Good Morning, Friends! Here are 5 things I’m up to this week…
What I’m working on – How do you describe your company culture? A mentor of mine asked me this question last week and it def put me on the defensive. Of course, my first answer was, “it’s strong!”. He pressed me more; “telling me ‘it’s strong’ isn’t describing it. Describe it to me”. After reflecting back on the 40 minute rant that proceeded (poor dude), I was able to have some clarity on what describing our culture meant. First, our “culture” is how we act as a company DAILY. It’s not that we just HAVE mission, vision and values to guide our decisions and thoughts, it’s how we LIVE them day in and day out. Our culture is strong because we LIVE UP TO DAILY the standards that we set fourth in the beginning; raving fans, dedicated Piesans, and quality products. Experience. Being good neighbors. Standing up FOR our neighbors. Working every day to be the BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD TO GO GET PIZZA AND BOOZE and, most importantly, ALL ARE WELCOME to join our teams and be served by us. I’ll dig into this a little deeper next week with the question, “how does one thrive and succeed in your company culture”.
Something I’m pondering – What justifies you being on payroll? This question was posed in a parable I recently read. The head of a large restaurant consulting company always starts out an assignment with a new client by spending a few days with the senior leadership and managers. After visiting with them one-by-one and learning about the company’s history and it’s people, she asks, “And what do you do that justifies you being on payroll?” The majority of leaders and managers answer, “I am the GM of a shop”, or “I manage the finance department”, or “I have 65 people working under me”. Rarely though a few say, “It’s my job to give our people the information they need to make the right decisions”, or “I am responsible for the entire success of my location” or “I am the leader of team”. This question illustrates that the person who stresses downward authority will always be an inferior and inefficient leader. But the person who focuses on their contribution and who takes responsibility for their results is in the true sense of the word a LEADER. They hold themselves accountable for the performance as a whole.
What I’m reading – The Effective Executive. I’m flying through this book, but it’s not an easy one for me. Mainly because it was written in 1966 (53 years old) and english was just a little different back then. It stresses a couple points that, to be an effective leader you must; learn how to be effective, track your time, learn to contribute, make your strengths productive, do the most important things first, and learn efficient decision making. This book is (so the guy who recommended it to me says…) hot again in the Silicone Valley circles. I’m about half way through and it’s pretty great. The hard thing is actually DOING the things it tells you to do. Like tracking your time hour by hour. I know if I’d do this, it would magnify the inefficiency in my work week, but it’s just fucking hard to actually do it. I bet there’s an app for this!
What I’m watching or listening to – Johann Hari. This dude has been blowing my mind lately. He’s an English/Swiss journalist who’s authored two books, Chasing the Scream and Lost Connections. In the latter, Lost Connections, he argues that humanities increase in addiction, depression and anxiety are not caused by chemical imbalances in our brains, but in fact by the way we’re living today. His TED Talk is amazing and I HIGHLY recommend this episode of the 10% Happier podcast which he’s a guest. If you want a deep dive, he was also recently on the Joe Rogan Podcast (three hours, ugh!).
App or Technology I’m into lately – I may need to adjust this topic because I’m finding I’m not into that much technology and apps, so this time I’ll pluck something out of my morning routine to tell you about. Every day for about the last 18 months, I start my morning by drinking 16oz of water with 2oz of apple cider vinegar and a little maple syrup. This began as an attempt to be more hydrated. 16oz of H2O first thing is a great start. I then learned about the enormous health benefits of apple cider vinegar, so I added that. To make it a little more palatable, I add some real maple syrup. This tonic is been amazing for me. I get the energy of coffee with none of the shitty coffee side effects, (jitters, bad breath, yellow stains, etc…) Plus, it’s nice to feel hydrated. There are a few other amazing side effects I’ll spare you, but trust me, they’re good. If you’re interested in this at all, but let me know and I’ll explain my system.
Little Mikey Update – He’s the size of a sweet potato.
GM’s, Remember your homework was to identify two examples of awesome customer service, one in the “Wild” and one in your own shop, and tell someone about it. We’ll be talking about this Tuesday!
Have a wonderful week, all!
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