As a former multi-unit franchisee of Daily Queen restaurants, I’ve spent my fair share of time cleaning toilets. Why would the owner clean the toilets when you have employees to do that, you may ask? Well, I firmly believe two things when it comes to leading employees:
- Know Everyone’s Job, and
- Never Ask An Employee To Do Something You Wouldn’t Do Yourself.
You see, there are managers and there are leaders. I see a manager as a person who barks orders. They hold the title, but don’t always deserve the title of boss/manager/leader. I always chose to be a leader. I see a leader as the person who gets employees to do their job because they want to please their boss and do a good job for him/her. They don’t feel as if they are lesser than their boss, yet part of a team.
First, to gain my employees’ respect, I demonstrated that I knew how to do their job. I knew what it was like to work the fryers on a Friday night. I knew what it meant to put away a $8000 Sysco oder. I knew how to make mop water (and how to mop the floors). Knowing how to do their job made me more of an effective leader. I could correct them when they were doing the job inefficiently, and I knew when they were cutting corners.
Secondly, as a leader, I did not think that it was fair to ask an employee to do something that I wasn’t willing to do (or hadn’t done myself countless times). And yes, that even includes cleaning the toilets. My leadership style is leading from the trenches, not from the back office. I didn’t sit in my office sipping coffee while my employees closed and cleaned the store for the night. I picked up a towel, a mop, and yes even the toilet brush. It’s a fast way to gain the respect of your staff when you are willing to rub shoulders with them after a busy night of serving customers. They were just as tired as I was, and we ALL wanted to go home!
In this recent article titled What Bosses Should Never Ask Staffers To Do, the author describes 9 things that bosses should never use their power to do. As you can tell, my favorite is “Ask employees to do something they wouldn’t do.” I couldn’t agree more. Whether you lead a staff of fast food workers or accountants, are you willing to get into the trenches with them? If not, why?