Next Level Blog

Recovering from a Bobby Jindal Moment

OK, so you know your big speech didn’t go so well when, the next day, you’re being compared in a side by side screen shot with Kenneth the NBC page from 30 Rock.  That’s the situation for Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal who gave the televised GOP response to President Obama’s non-State of the Union address on Tuesday night.   Roundly panned for lack of substance, condescending tone and robotic body language, Jindal (who everyone agrees is a really smart guy), responded to the criticism by immediately leaving for Disney World.

I’m not joking. 

What would have been a more productive response on his part?

A Leadership Stimulus Package

One of my favorite questions to ask an audience of leaders is, “How many of you, when you look back on your careers, can identify a time when your development as a leader was super saturated?  Was there an event or an assignment or a crisis when you had to step up and, in the process, really grew?”  Usually, every hand in the room will go up.  Every leader has had at least one of those experiences.

Well, with about 800 billion dollars of stimulus getting ready to flow through government programs and into the economy, a whole lot of leaders in federal and state government agencies are about to get the biggest development experience of their careers.

Don't Choke!

One of my favorite leadership thinkers is a guy who writes about golf for the Wall Street Journal.  This weekend, John Paul Newport wrote about what frequently happens when players are under pressure.  They choke. 

More Than Your Job

A few weeks ago, I was speaking to a group of regional CEO’s.  The group was small enough that afterwards, we were able to sit around a couple of tables and talk about some of the issues they’re facing.  One woman, a hospital CEO, seemed to speak for many of her colleagues when she talked about the pressure that came with such a visible position in the community. Everyone there had their own version of that story.

It reminded me of a story that I shared with the group. Several years ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to hear Bill Russell deliver keynote remarks at a conference I was attending. 

And Your Name Is?

Last weekend I had a long lunch with Ty Neal, a business leader who is also one of my best friends since second grade.  He shared a personal story with me that is a great example of the impact and footprint that leaders can have without even realizing it.  I texted Ty earlier today to get his permission to share the story with you.  He’s good with it, so here it is.

Ty is the co-owner of a very successful brick oven pizza and bistro restaurant called Matchbox.  In five years, he and his partners have built two Matchbox locations in DC – (one in Penn Quarter and another on Capitol Hill) and another in Palm Springs, CA.  With great pizza, awesome mini-burgers and a eclectic wine and beer list, Matchbox is always packed with happy customers.

With success has come rapid growth and the Matchbox team now numbers 250 employees across the three locations.  Ty and his partners are hands-on owners and leaders and are regularly in the restaurants working with the staff and mingling with the guests. For the past month or so, Ty has been talking and working with a new server named Kevin.  Ty’s a friendly guy and interacts with people easily and Kevin is no exception.  The only problem is that his name’s not Kevin, it’s Eric.  Ty told me how embarrassed he was to recently learn that he’d been calling Eric by the wrong name for a month.

“So, Ty told me, I went to him and said, ‘Dude, I’m so sorry, I’ve been calling you Kevin and I found out your name is Eric.   Why didn’t you correct me and tell me the right name?’”  Eric replied, “Well, I figured you’re my boss and I work for you and I didn’t have any place correcting you.  You could have called me whatever you wanted and I would have been OK with that.”

Here’s the leadership footprint moment.  Ty extended his hand to Eric and said, “Eric, my name is Ty and I’m pleased to meet you.  I will never forget your name.  And, while I’m the owner, I’m not your boss.  No one is the boss of you but you.  And please don’t say you work for me.  I work here too and we work with each other.”

Needless to say that made an impression on Eric and now he’s regularly approaching Ty with energetic reports on how things are going and ideas for improving the operation.  Eric came to Matchbox from a well known national restaurant chain and is so happy with his new gig that he’s brought  five more server friends of his from the old place with him to Ty’s place.  Who says it’s hard to find good help?

There are multiple opportunities every day to stop and connect with the people who work with us on our teams.  If you stop and acknowledge the person by making a sincere connection you earn loyalty and passion that can’t be bought.  If you want to see it in action, head over to Matchbox for lunch or dinner and ask for Eric.  Be sure to tell Ty I sent you.