Good Morning Friends! Here are my 5 Things to Consider this week!
Culture – We’re a people company, then we’re a pizza company. I realize this point is getting a little…repeated, but I think its well worth chatting about again because it’s one of the fundamental ways I look at our company. What if all of our Piesans were volunteers? I posed this question to all the managers about 10 months ago. It was meant to jumpstart the discussion about how we would treat those who we lead differently if they were all here on a strictly volunteer basis. After some great dialogue, I posed the statement, “everyone that works with us IS a volunteer.” That’s how we have to look at our roles as leaders. As if we’re in charge of a group of volunteers that, at any time, can come and go as they please. When we approach every shift with the mindset that “this has to be the best it can be,” then we are truly walking the walk and talking the talk that we’re a people company first. The minute we forget how vitally important the PIESAN EXPERIENCE is to our ecosystem, is the minute we lose them to the company that remembers. This job isn’t an easy one. The hours are long, the people can be assholes and the work is dirty. Some people wouldn’t touch it, other people couldn’t imagine life any other way. For those of us that make up that latter group, especially those of us who are in positions of leadership, every day is an opportunity to make our time together the best it can be. When it comes down to it, we simply don’t have a choice…because they do.
Leadership – Be so good it makes other people look bad. I love this one! It sounds like something James Brown or Mohammad Ali would say. We’ve all been there at some point in our careers. We’re either the person who is just killing it, or the person who is off on the sidelines watching someone else score the points and rightfully get the credit. As we get older and more mature, we become more able to decipher and control the difference between doing a good job and just phoning it in. Because our skill sets are becoming more robust, we become more able to achieve the results that our roles demand. Age has a lot to do with it. This is why “experience” is so valuable. Being battle-tested teaches you the skills you’ll need to apply to everyday problems. The huge difference between simply having “experience” though and “being so good it makes other people look bad” is being to apply the accumulated skill along with other vital life skills; like emotional intelligence, empathy and genuine listening, to create a true mastery of managing people. Being the best-you-can-be isn’t just about being good at one or two parts of your job, it requires you to consciously apply all of the skillsets you’ve accumulated over the years to form your specific leadership style. Be reliable and get shit done well and on time. That’s how you become so good it makes other people look bad.
History – Unlimited Paid Time Off. If you’re a GM or higher in our company, unlimited paid time off is part of your benefits package. I first heard of this perk about 4 years ago when Jeni’s was experimenting with it. Basically, this policy allows you self-monitor your time away from work. This is another excellent example of how we as a leadership team trust you to do the job that is asked. We will not micro-manage you. We will not hover over you. We will treat you as an adult and a professional as long as you hold up your end of the bargain for us. I talk about it a lot. Freedom is, to me, the most valuable benefit we can offer. It’s not just a good perk, it’s an extension of our values.
Motivation – “The difference between great and average or lousy in any job is, mostly, having the imagination and zeal to re-create yourself daily.” – Tom Peters
What I’m Reading or Watching – I’ll admit it. I’m on Tic Tok and I love it. If you’ve never been on Tic Tok or never even heard of it, it’s a relativity new social media platform that allows people to post creative material. Which is the thing I totally love about it. Where Facebook and IG are mostly about people status’s and news, Tic Tok is all about people’s creativity. It’s almost like a curated Youtube feed. I totally encourage you to check it out. Plus, Late Night Slice is a new member!
Baby Update – William had a great holiday season. The fact that he was three months old going into Christmas was obviously a total accident, but it couldn’t have worked out any better. He was at the perfect age to be tossed around from relative to relative, friend to friend without Rachael or I being worried. It was awesome.
Thanks for reading! Like or hate any part of this? Let me know! I really value your feedback.
Have a great week!
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