BY DAVID BEGIN, Co-Host CAR WASH The Podcast
To say we are in interesting times would be an understatement. We are making our way through a global pandemic that is changing the way we do everything from buying groceries to working in groups. People, who had no idea what Zoom was three months ago, are now experts and are complaining about the security features!
The staggering rate of change we are undergoing in our country is like being on a rollercoaster that makes me wonder if I should have gotten on in the first place. As I write this article, we are also experiencing social unrest in our country. Our institutions and governments are being challenged in ways that most of us have never seen.
The conventional thinking is that as business owners and managers we should separate our business activities from our social and political beliefs and just keep washing cars. I have found, for the most part, that the next generation of leaders who are now our employees and team members do not separate these activities from their beliefs and they want to understand how the companies and organizations they work for contribute to the social dialogue. I know there are as many opinions on these topics as there are people, so how do we address these topics with our employees and team members?
LISTEN TO YOUR TEAM
The act of listening is an important skill any manager or leader has. People want to be heard and “really listening” to your team can bring you insights and information you might not have been exposed to before. Good listening requires that you set aside your preconceived notions on what your opinions are and really listen. I have always found that good managers and owners will listen to their team members about how they can improve operations and make the car wash run better, and giving your team the ability to voice their opinions and concerns is vital to a cohesive unit. We do not have to always agree with the opinions, but I think we owe it our team members to listen to their perspectives.
ASK THEM HOW YOU CAN DO BETTER
This question is a difficult one to ask, since it makes you vulnerable to what your employees think of you and your organization. Ask the question, “How can our company do better and how can our senior leadership team do better?” You will find some nuggets of information that can better your organization and yourself. The older I get; the more I understand that being vulnerable makes you stronger.
PERFORM SOME SELF-EXAMINATION
Somewhere in my ownership of my car washes, I had an opinion change about my employees. Before the change, I did not hold my employees in high regard, thinking they were only there to get a paycheck, not work ridiculously hard like me, etc. Once I did some self-examination about my fundamental beliefs regarding employees, I decided that my thoughts about my employees were not serving the car wash or me and I needed to change my thinking. I chose to see my employees as my team members who really wanted to delight the customers and work hard to do the best they can. Once I changed my beliefs about my employees, life at the car wash got better and I started to value my employees. Self-examination is even more difficult than asking your employees how you can do better, because you might realize that you have been wrong. Being wrong or having the wrong mindset about something is OK, but it’s only through rigorous self-examination that you will be able to identify those attitudes and beliefs that are holding you back.
FIND A CAUSE
Corporate support of social causes is becoming more commonplace. Find a cause that the entire team can get around. You can find ways to support the cause financially or through service. Customers love to see when the company they do business with supports causes. Employees like working at companies that support causes and it makes them feel that their work and efforts also contribute to the larger good.
Change is hard. This year we are being confronted with change at an unprecedented level. Let’s use this time to come out of 2020 better than we came into it.
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