Standing at the Counter
I had two part-time jobs as I worked my way through engineering school at ASU. For those of you non-Arizonans, ASU is "Arizona State University," or the home of the Sun Devils.
There are a couple of other universities in Arizona, but offhand I can't remember their names…
(I'm going to take some heat for that. It's an Arizona rivalry thing.)
My first job was as a radio announcer at KHEP 1280 in Phoenix. Our tag line was "Today's Radio for Today's Christian." We also had an FM station that played classical music, so I actually worked on-air shifts at both.
My second job was at Scholar's Toys, Hobbies and Crafts, where I did everything from stocking shelves, selling, customer service and cleaning toilets. And anything else the owner had in mind.
Scholar's was in the strip mall on the Northeast corner of 16th Street and Glendale. Some of you fellow Zonies may remember it.
Like most retail locations, Scholar's had busy and slow periods. It amazed me that people would all seem to show up together at the most random times, like they all messaged each other and said "hey, let's all run over to Scholar's so we can overload that nice young man that works there."
Scholar's was, in fact, where I developed my "Bovine Attraction Index" theory, or "The BAI" for short. But that's a story for another time.
One Saturday, about 30 people walked in over a 5 or 10 minute period right after lunch. I was, of course, the only one in the store.
It didn't take long for a line to start forming at the checkout counter. I was gradually falling behind, and the phone was also ringing off the hook.
After I finished the call, the next person in line was an older gentleman who looked me right in the eye and said, in a very kind voice, the following:
"Young man, when people take the time to visit your store personally, it is rude to make them wait when you are the phone with people who are probably just looking for the cheapest price. I'm here because I know Mr. Scholar and wish to support his business. You would do well for yourself if you learned this valuable lesson now."
Ouch.
And of course all the people in line behind him overheard his comments and murmured their collective agreement with his sentiment.
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I felt like crawling under a rock.
Guess what?
He was absolutely right.
Most people that called were indeed looking for the cheapest price, and most of them had no intention of ever visiting the store. There were exceptions, of course, but by and large this gentleman hit the nail right on the head.
I've never forgotten that lesson. It has affected my leadership ever since.
The world is getting more connected technologically all the time, but less connected relationally.
Many of these technological tools are helpful, but if they distract us from our real connections (as the telephone did in my story) we are doing ourselves a disservice as leaders.
Who is currently "standing at the counter" in your life?
Spend some time with them. They've invested the time to "show up" in person. They deserve a reciprocal investment from you.
Authentic relationships may be an endangered species, but it's up to us as leaders to make sure that they never go extinct.