Stand up and be clean
Why telling people to 'fall-in-line' is exactly what they want
After months of lockdown, Victorians have been set free. Over the past few weeks we have visited friends and traveled regionally - it's been great. Especially, a weekend we spent in a regional town last weekend. We ate, drank, walked, relaxed, and shopped. It was SO GOOD!
But, we still needed to wear a mask everywhere. Hand sanitize regularly. And, check in when entering any establishment. The rules stated at the time, that once you sat down in a restaurant, wine bar, or pub you could take your mask off. Then when you get up to go to the loo or order you would have to pop your mask on. Some places were more stringent on this than others. I think we have all experienced our version of this wherever we are living and working. At one pub, we sat down for an early lunch outside. It was a big place and hardly anyone was there. I got up to order and walked inside to the bar. As soon as I got there, the young lady behind the counter straight away said, "sorry, I need you go put your mask on before you can order... is that okay? Sorry... Thank you". Without wanting to cause a fuss, I immediately went back to our table, got my mask and went up to order. Once again, the server said "thank you so much and sorry for that..."
At this point, things can go two ways. I could have got narky and short because of my perceived ridiculousness of the situation. In principal it all makes sense, but in reality it can be seen as a bit of a pantomime. Or, I could have simply nodded and smiled (not that anyone would know!) and simply got on with ordering. I would hope most people would choose the latter. But, with my leadership hat on, I decided to congratulate her. Why? I'll tell you...
Because it is of great irritation to me when there are signs up and instructions for clients (and staff) that no one enforces or sticks to. It grates me when things are only 'for show' and not abided by, or even worse, used by some but not others for no discernible reason. It makes for messy, confusing, and problematic environments. Inconsistency reigns. Injustices start to sprout up everywhere. And, resentment can even build. Between staff members, from clients to other clients, from clients to staff, and even from staff to clients! Usually, there will be a delicious mix of all of the above making for a real shit show that everyone involved needs to deal with.
This young lady was fearless in telling a bloke double her size that 'rules are rules'. She was clear and the whole message was clean. There was no room for opinion or perceived injustice or for conjecture. That is why I loved it. And, she did it all with a smile and a positive intention that was as transparent as the local crisp lager I ordered. It was a balanced display of humility and audacity, making for a powerful interaction:
It was a message of guidance telling me exactly what I needed to do with no ambiguity.
It was a message of leadership basically saying "this is how we do things around here, no matter who you are or what you want".
It was a message of congruency that aligned with the website, the signs on entry, and the other staff.
Often, we need to tell others things they don't want to hear. We need to set people right. Tell them to conform or to adjust their behaviour to fit the standards or systems of our environment. This is leadership. Taking responsibility for the situation and taking action to uphold the integrity of the messaging, value proposition, or service. If there is one word I'd use to describe this interaction, it would be 'clean'. This was a nice reminder that clean decisions and clean communication lead to consistency and compounds for a higher Return On Effort. Something we can remember whenever we feel others may get upset or agitated by our direction or enforcement of agreed principals.
