Michael was disliked by the other regional managers because he was viewed as unqualified for the position: no college degree, no industry experience (he came from the food service industry). Turned out that in very short order, he was the best leader in the whole company.
He reminds me of the successful small college coach who much to everyone’s surprise lands a Division I job. They get laughed at and many longtime D-1 coaches resent the fact that an outsider got a chance to move up and are convinced the person is going to fail. And like Michael, that coach then of course goes on to absolutely dominate and prove everyone wrong.
What most people didn’t know was that Michael was the only manager to actually go on sales calls and travel with the sales representatives in their territory. He led from the front and walked a mile in each of his team member’s shoes. He also went to bat for them on issues and refused to let the CEO bully them.
I told Michael that he would’ve made a heck of a coach even though he wasn’t into sports. To help his sales reps understand where he was coming from and the fact that the fundamentals of success are the same in every industry, Michael would take his reps out to eat at one of the Panera restaurant franchises he used to manage in each of their markets. He used it as a teachable moment to show his new sales team how the employees there all worked as a team. How they were cross-trained on each other’s jobs not just to walk a mile in the other person’s shoes, but also to be able to “pinch hit” when someone called in sick or there was a scheduling issue.
When I heard the story, I scheduled a lunch meeting with him at Panera. The reception he received from his former team members was nothing short of amazing. I spoke with one longtime employee and she explained to me that Michael was the only regional manager who ever rolled up his sleeves to jump in the kitchen and help cook when they were short-handed.
Because of how they may perceive their leadership role, managers sometimes distance themselves from their team members. I absolutely despise the tired old expression:
“I just need to elevate to 30,000 feet and manage from there.”
It’s what I call “Seagull Management”. Which means that from a distance the manager hovers above their people just waiting for them to do something wrong, then flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps all over them and promptly flies off leaving a huge mess behind.
Seagull Managers only interact with their people when there’s a problem, rarely ever offer praise or encouragement and are quick to point out problems but never offer solutions. Furthermore, If you’re at 30,000 feet and your employees don’t get to spend time with you you’ll never connect with them, much less understand the unique challenges inherent in their job.
How You Can “Be Like Mike”
1. Show them you actually know how to do their jobs. (Show them by actually pitching in and performing the work)
2. Travel with them, don’t try to do their work for them. Simply shadow them and listen with an empathetic ear.
3. Cross train your employees on their co-workers roles.
4. Have them trade jobs for a day with someone else in another department. If you can’t spare a day or even half a day, make it an hour. You’d be surprised at how much understanding and appreciation can be developed in an hour of walking a mile in someone else’s shoes.
The takeaway: Empathy is like a mirror. When you walk a mile in your team member’s shoes and demonstrate greater understanding of them, they will show greater understanding of you in return.