Project: The Walgreen’s Way: Prompt and Proactive

The enterprise started like any other. Named after the surname of a brilliant man.

This business was born of a necessity and based on education and experience. As a pharmacist, he interwove medicine and the mediocre.

A man, sick himself, found his vocation and that man was Charles Rudolph Walgreen.

He becomes the drug store and a retail location providing knick-knacks, non-pharmaceuticals and soon would food and beverages that sold just as well as his original concept.

When things were going good, things were good. But when things were slow, Walgreen did not allow the business to stop. In less than 40 years he opened 110 stores. How?

Because when things got slow, he decided to not do the norm and accept the fact that his fiscal year was safe. He questioned how could he beat the competition but also satisfy his clients and keep them happy? He questioned how could he make things better? 

Thus he created the 2-minute drill.

The drive-thru, delivery service and microwave dinners seem impressive now, but Walgreen set a standard that created word of mouth advertisement so positively it could possibly be why Walgreens is the largest drug retailing chain in United States.

So what was this drill that deserves such laud and honor?

It’s 1893 and you live close to Walgreen’s south side Chicago location and called them in for non-prescription items, Walgreen would answer the phone and repeat the items enunciating the name of the caller, their address and their desired products. Loud and clear. In doing this, Walgreen’s assistant could accurately collect all the items while Walgreen continued to keep the caller on the phone discussing weather and whatever else might be happening on the social calendar. 

All items collected, the assistant Caleb Danner, set out to make the delivery as Walgreen was still talking to the client. And then the doorbell rings. The client excuses himself or herself from Walgreen’s conversation and finds their order at the door. Astonished at the speed of delivery, Walgreen set the standard for customer service and all through his Two-Minute Drill.

So what’s your 2-minute drill? How will you set your company apart from others or improve your morale? How will you redefine customer service?

-The Green Couch

Project: Understanding Your Limitations

It has been one week since S. Truett Cathy, founder and longtime chairman of Chic-fil-A, passed away.

While many of us mourn his passing, he has left us with an astounding legacy and invaluable truths. The most prominent, I believe, is recognizing and acknowledging one’s limitations and humbly accepting them.

In Cathy’s case, he even self-deprecatingly integrated his into the scrumptious Chic-fil-A’s trademark slogan so that we may never forget it, though we never have realized it until now.

“We didn't invent the chicken, just the chicken sandwich.”

Not only did they acknowledge what came first (the chicken), they also gave credit where credit is due; two vital elements to success.

1)    Know that you are always borrowing a piece of someone else’s innovation.

2)    And then pay tribute to them.

No matter how many accreditations, degrees, master degrees and Ph.D.’s you pursue and achieve, when you hang these on your office walls, you will never have an opportunity to invent the chicken. You have to understand your limitations.

Living 93 years, Cathy’s seen, implemented and endeavored to incorporate many financial and innovative practices in his business, thus influencing the general and mainstream culture. Not everything succeeded. And for every failure we may have seen come across the menu board, how many more have come across Chic-fil-A’s board of directors – but at one point or time, they learned their limitations.

So ask yourself:

1)    What’s your chicken?

2)    What’s your chicken sandwich?

3)    How are you going to market a cow to make others eat more of that chicken sandwich?

4)    What invaluable truth will be part of your company legacy?

While it seemed S. Truett Cathy ate, slept and breathed his company we, too, need to take a moment to evaluate and prioritize, we need to ask ourselves, how important is our business? Then maybe, just maybe, that chicken sandwich will taste a little better, and the chicken will not taste so bitter.

-The Green Couch Project

Project: It Takes Gutsy To Be A Good Leader, Part II

For every good leader I can reference, you can point out 2.5 misleading pop culture leaders and five poor examples that you have encountered in life. It is true, isn’t it? I mean, you probably have pulled out your trusty finger calculators as we speak trying to configure whether or not that is true. (Which is why I created my statistical number under 10 as, yes, I often find myself resorting to using my fingers.)

For me, these numbers are quite correct – and not just because I generated this statistical factoid off the top of my head. As much as I love you, Michael Gary Scott; The Office, NBC your leadership qualities are unorthodox and sorely lacking.

If you are going to be a leader you might as well do it right, and do it right on the first try right? Unfortunately, it is not always that easy. That is probably one of the first lessons a leader will learn: The lesson of humility. So while you are down there in your humble stance, here are a few other ways your employees are seeking out for you to…

•    Lead By Example, Not By Exclaiming:

Start by being in the presence of your employees. The mentality of being the first one there, the last to leave is an honest approach to setting a standard of showing up to work and investing in a company with heart and soul. A good leader is never too afraid to get their hands "dirty." They never ask of their employee what they would not do. You celebrate the accomplishments; offer constructive criticism when others would offer destructive criticism. In essence, they will show, not tell. That is leading.

•    Lead By Pushing, Not Pulling:

Sometimes you have to get behind your people. There are times your team will not believe in themselves. So if you are pulling them along they cannot see where they are going. You have to get behind them and their dream to help them see and understand their purpose and their power. So sometimes a little kick in the rear is good for the morale!

•    Lead By Logic, Not Leverage:

There are moments when it is easier to speak down to people. You are an authority figure, probably have a higher salary figure (if you are cutting their paycheck you should know this) and in the presence of others it is human nature to want to show your dominance and achievements by exuding the charm of a slightly egotistical superior. It is in all of us. Whether we are taller, older, excel academically or athletically - it is how we cope. However, a leader respects the intelligence of their "inferiors" (and I use that term for illustrative purposes) instead of using their superiority as leverage; as a mechanism; a method of manipulation to “motivate” others into doing what needs doing, they use logic. Sit down, have systematic conversations, have performance reviews and find a way to understand each other.

•    Lead By Confidence, Not Cowardice:

There will be conflict, and there will be rivalry, there will be times you have to downsize, and there will be times you have to fire without the reason of downsizing. Leadership is about short and long term decisions. It is about living the mission statement and trusting yourself and your instincts. Those around you will take their cue from you and as a leader you cannot hide behind the excuse of, “I want to hear what your thoughts are on this," so as not to have to make an executive decision. It is about responsibility, taking a vision and confidently and effectively delegating and putting it into action. 

So will you? Will you put your vision into action?

It takes gutsy to be a good leader. Do you have what it takes?

-The Green Couch