Keynote speaker and bestselling author, Simon Sinek, tells a story about an experience he had at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas.\u00a0 Sinek had stopped at the lobby coffee bar for a cup of coffee, and there he met a barista who was charming, engaging, funny, and just a joy to be with.\u00a0 Sinek asked him if he likes his job, and the barista responded, \u201cI love my job.\u201d\u00a0 Sinek asked him what the Four Seasons does to make him love his job, and the barista said, \u201cThroughout the day, managers will walk passed and ask how I\u2019m doing and if there anything I need . . . and not just my manager, but all managers.\u00a0 I feel supported here.\u00a0 I feel I can be myself here.\u201d\u00a0 Then he confided in Sinek, \u201cI also work at Caesar\u2019s Palace.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cThere,\u201d he said, \u201cthe managers watch us to make sure we\u2019re doing everything right and catch us if we do anything wrong.\u00a0 \u201cThere,\u201d he continued, \u201cI just try to keep my head down, avoid getting in trouble until the end of the day, collect a paycheck, and go home.\u201d\u00a0 So at the Four Seasons, the barista is exposed to enlightened, inspirational leadership while at Caesar\u2019s Palace, it\u2019s just the opposite . . . misguided, oppressive leadership.\u00a0 As a result, guests at the Four Seasons are treated to a barista who is charming, engaging, funny, and just a joy to be with while guests at Caesar\u2019s Palace, who encounter the very same barista, experience a guy who\u2019s just trying to make it through the day.\u00a0 How about your customers?\u00a0 Are they getting a Four Seasons experience or a Caesar\u2019s Palace experience?\u00a0 For more on this, please continue reading below.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe respond to the environments we\u2019re in.\u00a0 If you get the environment right, you get the right behavior.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ~ Simon Sinek<\/em><\/p>\n Logically, it follows then that if you get the environment wrong, you\u2019re not going to get the behavior you want.<\/p>\n Establishing an organization\u2019s environment is the job of leadership.\u00a0 So when an organization is not getting the behavior it wants from its people, the blame lies squarely on the doorstep of the organization\u2019s leaders.<\/p>\n There are lots of different leadership styles that will produce the behaviors an organization wants, and an equal number of leadership styles that won\u2019t.\u00a0 But let\u2019s just look at the two leadership styles in Sinek\u2019s example of the Four Seasons Hotel and Caesar\u2019s Palace.<\/p>\n NOTE: Among other things, good leadership is dependent on consistency.\u00a0 There isn\u2019t a single magical thing you can do right now today that will establish your credentials as a great leader.\u00a0 Good leadership is the accumulation of a lot of little things, done consistently, over the long haul.\u00a0 Being on time to a meeting just once isn\u2019t going to do much for your status as a leader.\u00a0 Always being on time to meetings for weeks, and months, and years, will.\u00a0 Following through on one commitment may not even be noticed by those around you, but always following through on each and every commitment will be noticed.\u00a0 If you ask one person in your care, just one time, \u201cHow\u2019s it going?\u201d, that won\u2019t do much to burnish your image as a leader.\u00a0 But if you ask that question regularly to all the people in your care, and if you take the time to listen intently to their answers, over time your stock as a leader will definitely go up.<\/p>\n We respond to the environments we\u2019re in.\u00a0 As your organization\u2019s leader, it\u2019s up to you to establish the values that are consistent with the environment you want, and consistent with the behaviors you expect from your people.\u00a0 Do you want your customers to get a Four Seasons Hotel experience from your people or a Caesar\u2019s Palace experience?\u00a0 It\u2019s a conscious choice that is yours to make.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Keynote speaker and bestselling author, Simon Sinek, tells a story about an experience he had at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas.\u00a0 Sinek had stopped at the lobby coffee bar for a cup of coffee, and there he met a barista who was charming, engaging, funny, and just a joy to be with.\u00a0 Sinek<\/p>\n\n