Don't Let Your Systems Drive Your Customers Crazy! - Hospitality ...

HUMAN RESOURCES
To be Effective, Leaders Need
to Know Who They Are
by Margot Cairnes
On 1 April Vittoria Coffee announced to Australia through
a series of advertisements that it had discovered the
white coffee bean. No longer did you need to add milk
or cream. Brew up your white coffee from Vittoria’s specially developed
white beans.
Well, it was April Fools Day. But Les Schirato, CEO of Cantorella
Brothers, owners of Vittoria Coffee, is no fool. The ads
received coverage on every Australian radio and TV channel. Discussion
of the ads made all the major Australian dailies. Exposure
spread to Canada, Hong Kong and Europe. The media monitor
reports came in a box, not an envelope. Vittoria Coffee had never
had such press.
The silly thing was that Les had written that ad five years
ago. For five years it sat in his desk drawer. Whenever he brought
it out someone told him he couldn’t use it. It would attract the
attention of the Trade Practices Commission. Vittoria was now
the leader in its niche; it couldn’t do something as silly as play an
April Fool’s joke.
“ Leaders are different. ”
“It took me several years of hard work,” Les told me, “to
have the courage to listen to myself and ignore the blockers.”
It takes a strong sense of self to listen to our own council. To
take the risk of being different. It takes strong character to follow
our own lead when everyone else tells us we are wrong. It takes
great judgment to take calculated risks.
But isn’t this what leadership is all about? Leadership is about
being out in front. Being ahead of the crowd. Leaders are different.
To be different and effective, leaders need to know who they
are; what they want and where they are going; to have emotional
strength to be in touch with the people around them; the character
to build and maintain relationships; the judgment to take
risks.
These are very human capacities. Capacities forged by our
personal beliefs, our individual value systems, our life experiences
and our emotional health. All these things in turn rest on the decisions
we made when we were growing up. It was as our brains
were forming and maturing that most of the key frameworks of
our character and judgment were laid.
The old Jesuit dictum of “Give me a boy until he is seven
and I can shape him for life” is very true. So a big part of developing
character and judgment - the key to good leadership - is
raising awareness as to early decisions that are still shaping our
thinking, acting and being.
Margot Cairnes is an international leadership strategist. She delivers exceptional
results through a unique approach to identifying and solving the issues facing organizations
at times of great change, particularly implementing mergers and acquisitions.
In addition to major change problems Margot acts as a mentor to leaders of global,
commercial organizations. This confidential service provides a safe forum for leaders to
explore the issues and beliefs that create and limit their success. You can visit Margot
Cairnes web site at http://www.MargotCairnes.com or e-mail her at: cmuzard@
changedynamic.com
HOSPITALITY MALDIVES OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2006 63