The Leadership Difference Pt 2
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. The Leadership Difference is a Walla Walla-based organization that helps companies, including farms, better understand what their workforce is doing and what they need.
Founder and President, Dave Mitchell says, communications is one thing, but talking with EVERYONE isn’t always easy …
MITCHELL … “I think there’s two things. I think that, you know, there’s a certain mentality among our employees that, I don’t want to see the boss, because they associate that with, something bad is going to happen, right. The last time I saw Jack he was talking to the boss and then I never saw him again. So, I don’t want to see the boss.”
But, Mitchell says, over time, they’ll begin to open up …
MITCHELL … “You’ve got to be really responsive to that. You’ve got to act on that. You’ve got to jump on that. And if it’s something you can’t do anything about, you gotta explain why. It’s like, you know, I appreciate that you have to deal with that, here’s why. And I’ll look for other alternatives, but for now this is kind of the best solution we have.”
Among the workers, Mitchell says, you’ll find evangelists and heretics …
MITCHELL … “Those are both positive demographics, right. The evangelists love us, and tell everybody. And the heretics hate us. But the great new is if you can win over a heretic, they go right to evangelist. They’re not just a satisfied employee. They’re one of your greatest allies.”
To learn more, Mitchell says go to their website at www.theleadershipdifference.com … or check out his book, Peak Performance Culture, the Five Metrics of Organizational Excellence.
