Help Me Rhonda...
Apr 03, 2024
No, Not The Beach Boys Song.
Let me tell you a story about Rhonda Dolinski.
Back when I was a young supervisor, a first-time leader working for a bank there was a group of ladies who were part-time tellers.
They were amazing ladies, all mothers who worked during school hours.
To them it was a good job, that allowed the to be a part of a team, make some money, and contribute.
But we had goals and targets to achieve! Referrals to get, products to promote, service timelines, and deliverables!
So, there I was the supervisor of these ladies. I thought I was a great leader. I thought I put the super in supervisor! I was driving the team to hit targets and deadlines. We were achieving!
But I didn't realise it was happening at a cost.
The ladies started getting short with me. They started just doing the bare minimum. We were not consistently hitting our targets anymore. I was getting frustrated and started pushing even more.
That's when enough was enough.
Rhonda, the spokesperson for the ladies, pulled me aside and gave me the best lesson in leadership I ever learnt.
"Dave, we really like you. You are a nice guy. We know you mean well. But do you know what we call you these days?"
Of course, I was hoping for "Super" but that was far from the case.
"We call you Dictator Dave, Corporal Clare and Little Hitler."
Ouch, that stung like a bitch.
Rhonda continued to school me.
"We love working here. We love working with you and the rest of the team. We know we have to chase the targets the bank sets. But most of us just want to do a good job, serve people and make some money along the way."
She continued...
"If you want to get the best of us, you need to understand who we are as people first, what our goals are, and not just look at us or use us as some part-time employee. Help us, and we will help you."
It was at that moment I realised that leadership is all about helping other people become their best, to do their best while in my care and beyond. And most importantly this...
Human first. Employee second.
Thank you, Rhonda and the other ladies who helped me learn a valuable leadership lesson that has served me every day since.
Dave Clare, Chief Evolution Officer
WEEKLY CLARISM
Please see above...you get the point.