Enliven Daily

“I can be on time tomorrow but you’ll still be stupid”

This has been a very hectic week as I did not do an entry yesterday and will also not have one on Thursday as I am traveling.  Two stories caught my eye last night and this morning and they are related to people’s livelihood – their jobs.  In both cases, there are leaders (bosses or management) who felt their employees need to be reprimanded or even fired for their actions.  (Click Here) to read about the singing Burger King employee and then (Click Here) for the air traffic controller who brought his kid to work.

I leave tomorrow for New York to teach two days worth of classes on leadership and management to supervisors and managers.  The first thing we talk about is the difference between these two roles (leading and managing) and then we talk about what is the key to being an effective leader.  Anyone can manage as it is mostly about processing work.  But leadership is a talent and although some are natural at it, many need to learn the skills and techniques in order to get people to follow.  It all comes down to how well you can motivate and inspire others.  Although there is certain skill sets needed to possess or acquire, there are two that either you have or you do not and I cannot teach them to you.  They are common sense and being genuine.

The air traffic controller case is a tough one as it can be dangerous but I have to believe that there was not any as the pilots were all comfortable with it.  But nonetheless, when leaders get nervous, despite how well an employee may have performed over the year, the easiest thing to do is discipline.  Good luck with inspiring this guy as well as future controllers.

Burger King leadership is flat-out morons.  Here is Burger King’s response from corporate headquarters:

"Burger King has established high service standards and procedures so that each restaurant guest has a fast and friendly dining experience. Our team members are trained on proper customer service etiquette designed to deliver a professional and pleasant experience. Furthermore, we expect our team members to follow these customer service guidelines."

“Proper customer service etiquette to deliver a professional experience”.  WTF?  Have these buffoons seen their commercials with the “King” and all his antics?  The one recently has him throwing stuff through windows and portrayed as crazy as he is tackled at the end.  Or the other one with a family dressed up as whoppers and jr. whoppers.  Yep, a singing employee who people love to have serve them is not appropriate – unreal!!!

Is it any wonder that employee morale is at an all-time low in our country these days?  I will pick up here on Friday morning and plan to share feedback from my classes.  Caught our opening quote on a Sopranos episode yesterday.