Indy Pace Car
I remember being at a meeting where our company brings in employees from all over the world for one event, one huge share holder event. If you know me, you’ll know what company I am referring to, but out of respect, I won’t mention them by name.
The employees that are selected to attend this meeting are selected through merit, dedication and hard work. These people that are selected come from small towns all over the United States and now, the world. Many have never been outside a 100-mile radius of where they were born, many have never even been on an airplane.
These people arrive so wide eyed and excited from head to toe and for me, it was always an incredible thing to watch and be a part of. The enthusiasm they show up with is very contagious to everyone that attends. Most of them are usually front-line cashiers, Truck drivers, warehouse workers, overnight stockers, truck unloaders, payroll clerks or maintenance workers. Regardless of their titles, they have all worked very hard to be noticed enough to be selected for such a trip outside of their homes, but also their comfort zones.
Throughout the year they work hard, they deal with payroll cuts, shift hour reductions, shorthanded staffing, angry customers and yes sometimes inept bosses. The point is, they endure these things and come to these meetings feeling a source of pride for how hard they have worked to get to this point and to potentially meet and rub elbows with their leaders, the BIG bosses they only hear about or see on the satellite tv.
During my time with that company, I worked hard both as an hourly employee and later a salaried employee, as did many others just like me, to climb the ladder and move our way into positions that afforded us a life style that many, no scratch that, most of these people selected to attend this meeting would never obtain. Most of these folks gathering at this meeting were going to work hard, clock in and out and give their absolute best, day in and day out, but never have a day in their life where they didn’t worry about the next bill that will arrive in their mailbox.
I will never forget one morning before one of these meetings began and thousands of people were arriving, a very top-level senior executive pulled up to the meeting in a limited-edition Indy pace car Corvette! The car was absolutely beautiful and it stood out like a yellow Texas rose in a patch of tumble weeds. I remember the ews and the ahhs that rippled through the crowd. The comments I overheard were expected… “yeah that’s so and so, he thinks he’s really something else.
I know for a fact that this guy worked his way up the ladder and had endured hardships like everyone else but he failed to remember one key point, Leadership is 24/7 and he was being watched. He had the hubris to roll up in this car in front of the same folks that had their hours cut to make payroll a few times that year or perhaps they endured a crappy boss or a hastily written and thus an ineffective yearly evaluation.
At the time I couldn’t believe my eyes. A senior leader in this incredible company lacked the self-awareness to know better than to drive a flashy car in front of the people that truly made the difference, not him. He flashed his wealth in front of the people that followed his orders. He flashed his wealth in front of the same people that live on a seriously strict budget and worry about the next bill arriving in the mail box that they may or may not be able to pay.
On the flip side of that scenario, within just minutes of his arrival in his super snazzy corvette, I was glad to see another senior leader arrive in a pickup truck! Mind you, it was a nice pickup, but it was well used. It was well broken in and it didn’t raise an eyebrow among the people that were focused on the corvette. The pickup was something they were used to, it was something they could relate to and it was something that was attainable to them, the corvette was not. I will refrain from giving the name of the pickup driver so out of respect, I’ll just say that most people that will read this, know the driver of the pickup, he lives in Texas now, he smokes fat cigars, a good smooth bourbon and enjoys offering his views on common sense leadership, of which most are dead on accurate.
I say all this to illustrate a point, leadership is a 24-hour job, and in today’s climate of social media posts where everyone is seemingly happy and living the highlife, you are being watched and whether you believe it’s fair or not, you are being judged. Right or wrong, the judgement people are making of you because you want to share your success on social media will eventually translate as to how quickly, or effectively or how eagerly those that you lead will follow your future direction.
I hope no one misinterprets my meaning, I am by no means telling you as leaders, that in order to be effective you must live the life of a monk that longs for no worldly possessions, I am simply pointing out that self-awareness is a prerequisite of sound leadership. I am illustrating to you, that leadership is a 24 hour a day job that most people aren’t prepared for the scrutiny that comes with it.
So, by all means, work your butt off, climb the ladder, make lots of money if you can and obtain the cool things in life that you have always wanted. Just try and remember that before you post your new Cadillac/Corvette with all the bells and whistles, or the great selfie of you in first class seating on the way to a Caribbean Island or proudly holding up you ski poles in Aspen Colorado, keep in mind that most of the people that you lead and also follow your social media, probably won’t have an opportunity to have any of those things. And when they see you in a good spot, they will more than likely be happy for you however, they will also remember those images when your leadership has placed them in a bad spot.