#202 - Empower and Serve Your Team: Leadership Insights

Unlock the secrets to exceptional leadership on this episode of the Scott Townsend Show, featuring recurring guest Matt Clark. Discover how integrating multiple leadership styles—like democratic, transformational, and autocratic—can transform your team dynamics and drive outstanding results. Matt delves into the nuances of each approach, emphasizing the critical role of team involvement in decision-making and how to balance the responsibility between leaders and their teams. Hear about real-world examples that illustrate adapting leadership styles to suit the experiences and aspirations of individual team members, ensuring every member grows and thrives.

We also tackle the fundamental responsibilities of effective leaders, from fostering an environment where employees can make decisions without fear to turning mistakes into learning opportunities. Matt shares invaluable strategies for managing challenges, such as working with inexperienced staff and promoting open communication to resolve issues efficiently. Explore how true leadership is about serving and empowering your team, breaking down barriers, and creating a culture where leaders are approachable and proactive. This episode is a must-listen for anyone serious about mastering the art of leadership and building a supportive, high-performing work environment.

Chapters

• 0:07 Styles of Leadership in Discussion
• 11:59 Leadership Responsibilities and Effective Communication

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:07

Welcome to the Scott Townsend Show brought to you by Dietzelman Productions.

Speaker 2: 0:11

Hey, so this is Scott Townsend. Welcome back to the Scott Townsend Show, and today I have with me recurring guests.

Speaker 1: 0:17

You may be.

Speaker 2: 0:19

I was thinking about this the other day. You might be the most recurring guest, yeah, Maybe I'm not sure yet, so we'll see. I just don't have a picture on the wall the other day. You might be the most recurring guest, yeah, Maybe I'm not sure yet, so we'll see.

Speaker 3: 0:28

I just don't have a picture on the wall.

Speaker 2: 0:30

There's Matt Clark, matt Clark, ladies and gentlemen, let's talk about leadership today. I want to talk about the different styles of leadership, and then I want to ask you a question after I get through this.

Speaker 3: 0:43

So Wait a minute. What you better? Not edit any of this.

Speaker 2: 0:50

Okay.

Speaker 3: 0:50

I like it raw.

Speaker 2: 0:54

All right, there's number one. I'm going to list off the different styles of leadership.

Speaker 1: 0:58

Okay.

Speaker 2: 0:59

Okay. Autocratic leadership, which is a style where the leader makes decisions without much input from the team. Okay, democratic leadership involves the team in decision-making processes, encouraging collaboration and shared responsibility. Number three transformational leadership focuses on inspiring and motivating team members to achieve exceptional results and personal growth. Exceptional results in personal growth. Number four transactional leadership based on a system of rewards and punishments, emphasizing clear structures and defined roles.

Speaker 2: 1:34

Laissez-faire leadership involves minimal interference from the leader, allowing the team to make decisions independently. Charismatic leadership centers around the leader's charm, persuasion and ability to inspire and influence others. Situational leadership adjusts leadership style based on the specific situation, tasks or individuals involved. Servant leadership prioritizes serving and supporting the team, with a focus on their well-being and development. Current leadership prioritizes serving and supporting the team, with a focus on their well-being and development. Authentic leadership emphasizes genuineness, self-awareness and transparency in leadership interactions. And last but not least and this is not a comprehensive list, I'm sure there's more Coaching leadership involves guiding and developing team members by providing continuous feedback and support. So, of these 10, autocratic, democratic, transformational, transactional, laissez-faire, charismatic, situational leadership or servant leadership, authentic leadership and coaching leadership which one do you most identify with?

Speaker 3: 2:51

Before I answer that, let me say I think it takes all of it.

Speaker 2: 2:54

You're right. You're absolutely right. I'm glad you said that, because if you didn't, I was going to have to bring that up later. You were going to snap at me.

Speaker 3: 3:00

I think it's a little bit of all all of it, but I lean heavily on the second and third one, which was sorry.

Speaker 2: 3:08

Democratic.

Speaker 3: 3:09

Democratic and transformational.

Speaker 2: 3:11

Transformational.

Speaker 3: 3:12

Yeah, because Democratic its strength is. You get the team involved, gives them more ownership. But I think if you don't limit it to like okay, we can all agree on this. But the final say is mine, because it all falls on me. It'll fall on you and the regular everyday duties, but the weight of the decision is mine. So if it's good or bad, it's on me. I would know. Let me rephrase that If it's good, I give it to the team.

Speaker 3: 3:46

That's 100% the truth from my heart. If it's good, it's the team, if it's bad, it's me.

Speaker 1: 3:57

Thank you for joining me. Scott Townsend Show. We'll be back right after this.

Speaker 2: 4:02

Hey, if you're enjoying the episode, why not share the love? Spread the word with your friends and family and, hey, don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode. Got something to say I'd love to hear from you? Shoot me an email at scott, at scotttownsendinfo, and let me know why you decided to subscribe. Your feedback means the world to us. Transformational leadership, you know. So, yeah, I mean, no matter what job they have, there's always room to go up. There's always room to grow, to develop, to take the next step. So that person you know it's a you need someone who's willing to do the job they have right now well, yeah, and learn how to do it even better. Then, when they show that, you know, hey, I'm, I'm actually kind of serious about this. What's the next step?

Speaker 2: 5:00

then you got somebody you can work with and help transform them into you know as high as they want to go, or sometimes they just want to stay where they are. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 5:09

Some people you have to teach it to Some people you don't Like I have a guy who works for me. He's in his 60s and you don't have to tell him much, you know, he just well, he just gets it. Obviously he's lived life, he's had many jobs and over his you know 40 year career of working, so he gets that. Okay, that probably should be wiped down. He gets okay, well, I'm gonna start, I'm gonna stock that because I don't want it running out while we're busy. You know he thinks that way. And then you have, on the opposite end of the spectrum, I have a 16 year old you know junior in high school who thinks he should be promoted because he's been there a year.

Speaker 3: 5:48

So I mean that is totally opposite ends of the spectrum. Well, I've been here a year and the previous general manager told me that I was going to get promoted. I was like, well, he's gone and I'm not seeing anything that shows me you should, besides your expectations of just I've been here a year. I mean a lot of young people think that way and that's just not the way it works. Show me you can do something, whether people want to believe it or not, if you don't add value, then I'm not going to look at you as much as somebody who does add value. But if I see that there is what is it called? A willingness to be a part of the team, then I will Maybe take on more tasks without being asked to take them on.

Speaker 2: 6:36

Take on more tasks.

Speaker 3: 6:37

I mean, we're never going to get away from people staring at their phones. That's never going to be a thing anymore, right, unless the grid crashes. So it's's just like how do I navigate that? And so how I decided to navigate it is guys, I don't care if you're on your phone, just don't make it an issue. Okay, I know you're gonna look at your phone, I'm gonna look at mine because I'm answering emails. My wife calls, my kids need me. I get it, but if it's a constant thing that I'm, just every time I'm around Snapchat, tiktok yeah.

Speaker 3: 7:09

I know when you're, you know you're taking a selfie or you know you're snapping someone. It's just obvious because everybody does it the same, as long as they don't make it an issue. It's not an issue for me, you know. But I mean, if that's the constant, then you're just devaluating yourself from the equation. So when it comes time for me to make a decision on your performance or you getting a raise or being a team lead, then these are the things that are going to pop back up into my memory about your performance, and a lot of people think that that's wrong. But I've been here a long time. Okay, great, I've paid you for all of it, you know.

Speaker 2: 7:51

Haven't missed one paycheck.

Speaker 3: 7:53

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 7:54

So, but you also need to help anybody really understand how a person gets promoted under your, under your guidance. So I've been here a year, okay. So obviously they don't understand that under you it's not about tenure, it's about merit, meritocracy, it's about, uh, earning the right to be promoted by proving by your merit, by things you've done and the things you don't do. You don't stand around and talk all the time. You don't stand around and look at your phone. You do get the work list done, you get it done ahead of time and that's how you get promoted around here. So let me tell everybody here here's how you get promoted on here. So let me just let me tell everybody here here's how you get promoted. It's not about tenure. I don't care if you've been here a year, two years, ten years. The person who's gonna get promoted around here is the person who can do their job, do it well and has the bandwidth, creates the bandwidth to take on more responsibility by working through others and to to problem solve, and to problem solve with no drama.

Speaker 3: 9:11

No drama. There's a certain level of. You know, we've all worked under leaders who can't handle stress or they can't handle being bothered. You know, trying to think of a, for instance, I remember when I first got into restaurant management the first close I had was a disaster was a Friday night. I was by myself. There should have been another manager there. There wasn't.

Speaker 3: 9:39

Storm blows in full restaurant kills our power. I have to figure out how to get all these people to pay with the system being down. So we had to go old school with the credit cards, with that little slider thing that imprints it on that triplicate piece of paper. Then it was tough and you, just you figure it out and I didn't call anybody, I just powered through it Because, honestly, there's nothing that I'm going to do, that's going to. I mean, it's not going to destroy the company. You know, just figure it out If you lose.

Speaker 3: 10:16

I'll never forget what the president of that, of that that corporation, said. He's like listen, on the management level, if you spend $200 trying to make something right, it's okay. He's like, because when you make a decision, it's going to cost us hundreds. He said never forget, when I make a decision, it's millions. I remember going back to when I was in the restaurant. I remember not knowing if the pilot lights on the stove should be left on and I remember calling I remember David Ray at 2 in the morning and being like hey, david, sorry to bother you, are the pilots supposed to be left on? He's like, yeah, he just hung up on me Totally, I get it, but I have a kid right now. He's 19 years old and he on me Totally, I get it. But I have a kid right now. He's 19 years old and he calls me about everything and at first I was just like, golly, dude, just handle it.

Speaker 2: 11:17

But I have to remind myself he's 19.

Speaker 3: 11:19

He should call a hundred times and I should answer hey man, what's going on, what do you?

Speaker 3: 11:23

need, he doesn't know, and for me to get irritated would be. I mean, if it's the same thing over and over again, like somebody spilled another tea, what do I do? You know that's okay, but hey, we're out of this, or we're going to run out of that, or I need somebody to come in. You know I shouldn't be irritated with that. He's 19. What I should do is just take everything that he's given me sit down with less and less, except for the fact that he's still calling yeah, so I've told people before.

Speaker 2: 11:59

There's no mistake that you can make that I can't fix, so don't be afraid to make a mistake.

Speaker 1: 12:04

Just do it.

Speaker 3: 12:05

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 12:05

You know we'll work it out later. I mean, and I'm not even going to give that a mistake, just do it. You know we'll work it out later. I mean, and I'm not even going to give that a caveat, just fix it, you know, if we're not around, if you do something and you're not quite sure. Now, if it's a safety issue like pilot lights, to me that would be kind of a safety issue.

Speaker 1: 12:23

Do I leave the pilot lights on or?

Speaker 2: 12:25

not, that's legit. But as far as, uh, do I comp their meal or do I give them another bucket of paint? Or yeah, just go ahead, just take care of the customer. We'll work it out later. It'll be a teachable. Chalk it up to a teachable moment. It's probably my fault that I haven't trained you well enough to know the answer to that question, so that's on me next time it'll be on you if, if we do the same thing again.

Speaker 2: 12:50

But I'll take the hit for you and not to think. That's where management leadership comes in. Leaders take the hit. They remove the obstacles for the people who are working the front lines. Whether the front lines is in the restaurant, in oil and gas, business, churches, nonprofits, whatever you cover for your people so that they can do their job well.

Speaker 3: 13:17

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 13:17

Well, but so oftentimes the leaders don't want to be bothered that drives me nuts.

Speaker 3: 13:26

That's so inappropriate.

Speaker 2: 13:28

It's so bass-outwards it backwards yeah, it's dumb, I don't.

Speaker 3: 13:31

I don't like all leaders. Leaders should be approachable at any given moment. And I'm not talking about, like again, the little stuff like how do I sweep the floor. If they legitimately don't know, then yes, it's my responsibility to show them how I want it done or how it's to be done. But if it's the same question every day, week in, week out, then it's just like okay, are you just not hearing what I'm telling you? But leaders who can't be bothered, I don't know.

Speaker 3: 14:02

If you want people around you, here's what I would highly suggest anybody in a leadership position. If you have the ability to hire the people around you, then hire people who are capable. Yeah, I'm glad you said that because it made me think of. I tell all of the people who work underneath me your job as a team lead is not to be in charge, like, if that's your thing, then I'm huge red flags and I think we've talked about that before.

Speaker 3: 14:32

Your job is to serve the 16 year old, the 17, 18, the people who don't know. Your job is here to make their job easier. Guess what? That makes your job even that much harder when I tell them, like, in a shift, I want you constantly circling. It doesn't mean I want you not working. It means that you are the you're the one who takes the weak link and mends it back together, and it's at times. It's a lot of hard work. I think everybody's intrigued by the leadership role, but they don't really know what goes along with it and all the training that goes along with it and all the figuring stuff out. That's very stressful in in the moment, but if you figure it out, it's not an issue anymore. I have spoken to many leaders who have this thing where it's just like I want everybody to know I'm in charge, which is a weird dynamic to me mm-hmm because I need to.

Speaker 3: 15:25

I need multiple people who are in charge, sure, not to make my job easier, but to make my job more. I can't be there for everything, right? So I need my assistant manager here to step up and lead, and she's doing a phenomenal job of it. Are there things that we're still running into issues-wise? Yeah, but if you're a good leader, you expect those issues before they happen. What's going to happen when she runs into an issue with somebody who's older than her that I hired because of their experience and previous? You know us working together and I can give you that scenario So-and-so, I don't think is doing their job right.

Speaker 3: 16:15

Everything I tell them they give me excuses, blah, blah, blah. Or they just constantly tell me issues they're having. I'm like okay, what did you? What conversation did you have with them about this? Well, I haven't yet. I was like okay. So here's the situation. Like your, your days of complaining are over with. Yes, I'm glad you're complaining to me and not the rest of the staff, but you're the solution now.

Speaker 3: 16:39

So, in order for me to get this assistant manager to be able to lead this person who's older, has more experience in the workforce, I said I want you to sit down with them and talk to them about their issues. What are your issues? Because the thing that my assistant manager kept telling me is like I can get it done. If I was here, I could get it done. Okay, well, she can't. So we need to find out why she can't. And come to find out.

Speaker 3: 17:09

It was just like we were just putting so much on that one shift that this person was working, and so I said here's what you're going to do. You're going to sit down with them. You're going to sit down with them, you're going to talk to them. You're going to get all of their feedback. Why is this happening? Why can't you get this done? And I say it in a respectful way because you would not want anybody coming to you and being like why can't you get this done? Is it too much for you? Anybody that comes to me like that. I'm just like hey, chief, calm down. I was like do it in a respectful way, because you're here to serve them, don't forget that. And so what it did when they would sit down after a couple times is it built this rapport between both of them? Okay, I see, okay, I'm gonna help during the day get this done so we can take that off of you at night.

Speaker 3: 17:46

See and now they were two people communicating 100, and so it's been really, really good to see that happen, mm-hmm all right.

Speaker 2: 17:56

Well, all those listening out there, hey, I want you to know that I'm raising money for Movember a thousand dollars. I'm raising a thousand dollars oh my god, I've already got 20 so I'm well on my way.

Speaker 2: 18:11

so those of you out there want to donate, you can check out, put a link in the show notes and you can make a little donation to the Scott Townsend Show Movember page and help raise money for testicular cancer awareness, prostate cancer and mental health, suicidal situations that a lot of men deal with. So from Matt Clark, this is Scott Townsend. Have a great day. Thanks for joining us. Everything's going to be all right and we'll talk to you later.

Speaker 1: 18:46

The Scott Townsend Show is a Deetso man production. For more episodes, visit the Scott Townsend Show YouTube channel. Listen on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.