John Hersey Leadership Blog

A few years ago, Randall was the general manager for a restaurant chain.  One time, he and the other managers were having a meeting in one of the restaurants that had just been remodeled.  There was a table with some papers and a bottle of ink on top, and everyone was just hanging around, talking and having a good time.

At one point, Randall’s boss pulled him aside to speak to him about a possible candidate for general manager; the person was currently an assistant manager.  This young man was very good at organizing schedules, food orders, sanitation, and staffing, nevertheless, Randall felt there was something he lacked.  His boss kept asking Randall for specifics so as to not consider this person as an option, but Randall was not sure why he didn’t consider this employee worthy of a promotion, he just felt he was not a leader.

Right that minute, someone knocked the bottle of ink off the table, and everyone witnessed how it hit the new carpet and rolled under the table leaving a dreadful dark blue stain.  Immediately, one general manager got down on his hands and knees and crawled under the table to get the bottle; he just did it without giving it a second thought.  This man was big, he was around 300 pounds, but still, he never hesitated. He got the bottle of ink even knowing that there were others there for whom it would have been much easier to do.

Right then, Randall knew what his hesitation about the general manager candidate was.  He turned to his boss and said: “this person would not have gotten the bottle of ink”.  He would have asked someone else to do it, even if he had been alone in the room at the time.  He was not willing to do what he asked others to do.

Clearly it is not a manager’s job to do the cleaning; he must let others do that so that he can focus on the customers, but in a crowded restaurant sometimes managers must get involved in the operation to get things done, because there isn’t anyone else.  Managing a restaurant is more than walking around asking clients if they enjoyed the meal. Managers must be willing to get their hands ‘dirty’ if necessary.  Randall recalled how he had washed dishes for days after a dishwasher didn’t show up and until he found another one.  He didn’t like it, but it was necessary.

After thinking about it for a while, Randall’s boss agreed that he could not recall a time when this person had done a less than pleasant task. Needless to say, he never got promoted.  This episode was so remarkable that it was discussed at every manager’s meeting from then on.

A true leader picks up the bottle of ink.
If you want people to follow you, pick up the bottle.
If you want to inspire others, pick up the bottle.
If you want to be trusted with the big things, do the little things.

Randall spent lots of time working on the little things to help his employees, and they did much more for him.  He always found someone to cover for a sick colleague, in fact, before accepting, employees asked who the manager was for the shift. If it was someone who was not very respected, they said no, but Randall always got a yes.

A leader leads by example; you cannot expect others to do what you are not willing to do yourself, so, next time a bottle of ink is knocked off the table, get down and pick it up!

Become the Leader Your Company Needs. Get My 6 FREE Leadership Videos Here: www.JohnHersey.com

Sophocles once said: “It can be no dishonor to learn from others when they speak good sense”, and leaders know that’s true.  The best-kept secret of leaders is that they all have had at least one mentor who has taken them far ahead in their success.  It could take decades to become successful in a given field, however a mentor can help you get there much faster.

Through his experience, advice, and support, a mentor can help you avoid the most common mistakes when striving for success; he helps you get over the most difficult of problems, and teaches you shortcuts to reach your goals.

You can get a mentor at any time during your career; the thing is that you should get one, because he will prove immensely valuable in helping you build leadership skills like decision making, strategic thinking, planning, coaching, and managing people.  Mentors are also great sources of wisdom, they will teach you lessons on persistence, determination, on surrounding yourself with the strongest people you can find, on the truth about the business- the first sale triggers it all, on what fights are worth fighting and are yours to solve, and on the importance of quality in every sense, to name just a few.

You may not know what you have to learn next to get you higher up, but someone who has already been there most certainly does.  The choice of the right mentor can decide your future.

And, how do you get a mentor?  Identify within your field four successful leaders who have retired within the past two to five years.  Write these four persons a short letter expressing your genuine respect for their careers, and mention specific achievements that have inspired you.  Following, ask for advice on your career.  Invite them to lunch or ask for a quick call, but don’t offer them money for their help… not yet.  Most probably, one of them will accept your invitation and will take the time to talk to you.  If you like each other, you have found a mentor.

You should work on a list of the goals you want to work with your mentor.  What do you want from him?  What is it that you have to learn?  What can he teach you?  You should monitor your progress so as to get the best out of your time with him.

You and your mentor have a learning relationship.  He is your learning coach and you should be able to talk to him freely, because you trust him and his advice, feedback, and support.  He will help you focus on your goals and direct you towards success faster.

Your mentor will tell you which skills are most valuable in your field, and will advise you on business opportunities and different ways to succeed; however, he will not tell you how to do your job.  He is there to guide you, give you feedback, and share his experience, but you will have the last word as to what to do in a given situation.  He will not have all the answers, but he can advise you to the best of his knowledge so that you can find the way.

The relationship with your mentor must be cared for.  You have to acknowledge his value and reward him for it.  Remember that in the long run, your career will be very much affected, in a positive way, by his support.  Thank him regularly for his help and time, tell him what you have learned from him, and finally, offer to pay for his advice.  You should pay him what you feel is appropriate and what you can afford, but never less than what he thinks is fair.

You can also get more than one mentor, and it will skyrocket your experience.  With multiple mentors, you can compare points of view and ideas from various experts, as well as learn what is definitely one of the greatest secrets of success: that your ideas may not always be the best.

Become the Leader Your Company Needs. Get My 6 FREE Leadership Videos Here: www.JohnHersey.com

Many of the top magazines and newspapers hire inexperienced writers to write about business topics, and although it is understandable that these publications hire young people, some of the information and advice out there is plain wrong.  In many cases, these don’t match what truly experienced and successful business people have gone through, and the problem may reside in the process.

Secondhand information gets misunderstood, oversimplified, and it is vague; it is cleaned up, edited, and adorned.  In many cases, the people being interviewed are to blame; they are experts who want to make their teams stand out.

Good business writers identify an interesting and good idea, and know how to present it in a clear and persuasive way, period.  This being said, we have to say that there are many misunderstandings out there about what leadership is, and if you pay attention to them, you can harm your business in a serious way.

Here are two common ideas of what leadership is, that are definitely wrong… any true leader will tell you so:

1.    Leadership is about being ‘soft’
You read it all the time; that a good leader should listen to his employees, share his feelings with them, and be open to their ideas, no matter how bad they are, otherwise, business is dead.  Today’s business leadership arena is presented as one where employees want to be listened to; they want to contribute to decisions and give creative solutions.

As truly experienced leaders will tell you, the opposite of this is completely true.  Employees want leadership, meaning they want someone to solve the problems and provide clear direction.  Leaders are paid a lot of money to do just that, make tough decisions and get the job done.  Obviously, a leader must be open to ideas, and should communicate and pay attention to his employees, but he has the last word on the direction the company takes and the way to get there.

In order to do this, a person must have vision, knowledge, skills, and great ideas, but above all, he must know how to make others support his ideas and work to make them a reality, even if he is criticized or opposed.  And the way to do this is by making the work valuable.

2.    Leadership allows for participation over sharing a vision
The idea is that when establishing goals, a leader must focus on encouraging employees’ participation instead of on creating a plan for better business.

A true leader can delegate a lot of work if he has the best people around him, but he can never let another person establish the goals and create the vision.  The leader is the only one who knows what the business can accomplish, how far it can go, and how great it can be; this is his most important job.  He can ask questions and he can look for advice, but in the end, he decides where the business is going and what he wants to achieve.  After everything is clear, the leader can share his vision.

This is not easy to do.  True leaders have the blessing of knowing how to create and communicate their vision in an inspiring way.  They are able to communicate to others the value of the work being done; they make others understand that what they are doing is good.

In order to be a leader, you have to take the time to think about how you can make things better, and make people believe in the good behind your ideas.  Only then, will employees feel honored to work for you; you become powerful and meaningful.  You possess authority and influence; and it is a responsibility as much as an honor.  True leadership changes lives, all you have to do is define a worthy vision and inspire others to work with you to make it a reality.

Become the Leader Your Company Needs. Get My 6 FREE Leadership Videos Here: www.JohnHersey.com