Find What You’re Looking For
A few weeks ago, I was speaking to an audience of high-end landscape owners and leaders focusing on leadership growth and personal development. I discussed how each of us define our world by what we look for and expect to see. We can all learn something new and valuable, simply by watching/listening to someone other than ourselves.
As an example, I used Chick-fil-A. They do not compare themselves with other quick service companies. The CFA experience is different, so the founder, Truett Cathy, chose to watch/listen to leaders outside their industry. The Ritz Carlton resorts was one example of this.
Truett became interested in the Ritz Carlton because each time a customer expressed thanks for the service, the employee responded with “It’s my pleasure.” Truett liked that phrase and thought it put a fine point on the CFA experience. So, to this day, CFA employees do not respond to “Thank you” with “You’re welcome” or “No problem. We have all come to expect the CFA employee response to be “It’s my pleasure;” it is part of the CFA brand.
As a leader, Truett may never have learned this if he was not watching/listening to other leaders outside his industry. It is easy to compare your results with your peers, your competition and even your past work. Stepping outside our industry opens our eyes to new ways of doing our work with excellence. We just have to be willing to look, and listen, for it.
Go cultivate leaders!
Jeff
