80% of our team than it will be to hire multiple new workers. 
  • The answer to retaining team members is that we need to have a better culture in our workplace than anywhere else.  Peter Drucker once said “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” 
  • We all need to work on creating a great team culture every shift.   
    • Talk to the team members every day.
    • Build a personal relationship with the team members.
    • Set shift goals / praise accomplishments.
    • Communicate our expectations clearly and often.
    • Hand out our scoop cards every shift.
    • Keep the energy level up.  Be the blow torch, not the candle!
  • Remember our mission statement: “Everyone that chooses Culver’s leaves haply!”  This means our team members as well.  Do our team members leave work happy every day? 
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Choose your words wisely!

Choose your words wisely was a saying that I have heard people say ever since I was a little boy.  The real meaning behind words seems to become more clear to me every year.  The impact that certain words can have on others can be immeasurable.  Today I wanted to focus on a few words that we often times hear and use in the workplace. 

  • Fine.  At work, the real meaning of fine is that something is wrong but I don’t really want to talk about it.  When you ask a guest how their meal was and they say “fine” we should follow up with a question.  One great question is: what is one thing we could have done better today?  When you ask a team member how a project is going and they say fine, this is a red flag.  We need to ask them to explain in detail what they have accomplished or what still needs to be done.  When you ask a team member how they are doing and they say “fine” this is a cue that they want to say more.  Most of the time team members do not want to start a difficult conversation so they will throw out a fine or ok.  This is an indicator for us to dig deeper.  One of the best phrases to use is “tell more about ..” to get people to open up a bit. 
  • Unacceptable.  This word is one that is often misused in business.  So many leaders throw this word around as a semi threat to the team but then when the behavior happens again they don’t have any consequences, thus making the behavior acceptable.  Once the team realizes that any behavior is acceptable, they will not have any real internal pull to do what the leader is asking.  If you say something is unacceptable and then you hand out a severe consequence in response to the behavior, it lets everyone know what unacceptable really means to you. 
  • Get to vs. Have to.  I know I touched on this point before but I wanted to revisit the concept of mindset.  How you approach every situation with a particular mindset can determine the outcome of that situation even before it begins.  By approaching the situation with a “get to” mindset it turns the situation into an opportunity.  By approaching the situation with a “have to” mindset it turns the situation into a chore.  It is amazing how much more enjoyable situations can be if your mind thinks that you are looking forward to them vs. putting them off and feeling like you shouldn’t even be in that situation. 
  • Can’t vs. Won’t.  This is always the bottom line I try to reach with team members when they do not follow directions.   The first question to ask yourself is if you were clear.  If you were, then ask the team member to repeat back what they thought the directions were?  This clears up any potential issue where the team member can say a second time that they didn’t know.  We are now at a point where I have to ask if there is some reason you “can’t” perform the task or if you are simply saying that you “won’t” perform the task?  Give them the opportunity to choose either “can’t” or “won’t” and then dig into either answer to try and get a better result in the future.
  • I vs. We.  There are times in business where we need to use the word “I” and there are other times where we need to use the word “we”.  The most important time to use the word I is when you screw up and hold yourself accountable for not getting something done.  It is very easy to say we didn’t do something but this is when it is most critical to say I didn’t do something.  On the other hand when it comes to praise and accomplishment we should use the word “we” as much as we can.  It makes everyone feel like part of the team when the leader points out to others that we accomplished something together.  Please realize how much “I” and “we” can hurt others when used in reverse. 
  • No problem vs. My pleasure.  Chick-Fil-A was one of the first companies to really perfect the use of my pleasure.  What a difference a slight change of words makes in customer service.  I get so frustrated when a team member says “no problem”.  It shouldn’t be a problem at all if it is part of your job description.  The phrase “my pleasure” really conveys that your number one priority is indeed the guest.  It is almost like thanking the guest for asking you to do something. 
  • To tell you the truth.  I had to throw this in as I have a vivid memory of the president of a billion dollar company respond to someone that said this in a meeting once.  He simply said “I guess everything else you have been saying up to this point has been a lie.” 
  • Take a look at the words you use on a daily basis and try to spot some that don’t have the best effect on the situation.  The life changer for me was to stop saying “have to” and start using “get to” more frequently.  It put me in a position of feeling like I was in control of the situation and it was up to me to make the situation improve.