Jim Smith (No Shorts)
The path of least resistance is human nature. It’s also called the easy way out and real leaders don’t believe in it. The reason why we don’t believe in it is because it’s the path to failure for many different reasons. One of the things I respect about Jim Smith is he did not believe in doing things the easy way because he believes in doing things the right way. The easy way includes making excuses for where you fall short opposed to questioning and openly saying “this is not right and we are better than this”. My first team meeting with Jim was in Richmond, Va. All the managers in his area were in attendance. One of the metrics that needed immediate attention was increasing accessory sales. Jim asked calmly “why do we think our accessory sales are so bad”? The first manager said “no one wants to pay $19.99 for a car charger” and then manager after manager gave excuses on why selling accessories was impossible. In particular the last manager said the T-mobile a few doors down sells them for much cheaper. Jim stood up and said to this manger “If you feel its easier to sell accessories at T-mobile, then put in your two weeks and go work there”. The entire room got quiet. If anyone knows me I fought back laughing Jim was serious though. Everybody in the room knew at that point the only option was to get this thing figured out. Jim gaged the mindset of his team and in one sentence let everyone know our current performance was not good and it had to change. Others may not have approached the situation this way but others were not Jim. As the day progressed Jim laid out an excellent game plan on how we could all be successful. As a team we collaborated for the entire day until we felt like masters of accessory selling. We learned the features, benefits , and advantages of our accessories. He had a representative from the accessory company to field any question. Jim eliminated all obstacles and subsequently we went back and delivered amazing results. I have a few take aways from this one experience:
1) Listen to what your team has to tell you. Everyone wants to be heard 2) Challenge your team to think bigger (With love) 3) Don’t except excuses 4) Share your vision and make it possible to build on 5) Remove as many obstacles as possible 6) Take a synergistic approach (1+1=3) 7) Get the teams buy in and commitment
It would have been easy for Jim to except excuses however he understood the easy way does not yield results and doesn’t build strength on your team. Hold people to a standard and lead with a vision. Because of Jim I don’t believe in short cuts. The goal of any business is sustained growth and performance. There is no such thing as taking a short cut to deliver sustained growth and performance. The right way may be difficult at first but the short cut is difficult in the end.