Career Advancement Newsletter
Truett Cathy was ...
my most demanding boss.
He said, “I don’t like problems.”
Working for Truett at Chick-fil-A, the first thing I did as soon as I learned we had a problem, was work out a suitable solution.
The second thing was to quickly inform my boss, Truett Cathy, of the problem …
and the solution that was already under way.
My boss said he didn’t like problems.
That was only partially true.
Truett enjoyed solving the problems of his choice. He tackled some huge and difficult problems, but he liked to ... choose his problems.
Like every boss, he enjoyed those days when the only big news was sales were increasing and customer satisfaction was soaring. That brought a smile to his face and comfort to all his followers ... especially me!.
One day I went into the boss’s office to brief him on a problem and explain the remedy I had already implemented. He seemed satisfied with the action that had been taken.
As I turned to leave, I said,
“Truett, you don’t need to worry about these problems. I’ll take care of them. That’s what you’re paying me to do.”
He held up his hand and stopped me.
“Oh, No!” He said …
“I am paying you … to prevent problems.”
Immediately I stopped, stunned to be struck with the reality of the high level of his expectations and trust in me.
Prevent problems?
Yes, that was his expectation!
He had confidence in my determination to meet his expectations. In fact, he knew that I would do more than he expected.
Do More Than Is Expected!
As a youngster working part-time, I had learned to earn more money, I had to make myself more valuable. At that time, making more money was my main objective.
Right away, it was obvious just meeting the boss’s minimum expectations would never get me where I wanted to go. I had to do more and do it better than my co-workers.
If I wanted to become more valuable, I had to take on additional responsibility and do more than was expected.
I did, and it worked.
Many years later when I went to work for Truett, I had honed my do-more-than-expected approach down to a sharp-edged career advancement tool. I used it from day one. I was all-in and totally committed.
My commitment to not just meet but exceed Truett’s expectations earned me ...
his unwavering support!
Truett Cathy was my most demanding boss and …
my best boss!
He trusted me to do whatever was needed when he had no idea whether I knew how to do it or not; he knew I would let nothing stop me from successfully completing whatever we set out to do …
no matter how difficult the task.
Do you want that kind of support from your boss?
Try raising your performance bar from problem solver to ...
problem preventer.
Do More Than Is Expected!
It worked for me.
It will work for you.
-- Jimmy Collins
Like stories? My latest book Jimmy’s Stories is available on Biblio.com.
Career advancement principles are in my book, Creative Followership® also available on Biblio.com.
#truettcathy #chickfila #leadership #followership
Communicator | Leadership | Questioner | Problem Preventer
1moBecause of this post, I changed my Linked In description. Under my name, it used to say “Problem Solver.” Now it says “Problem Preventer.” I think the right person will recognize the difference. I not only changed the subtext- I changed the way I view my job. As a person in a leadership role, I now realize that the further I look upstream in order to see what is coming, I can actually move the needle by preventing issues from ever happening. Thanks for the insight, Jimmy Collins ! You are an inspiration. I’m so glad I listened to Mack Story, Blue-Collar Leadership® when you were a guest on his podcast. I’m a simple Georgia boy who loves your points of view because you keep it simple rather than making things so complicated like most others. It’s a gift.
Developing the Blue-Collar Workforce and those who lead them.®│Author of 15 Books│Leadership Speaker│Trainer
1moGood stuff Jimmy Collins! Problem solving is similar to fighting an unwanted fire. When there’s a preventing unwanted fires is similar to preventing problems. Those who can put a fire out and those who can prevent a fire are both valuable. However, those who can prevent firefighting are the most valuable. But, the fire preventers must often do their work in the shadows behind the scenes while the fire fighters do their work in the light where everyone can see them. To prevent fires, we must have a high degree of character which allows us to do great things, most often without being noticed or being given any credit. Unfortunately, it’s the fire fighters who get noticed and who get the most credit. Sometimes, they’re putting out fires they could have prevented and maybe putting out fires they started. To demonstrate a high degree of character we must be willing to do the right thing, even when no one will see us, even when no one will know we did it, and even when we won’t get credit. We simply do what’s right because it’s right. That’s what high impact team players do. They make things better for everyone on the team. Fire fighting and problem solving always drain resources.