We are all going to have to take up a leadership role at one point or another in our lives.
Whether it's leading a group project at school, because everyone in the team is lazy.
Or leading a group project at work.
In both cases, we are still discussing humans.
What is a great way for them to take action?
It's to speak to their intangibles.
Let me share what that means...
My first ever job was in a Subway restaurant.
It's good to work in fast food in my opinion.
Great way to build thick skin.
I saw this first hand when my manager once got a bunch of coins thrown at his face.
And all he could do was apologize.
The Subway I worked in was the one at the mall. More specifically, the food court.
And apparently the mall Subways didn't run the 5 dollar footlong deal on all their subs.
You see...
When I was working in Subway around 2017 ish, that's when the whole:
"5 dollar....5 dollar...5 dollar footlong"
jingle was popping!
This jingle made Subway relevant again.
Most Subways were running the 5 dollar footlong deal for ALL of their subs.
But the Subways in the mall?
The deal only applied to a select few subs.
Well, one day this lady ordered the Italian BMT.
And once she was told it wasn't a part of the 5 dollar footlong deal… she was irate.
She felt like she was lied to.
My manager's name was Ashish.
Ashish tried explaining that the Subways in the mall follow different rules, but she wasn't having it.
She begrudgingly pulled out the extra coins from her purse & threw it in Ashishs' face.
I thought he was going to yell back.
But nope, all he did was apologize.
Ashish's life was Subway.
He would work 11 hours every day....
I mean EVERY DAY.
7 days a week.
And he expected his employees to have the same hustler's attitude.
Overall, Ashish was a very shitty manager.
Wouldn't give us breaks.
And would have us working non stop.
During the time, the minimum wage was 6.79$.
Well, when Kenya passed a new minimum wage from 6.79$ to 7.21$... Ashish tried to play it off like he was giving us a raise!
Like I said, the man was a piece of shit.
But he always got the most out of his workers.
Any idea why?
'No, why?'
Because he referred to us as Sandwich Artists.
When I first started Subway, I viewed the job as the guy who just made Subs.
A very bland title.
However, when the employees got started, Ashish would drill into our minds that we were Sandwich Artists.
Just hearing that made us more motivated.
Like we were contributing to something bigger.
One day, Ashish decides to take off early.
The mall was empty, so he thought I would be good by myself until we closed.
Around that time, there was a lady that came up & ordered a roast beef sandwich.
As I was making her sub, she began speaking to me:
"Hey there young man, you are making the sub look very good! I love how you are evenly spreading out everything. Keep going! A big tip is on your way."
A big tip you say?
And you think I'm making the sub look very good? Okay, I will keep going!
This is what I thought.
Once I was done, she gave me a 5 dollar tip.
Which was A LOT to a college kid.
Hm...
This was 2 times this happened.
Someone made me feel like an artist, and it was a great feeling.
Despite Ashish being a bad boss, he got the most out of his workers because he made them feel bigger in their position.
If a leader can make their talent feel like the artist of their field, then they will have better talent.
- Praise someone's skill to speak to their head.
- Praise someone's work ethic to speak to their heart.
The beauty about making someone feel like an artist is that it speaks to their head AND heart.
An artist is defined as a very skilled individual in a certain craft.
How do you get skilled?
Through work ethic.
Even nowadays, if you go to Subway, tell the sandwich maker that they are a Sandwich Artist.
You'll notice how their mannerisms change.
I came to learn that Ashish was not the only Subway to do the whole Sandwich Artist thing.
Apparently all Subways do that.
But only a few of the mangers really emphasized it.
When I was in college, any job experience was good experience.
So I was just happy to be getting out the house working.
In reality though, a lot of people we hire, whether for small projects or roles, are not happy with their jobs.
They mainly do it to pay their bills.
By capturing their narrative mind, we can engage them.
That's not to say that poor work should be tolerated.
But if they are good, engage their artistic side, to make them great.
A combination of praising skills & work ethic refines a person's movements.
It allows them to feel bigger than the field that they are occupying.
And what is the byproduct of a organism being larger than their present property?
They are bound to evolve.
From animals gaining new body parts to humans gaining deeper mental faculties.
A leader allows those around them to evolve.
Turn them from doing a job to producing art, and you will rarely have difficultly finding talent.
Meanwhile,
you can see my previous #weedcash post by clicking on the link below:
It's your friendly hive communities and tribes networker...
- Trilli