Duck For Cover!

It always amazes me just how much we follow others. Some of us always want (or think we need) the latest gadget, the latest clothing or sometimes, we follow in other ways like lining up in a queue because others are lining up ahead of us.


It’s rare to find someone who stands out from the pack and is not afraid of doing so. They are not afraid of people judging, looking, leering even.... they just know the direction they want to head and they go there. Amusing to watch when others take a moment to think twice, and then follow that person too!

I had this very experience today. It was a sunny start to a fine Saturday in Melbourne, Australia. The weather people had forecast rain and storms but in the morning, it all seemed fine. I was at a friends’ cricket match and knew I had a distance to travel home and that’s when I saw the black cloud approach....

As I hopped in my car to beat the oncoming weather home (Melbourne can come to a grinding halt when bad weather hits!) the sky grew black and at 2.30pm, every car had lights on to see through the midnight darkness.

Then it started. The light rain turned to heavy rain which turned to small hail in a matter of moments. Stuck in my car, holding onto my windshield in case it cracked under the increasingly large hail, looking at the people next to me with a bewildered “What do we do now?” on our face, I had to laugh out loud. Mother nature sure was putting on a show and she wasn’t holding back!

I had a moment of thinking that I’m about to do something that people are going to either (a) laugh at me or (b) follow me and in that moment, I decided to be the leader and take a risk. As the hail got harder, I politely drove my car up under a shop awning to get some cover. By this stage, I think my paint job had a few dimples, and with the risk of breaking windows, I did something no one else was doing.

At that moment of ‘curbing’ my car (new term I have invented as a result of this!) a few people did laugh at me and kept on driving by. Then, one car pulled up behind me under the shelter. They tooted their horn and waved at me in appreciation for thinking outside the box. One by one, people saw what we had done and followed suit. Before I knew it, an inner city shopping strip was not only a torrent of rising water, but a sheltered car park of people all following each other for safety.

So I ask you... when was the last time you did something as a leader that had a risk of ridicule? When was the last time you did something that the rest of the pack wasn’t doing and what kind of difference did that make?

If doing something out of the ordinary can save my car (and me!) from a storm, then what is the next thing you can do that will improve how you lead yourself? If by leading yourself, how will this make a difference to those who look to you for leadership?

Good Service or Just Good Leadership?

Sitting in my local cafe on a Sunday morning for brunch, I got talking to one of the cafe staff about how his day was going. “Great!” He answered, “How is your day?” to which I replied that it was great too, even better now that I had a table at my favourite cafe. After some more banter, he took my order. With much ‘Ummmm-ing’ and ‘Ahhhhh-ing’ he promptly picked up on my indecisive vibe (being hungry can do that to you) and suggested a few things to eat and drink. I agreed and without looking at what I had agreed on ordering, trusted his judgement due to the great rapport we had built.


When my order came out it was a different story. The young lady who slammed down my chai latte and plate of food, grunted and then sighed a “Do you want anything else?” without even making eye contact. Hmmm. All of a sudden the amazing order the first person had placed for me seemed not as scrumptious as it first sounded. She brought me over my cutlery and without a word, left to go and serve someone else with an equal amount of pain.

I ate up my brunch (it was still yummy!) and she came to collect my plate as I was chewing my last mouthful. Usually, I would have been tempted to order another chai and sip it while reading the paper but to be honest, I couldn’t wait to get out of there.... her vibe was a dark shadow over my sunny mood!

As I went into pay – I could tell why he was so chirpy and she was so gloomy. In the space of 30 seconds while I waited to pay, I saw the Manager of the business give the chirpy guy a pat on the back, share a laugh and show respect for his hard work. I saw the polar opposite with the girl and my initial perception of her turned to empathy. The Manager yelled at her in front of customers, told her what she was doing wrong and then promptly told her in no uncertain terms that she was useless. Why the blatant difference in treatment and obvious favouritism? Couldn’t the Manager see what he was doing? Maybe not.

Some observations from me:

- As a customer witnessing this, are you likely to spend more money in this business or come back?

- As a business owner, how do you manage performance? How do you motivate your staff to then pay it forward and motivate your customers to stay longer, spend more and rate you highly?

Pays to think about this next time you are frustrated with your team. Think twice before acting. How would you want to be treated? How would you want your customers to view you and your business? If you treated your team with respect, would they not pay it forward to your customers?