share profits

The larger truth that I failed to see turned out to be another of those paradoxes - like the discounters' principle of the less you charge, the more you'll earn. And here it is: the more you share profits with your associates - whether it's in salaries or incentives or bonuses or stock discounts - the more profit will accrue to the company. Why? Because the way management treats the associates is exactly how the associates will then treat the customers. And if the associates treat the customers well, the customers will return again and again, and that is where the real profit in this business lies, not in trying to goad strangers into your stores for one-time purchases based on splashy sales or expensive advertising. Satisfied, loyal, repeat customers are at the heart of Wal-Mart's spectacular profit margins, and those customers are loyal to us because our associates treat them better than salespeople in other stores doe. So, in the whole Wal-Mart scheme of things, the most important contact ever made is between the associate in the store and the customer. 

Sam Walton

Sam Walton, Made in America by Sam Walton & John Huey. Bantam Books. 1992. p. 128

get busy with the present

If the daily grind is wearing you down and you worry you’ve been in the same job too long, spare a thought for 100-year-old Walter Orthmann, who’s been at the same company a record-breaking 84 years. 

Guinness World Records Ltd. announced that the Brazilian sales manager holds the official record for the “longest career in the same company” after verifying in January that he’d been with the same textile firm for more than eight decades.

The centenarian began working as a shipping assistant at Industrias Renaux SA, now named RenauxView, a year before the outbreak of World War Two, when he was just 15 years old. He was quickly promoted to a position in sales, an area where he remains to this day. 

For a little context, the median number of years that U.S. workers had been with their current employer in 2020 stood at 4.1, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

So what’s the secret of Orthmann’s exceptional career? 

“I don’t do much planning, nor care much about tomorrow. All I care about is that tomorrow will be another day in which I will wake up, get up, exercise and go to work,” Guinness quoted him as saying. 

“You need to get busy with the present, not the past or the future.”

De Wei Dexter Low

"This Manager Sets Record by Working for Same Company for 84 Years," Bloomberg. May 4, 2022

a good leader expects loyalty

A good leader expects loyalty. He in turn gives his loyalty. He backs up those to whom he has given a job. The loyalty extends to matters beyond the call of duty. He is loyal when honors come to those with whom he serves. He takes pride in their successes. He does not overrule unless he first confers with him whose decision he overrules. He does not embarrass an associate before others. He is frank and open with him.

Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Ezra Taft Benson by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 2014. Chapter 19: Leadership. 371.

recognition and appreciation

Recognition and appreciation. We often use these words interchangeably, and think of them as the same thing. But while they’re both important, there’s a big difference between them. For leaders who want their teams to thrive and organizations that want to create cultures of engagement, loyalty, and high performance, it’s important to understand the distinction...

Appreciation, on the other hand, is about acknowledging a person’s inherent value. The point isn’t their accomplishments. It’s their worth as a colleague and a human being.

In simple terms, recognition is about what people do; appreciation is about who they are...

Great leaders have to successfully focus on and cultivate both appreciation and recognition. And all of us benefit from understanding this distinction in business (and in life). Recognition is appropriate and necessary when it’s earned and deserved. Appreciation, however, is important all the time.

Mike Robbins

"Why Employees Need Both Recognition and Appreciation" Harvard Business Review. November 12, 2019

a leadership role may not be right for you

If you can’t find a few extra hours to mentor and develop your direct reports, a leadership role may not be right for you. Time spent in team meetings is not the same. One-on-one meetings are a significant way for leaders to demonstrate they care. These interactions deepen relationships, build partnerships, and create loyalty.

When a servant leader takes the time to connect with a direct report, it lets that person know their work is important and they are a valued member of the team. One-on-one conversations are the foundation for strong, productive relationships that align people with each other and with the organization in a satisfying, meaningful way.

Ken Blanchard

"The Best Leaders Serve Their People One at a Time". Berrett-Koehler Publishers.  February 13, 2018. 

do well by my friends

[When asked how he planned to dress for a celebration] “If I can only do well by my friends, I’ll look glorious enough in whatever clothes I wear.

Cyrus the Great
Xenophon's Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War
as found in 9 Timeless Leadership Lessons from Cyrus the Great by Ryan Holiday. Forbes. 4/19/2012.

authenticity

[A]s [Director Baltasar] Kormákur addressed the 3-D goggled audience before the start of the [premier of Everest]... he made it abundantly clear that he “didn’t want to sanitize the people and the events.” Rather, he hoped to “humanize them and make them real.” He went on to explain that he shot in temperatures as low as -22F and at altitudes of 16,000 feet. He said he took the cast and crew as high as any insurance company would allow them to go. He wanted his actors to feel the stress and discomfort that’s associated with being up high, because that was the only way he could make sure that what came across in the final cut did indeed feel authentic.

They filmed a great deal of the movie in Nepal, with the balance filmed in the Dolomites in Italy and on a sound stage. I caught up with actors Michael Kelly and Jason Clarke (separately) after the screening, and talked to them about what it was like to film at altitude in the cold temperatures. They both mentioned how difficult it was to be flown right to the shooting location. They didn’t have time to properly acclimatize and were plagued with the headaches, nausea and insomnia that commonly accompany altitude sickness. Bummer for the actors, but another brilliant Kormákur move as far as “keeping it real,” since Everest climbers deal with these ailments on the mountain.

So, how did Kormákur get his celebrity cast and crew to deal with such uncomfortable conditions on top of an already-grueling shoot schedule? He did what any good leader would do: He went through the hardship with them. In his own words: “I think what’s helpful is that I will stay right there with them, in the same conditions, show them what they need to do…So they are more likely to work with you than if you’re sitting someplace warm and telling them, ‘Keep going.’”

Bingo. It’s important for leaders to show their teams that they’re willing to make the same sacrifices and endure the same hardships as everyone else. As a leader, you can never expect the people on your team to be willing to endure anything that you are not willing to endure. By getting out there with his cast and crew, Kormákur was building trust and loyalty—two incredibly important aspects of high-performing teams. And he needed these actors to perform, because they were re-creating scenes that would require them to withstand some of the most physically challenging conditions they had ever experienced.

Alison Levine

"Here's what you can learn about leadership from 'Everest'" Fortune. 9/20/2015

availability and openness

Pope Francis is arguably best known for availability and openness to the public. On his first day as Pope, he reversed the tradition of blessing the people by inviting them to bless him instead. He's since decided to ride in a bus with his team rather than in a bulletproof limousine. Pope Francis has also been seen getting around Rome in a Ford Focus and a Fiat during his U.S. visit.

Personal, handwritten thank-you notes and birthday lunch invitations to the homeless of Rome take priority in his schedule and exemplify his leadership vision.

Those who aren't spiritual leaders should also rethink what their most important responsibilities are—people over processes, names over numbers. Accessibility sows trust and loyalty among colleagues and customers, making other transformations possible.


William Vanderbloemen
The 5 Leadership Lessons From Pope Francis. 9/25/2015.

as little effort as possible

When it becomes obvious that profit, which is a legitimate goal, is the driving reason for being in business, everyone – stockholders, top managers, employees, customers, suppliers, and the community – quickly becomes self-serving. They focus on their own agenda and personal enrichment. Employee loyalty and passion often go out the window as the point of work becomes simply to get as much as you can for as little effort as possible. 

Ken Blanchard

Leading at a Higher Level: Blanchard on Leadership and Creating High Performing Organizations (Revised and Expanded Edition). FT Press, 2009. p.xvii

cascade gratitude

Gratitude opens leaders’ minds and spirits to realize that they are not omnipotent, but rather stewards of the resources, people, and even the brand of the organizations they represent. Those who work for and with such leaders will find it much easier to cascade gratitude to their own customers, partners, and colleagues if they stand in the shadow of a true servant leader.

And there’s a payoff – this gratitude will be returned in the form of future sales commitments, increased loyalty, and improved engagement.

Dan Veitkus

"The One Attribute All ‘Servant Leaders’ Have In Common." CEO.com. 8/28/2014