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<v Speaker 1>Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of

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<v Speaker 1>performance through strong human relations, team building, and golajiving. This

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<v Speaker 1>is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul Fellavledo.

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<v Speaker 2>Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast.

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<v Speaker 2>It's episode seven sixty eight. I recently came across a

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<v Speaker 2>simple story printed on the side of a Chick fil

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<v Speaker 2>A package, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. It

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<v Speaker 2>said that Truet Kathy perfected the original Chick fil A

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<v Speaker 2>chicken sandwich recipe by asking customers for feedback. He kept

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<v Speaker 2>making adjustments until the customers finally told him, you've got

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<v Speaker 2>it right, and listen to that again. The customers said,

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<v Speaker 2>you've got it right. He didn't perfect the rest in

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<v Speaker 2>a boardroom. He didn't lock himself in a kitchen and

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<v Speaker 2>decide he already knew the answer. He asked the people

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<v Speaker 2>who actually experienced the product. There is one leadership lesson

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<v Speaker 2>hidden inside that story that every leader should hear. Your

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<v Speaker 2>leadership is a recipe and it should never stop being tested.

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<v Speaker 2>Far too many leaders think the day they got promoted

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<v Speaker 2>is the day they become the finished product. I'm the

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<v Speaker 2>boss now, I've been doing this for twenty years. I

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<v Speaker 2>know what I'm doing. Those statements are dangerous. Leadership isn't

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<v Speaker 2>a diploma that hangs on the wall forever. It's more

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<v Speaker 2>like cooking dinner for thousands of people every single day.

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<v Speaker 2>Every shift, every conversation, every decision is another chance to

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<v Speaker 2>improve the recipe. The best leaders stay curious. The average

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<v Speaker 2>leaders become defensive. Think about the organizationations you've worked for.

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<v Speaker 2>Have you ever been asked for feedback? Not the fake

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<v Speaker 2>survey that disappears into cyber space, real feedback, the kind

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<v Speaker 2>where your supervisor sits down and says, tell me one

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<v Speaker 2>thing I could do better. That question takes courage, because

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<v Speaker 2>once you ask it, you have to be prepared to

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<v Speaker 2>hear the answer. Most leaders don't avoid feedback because they

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<v Speaker 2>don't care. They avoid it because feedback is uncomfortable. Sometimes

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<v Speaker 2>it confirms what you already suspected. Sometimes it exposes blind

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<v Speaker 2>spots you never knew existed. Blind spots are expensive. In aviation,

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<v Speaker 2>pilots rely on instruments because they understand they can't see everything.

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<v Speaker 2>In ems, we depend on partners who catch things we

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<v Speaker 2>might miss. In business, your employees become those instruments. If

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<v Speaker 2>you stop listening to them, you're flying without half of

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<v Speaker 2>your day board. And here's another interesting part of that

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<v Speaker 2>Chick fil a story true at Kathy didn't stop after

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<v Speaker 2>one customer. He kept asking. Patterns matter more than opinions.

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<v Speaker 2>One employee made dislike a policy. Five employees describing the

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<v Speaker 2>same frustration probably means there's something worth investigating. One customer

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<v Speaker 2>might have an unusual preference. Five hundred customers asking for

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<v Speaker 2>the same improvement usually means your recipe needs work. Great

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<v Speaker 2>leaders learn to separate noise from signals, and that takes humility.

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<v Speaker 2>And here's something else I find fascinating. Feedback doesn't mean

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<v Speaker 2>surrendering your standard. Sometimes leaders hear the word feedback and

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<v Speaker 2>assume they're supposed to make everyone happy, and that's impossible.

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<v Speaker 2>You aren't collecting votes, you're collecting information. The leader still

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<v Speaker 2>makes the decision. The difference is they're making a better

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<v Speaker 2>informed decision. Think about your own leadership for a moment.

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<v Speaker 2>If your employees had permission to be completely honest today,

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<v Speaker 2>what would they tell you. Would they say you're unapproachable?

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<v Speaker 2>Would they say your communication is clear? Would they say

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<v Speaker 2>meetings are productive? Would they say expectations change every week?

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<v Speaker 2>Would they tell you they feel appreciated, or would they

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<v Speaker 2>quietly admit they're afraid to speak up. Those answers are

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<v Speaker 2>your recipe card. And here's the part that separates exceptional

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<v Speaker 2>leaders from everyone else. Exceptional leaders don't become emotionally attached

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<v Speaker 2>to the first version of themselves. They understand version two

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<v Speaker 2>point zero should be better than version one point zero,

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<v Speaker 2>then version three point zero should improve again. Leadership isn't

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<v Speaker 2>software because technology changes. Leadership is software because people change.

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<v Speaker 2>Generations change, customers change, employees change, organizations change. Your leadership

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<v Speaker 2>should evolve with them. I've seen leaders spend thousands of

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<v Speaker 2>dollars on consultants while ignoring the people working twenty feet away.

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<v Speaker 2>Imagine asking your frontline employees one question every Friday, what's

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<v Speaker 2>one thing making your job harder than it needs to be.

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<v Speaker 2>You might hear something that saves hundreds of hours next year,

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<v Speaker 2>or prevents someone from quitting, or improves customer service or

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<v Speaker 2>eliminates a safety issue. Sometimes the biggest improvements come from

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<v Speaker 2>the smallest conversations. And there is another lesson hidden in

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<v Speaker 2>that Chick fil a story. True at Kathy knew when

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<v Speaker 2>to stop changing the recipe. That's important some leaders never

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<v Speaker 2>stop tweaking. Every Monday, there's a new initiative. Every Tuesday,

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<v Speaker 2>there's a different priority. Every Wednesday, the rules change again,

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<v Speaker 2>and eventually employees stop paying attention because they assume next

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<v Speaker 2>week's recipe will just be different. Anyway, there comes a

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<v Speaker 2>point where consistency builds trust. Once you've gathered feedback made

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<v Speaker 2>through thoughtful improvements, and people consistently tell you the recipe works,

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<v Speaker 2>you have to protect it, refine it when necessary, don't

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<v Speaker 2>reinvent it every month. Stability is a leadership strategy. So

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<v Speaker 2>here's today's challenge. This week. Ask three people for honest

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<v Speaker 2>feedback about your leadership, not compliments feedback. Ask them one

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<v Speaker 2>simple question. If you were coaching me to become a

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<v Speaker 2>better leader, what would you tell them? Then, don't interrupt,

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<v Speaker 2>don't defend yourself, don't explain, listen, take notes, and then

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<v Speaker 2>thank them. You don't have to implement every suggestion. You

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<v Speaker 2>do have to inspect every perspective because leadership isn't perfected

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<v Speaker 2>by titles, It isn't perfected by years of service, It

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<v Speaker 2>isn't perfected by reading another book. Leadership is perfected the

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<v Speaker 2>same way true at Kathy perfected at chicken sandwich, one

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<v Speaker 2>conversation at a time, one adjustment at a time, one

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<v Speaker 2>lesson at a time. So the leaders people remember, aren't

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<v Speaker 2>the ones who believed they had all the answers. They're

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<v Speaker 2>the ones who kept asking better questions. Your team is

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<v Speaker 2>already giving you the ingredients for better leadership. Your job

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<v Speaker 2>is to listen closely enough to improve the recipe. And

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<v Speaker 2>if you want more free leadership resources, head over to

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<v Speaker 2>Paul fallavalito dot com click on free Stuff. I have

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<v Speaker 2>over twenty five free leadership resources that you can download

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<v Speaker 2>and start using today. This has been the seven minute

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<v Speaker 2>leadership podcast, and I thank you for listening.

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<v Speaker 1>For more Paul fell of Alito podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot

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<v Speaker 1>com