Good Times

My Favorite Leadership Tool

Good Times in Leadership - Courtesy of Substack’s Image Creation Tool

Despite an awful fear of public speaking, I have led teams for most of my adult life, rallying groups of people of different perspectives, skill sets, and motivations to pursue common goals and objectives. Some of these teams were comprised of educated professionals sitting in offices or corporate cubicles. Some were teams in retail stores with the always interesting blend of experience, education, and varied seasons of life. There was even a volunteer church security team.

There were teams that just needed some nudges. Other teams needed to be completely rebuilt in order for us to be successful. Some folks needed to be encouraged to find other places of employment, some needed to be put into the right roles, and some just needed to be recognized in a positive manner. Some of these teams started small and grew exponentially as we developed our tools, processes, and roles to address growth and expanded (or more focused) responsibilities. Each situation was different, presenting it’s own set of rewards, challenges, opportunities, and bench markers.

I was probably never the best of managers but I was always credited with being a leader, the guy that could rally the individuals, get them going in the same direction, and meet the objectives – while having a good time doing it. The traits of these teams were almost always the same. We were engaged as individuals to promote the interests of the team. We took pride in our growth, our performance, and our reputation. Most of the time, we were at the top of the lists when it came to the metrics but, beyond that, we were almost always at the top of the list when it came to developing talent and growing individuals that could be helpful to our team as well as the broader organization.

I always tried to be transparent with my teams. Everyone knew what the goals were and what the metrics were. For better or worse, they almost always knew my opinion on corporate or district directives. They knew the things that we would have to do and the things that we would do our own way. We may have, as the old western saying goes, “ridden for the brand” but we often had our own set of rules. I have never enjoyed being micro-managed and I always tried to avoid that with my teams, believing that the way to spark the best performances is to free up the imaginations. When we inevitably found success, I tried to shine the light on the people in our sphere, making sure the team got the credit.

Most folks who call themselves leaders these days are far from it. They follow all of the rules, hold on tightly to decision making, make sure the light shines on them first, and only promote others when it benefits them personally. That is not leadership. That is managing and, from my perspective, is really doing nothing but earning a paycheck. The true enjoyment comes from the creation of new processes, giving folks opportunities, and developing them through their triumphs and setbacks. I have never felt inclined to follow someone who is wrapped up in their self importance and self promotion, forgetting those who make their success possible. My teams aspired to be the best but we would define how we would get there - sticking together through the challenges so that we could bask in the glow of success as a team.

I seemed to have a knack of managing the short term processes while planting the seeds and setting the course toward our ultimate objectives. It was often tricky to keep moving past the present challenges and goals while still slowly nudging things toward the long term goals. It was tricky but it was fun. You just had to make sure that everyone celebrated the short term wins while understanding that we were a long way from our ultimate arrival - especially because the teams could not always grasp the image of the final destination. Not could they understand the nuances and pressures of the outside world that would affect our path forward.

Early in my leadership walk, I adopted the phrase of “Good Times” as my daily and sometimes hourly exhortation to my teams. Sometimes, it was truly meant as a celebration of something that we had accomplished or something that we were doing together. Sometimes, it was cloaked sarcasm that tried to bring some sunshine into hours of adversity. I realized that they were often looking at me to gauge how they should feel about a new development, fresh objective, or surprise adversity. If I just gave them a wink and plowed ahead with a smiling comment,”Good Times”, they were seemingly reassured that things were going to be alright. They could not see the doubt, fears, anger, or discouragement in my mind. They just could see my determination to stay the course while we tried to continue having “good times.”

After a while, I started noticing that some of the folks would walk by me – even in some of the darkest hours – and say,”Good Times.” They seemed to be reminding me that we would get through everything if we just stuck together, stayed focused, and remembered to have a little fun. “Good Times” was becoming both a coping mechanism and a powerful leadership tool!

In this season of life, I still work a couple of days a week at a retail drug store. I am really not a part of setting a agenda, meeting the metrics, developing the people, or many of the other leadership functions. Having said that, it seems like everyone looks at me to set the tone or in some way provide the direction. The younger employees seem to enjoy having someone around who can provide some meaningful direction, explain the “whys”, or to just reassure them with an occasional, ”Good Times”. When I give them a wink and tell them that “these are some of the best times you will ever have,” they smile and laugh. Then, they do a double take to see if I am really serious.

At the end of the day, I walk out to the Mighty Tundra and pull myself up into the cab. I often am sore and tired like I had been digging ditches all day but I make eye contact with myself in the rear view mirror and remind myself why I am still doing it a couple of times a week. Good Times. Seriously.