When people think of great leaders, they think of character traits like confidence, strength, passion and determination among others. One trait that often doesn’t make to the list is gratitude. Strong leadership doesn’t have to be synonymous with hard personalities and demanding expectations. Family business leaders are some of the absolute nicest people around!
Listen to Wayne this week in our blog as he shares his experiences and opinion about great and successful leaders. We look forward to hearing your stories, thoughts and comments.
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Mike Miyahira says:
I agree in part with Rudy. My take on this is that successful leaders are very effective managers of people. They know how to work with a wide range of people, their personalities, their likes and dislikes, etc. They know that people like to be treated with respect and courtesy. They know that relationships matter. Being ‘nice’ is not a coincidence, but a reflection of their ability to work with people.
Wayne Rivers says:
Well said, Mike
Rudy says:
I agree with your basic theory about kind hearted leaders tend to attract and sustain good people and , in general, are successful. However, I think that your premise is more a reflection of ones values and beliefs about people in general . For example, success in ant endeavor requires incredible grit and tenacity. To be a kindhearted soul amid the trials and tribulations of growing a business can only reflect ones values of sincerely caring about others–not simply the the guy who is chummy with his crew and customers.
Wayne Rivers says:
Good observations. Guess I should’ve gone a little deeper…
Steve Legler says:
Wayne, I’ve noticed this as well.
Here is a blog post I wrote about it a couple of years ago;
https://shiftyourfamilybusiness.com/2016/05/08/humble-and-kind/
Keep those videos coming,
Steve
Wayne Rivers says:
Thanks, Steve.
Chip Greene says:
Sometimes it seems that being a family business owner I’m too nice. But i’ve always tried to treat my employees like i would want an employer to treat me. I think overall it has benefited me.
Similar story to yours; my wife was driving out of New York City one evening over to Newark so she could avoid rush hour traffic the next morning. She hit a pot hole and busted the tire. She had a temporary spare but needed the permanent tire fixed and put back on. I knew a fellow contractor in Princeton through my affiliation with PHCC and got in touch with him to see if he could help. She went by his shop the next morning and his wife (whom we also knew) took her to the coffee shop while the tire got put back on (which happen to be next door to their shop). Same deal-no charge for the repair or the coffee!
Wayne Rivers says:
Thanks, Chip. I bet there are thousands of stories like yours out there…