Sousa's Buzz on Business

OK, now that I have developed the premise from the first post of this blog article.  Now to the meat (or hamburger) of the message.  If you did not watch the episode, you should … and I will setup what happened.  When I last left you …

Mr. Silva was disgusted with what he saw in the back house operations.  So instead of continuing incognito, he decided to lead.  Here is what happened:

• He took the manager outside and chatted with him.  After discussing how mortified about what he saw, the manger complained about that his training was cut short and that there was not enough resources to train his staff.  The manager then asked Mr. Silva how much fast food experience he had … His response?  Twenty years and then identified himself as the CEO of checkers.  VERY interesting expression from the manager.
• He told the manager “Right here, right now we are shutting down the restaurant.”  And he did!  Shut off all the signage.  Brought all of the employees outside to the picnic tables and identified himself.
• He outed himself to the employees (their faces dropped).  The first comment from one of the employees was “So are we losing our jobs?”  His very quick and authoritative response, “No, you are not losing your jobs.”

What happened next was so amazing, inspiring and so uncommon.  There are several quotes from Mr. Silva that will create the story.

• He said to his employees …
• … ”I want to apologize to all of you guys cause I let you guys down.”
• … “The reason that we closed this restaurant down is NOT because of you guys.  The truth is that if we have not trained you how to do it.  You are doing the best you can.  It’s not your fault.  It’s my fault if you are not properly trained.“
• … “No long faces, everyone is getting paid.”
• … “It’s going to be a better restaurant than it is today.”

How many of you have ever heard these types of expressions of leadership said in an authentic and sincere manner?  If you saw the episode, his voice broke as he chatted with them.  When did you see a leader show emotion?  A genuine reaction as a human being when it was needed?  Personally, I have been chided for showing emotion at times.

The employees did not have to be told that something was wrong.  They already knew!  These are hard working individuals probably making minimum wage and worried that way may be their only source of income could be in jeopardy.

So now what nuggets can be learned from this … stay tuned.

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