I had breakfast this past weekend at a place called Hub City Diner. I always enjoy eating there because the food’s great and the service is remarkable. Right when you enter you’re greeted by a few different employees, all with smiles. They seem to be enjoying what they do. The restaurant is always full and if you look around you’ll soon spot the owner of the restaurant. When my wife and I were there this past weekend we saw the owner help in the kitchen (it’s an open kitchen so you can see all the cooks), we saw the owner wait on a few tables, we heard him ask a customer that was walking in to be seated if he wanted his usual orange juice even before the host was able to seat that customer and we saw him walk by several of the tables to talk to his customers. These conversations were more than just the usual thank you for coming in or how was everything today. These were conversations where he was building relationships. What was just as impressive was his employees were taking their lead from him and that’s the entire point! His employees were taking their lead from him. In fact, my guess would be that if an employee didn’t take their lead from him then that employee wouldn’t last very long working there. This is a business owner, a leader and a manager that “gets it”. He doesn’t need to advertise that he cares about his customers or that they give great service. He understands that if he has to tell his customers that he gives great service then he probably doesn’t. There’s no reason to state the obvious. What he does understand is that all eyes are on him. His customers’ eyes and his employees’ eyes. If you’re a manager or leader, understand that all eyes are on you. Your employees are taking their lead from you. Are you hiding in your office or going to lunch or scheduling appointments during the busiest times? Unfortunately, we don’t see many senior level executives in the branch lobbies during the busiest times greeting customers and building relationships. Sadly, we don’t see many branch managers in the lobby greeting and visiting with customers during the busiest times. Remember, employees are watching. As leaders and managers, if we don’t “show” what is most important to us then quite often our employees will take their lead from someone else.
