Speaker 1: Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
Speaker 1: performance through strong human relations, team building and golachieving. This
Speaker 1: is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul
Speaker 1: fella Aledo.
Speaker 2: Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast.
Speaker 2: It's episode three eighty nine. Let's talk about the power
Speaker 2: of shared responsibility. This phrase, everyone sweeps the floor, isn't
Speaker 2: just a feel good slogan or a poster for the breakroom.
Speaker 2: It's a culture statement. It's a leadership mindset and if
Speaker 2: you're serious about building a strong team in a high
Speaker 2: performance workplace, this is a concept you must not just preach,
Speaker 2: but live. And let me break it down first, the
Speaker 2: origin of the phrase. This phrase came out of a
Speaker 2: story I heard about a founder who was asked, why
Speaker 2: is the CEO of a successful company he was seen
Speaker 2: sweeping the warehouse floor. His answer, because if I won't
Speaker 2: do it, why should anyone else? And that's the essence
Speaker 2: right there. This is not about cleaning. Let me be clear.
Speaker 2: This has nothing to do with who's on janitorial duty.
Speaker 2: This is about ego free leadership. It's about building a
Speaker 2: culture where no one is above doing the small things.
Speaker 2: The unglamorous, unseen, often thankless tasks that keep everything running smoothly.
Speaker 2: And here's the reality. If you, as a leader, are
Speaker 2: too good to sweep the floor literally or figuratively, then
Speaker 2: you've just built a hierarchy that breeds entitlement, resentment, and disengagement.
Speaker 2: So here's a culture check. Let me give you a
Speaker 2: few quick questions to ask yourself off to see where
Speaker 2: your culture stands. Do your managers jump in when someone
Speaker 2: is short staffed or do they disappear into meetings? Do
Speaker 2: your senior employees lend a hand to the new hire
Speaker 2: during crunch time or do they say that's not my job.
Speaker 2: When something goes wrong, do your people jump to fix
Speaker 2: it or look around to see who else is available?
Speaker 2: Because in a sweep the floor culture, nobody stands around
Speaker 2: waiting for permission to act. Everyone sees the mess, and
Speaker 2: everyone moves. And let's talk about the small task test.
Speaker 2: Here's something you can do tomorrow morning, something simple. Pick
Speaker 2: the smallest, most basic task in your operation, stocking paper,
Speaker 2: refilling the coffee pot, clearing out the junk drawer, and
Speaker 2: just go do it. Don't make a scene, don't announce it,
Speaker 2: just do it and watch what happens over the next week.
Speaker 2: Watch how your people start to notice and how that
Speaker 2: quiet act chips away in entitlement. People will follow what
Speaker 2: you model, not what you say, because this mindset builds trust.
Speaker 2: When your team sees you willing to step into any
Speaker 2: role at any time, even for a few minutes, it
Speaker 2: builds enormous respect. It says, no job is beneath me,
Speaker 2: I care about the details, and we're in this together.
Speaker 2: It's leadership through example, not command, and it works. And
Speaker 2: the real benefit is ownership. When everyone sweeps the floor,
Speaker 2: ownership goes up. People care more, they notice more, they
Speaker 2: step in more. You're not just creating a more helpful team,
Speaker 2: you're creating a stronger business. You'll see fewer messes literal
Speaker 2: and metaphorical. You'll hear fewer complaints, and when a crisis hits,
Speaker 2: you'll have a team that says, let's roll up our sleeves,
Speaker 2: not that's not in my job description. There's a reason
Speaker 2: some of the best leaders in the world, from Navy
Speaker 2: seal commanders to hospital CEOs, live by this actual rule
Speaker 2: because it tears down silos, It crushes ego. It builds
Speaker 2: a team that doesn't ask whose job is it? But
Speaker 2: instead asks what can I do to help? So the
Speaker 2: next time you walk past something that isn't your job,
Speaker 2: remember this. Everyone sweeps the floor, not because they have to,
Speaker 2: but because that's how winning teams are built. This has
Speaker 2: been the seven minute Leadership Podcast and I thank you
Speaker 2: for listening.
Speaker 1: For more Paul Fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot com.