The Hero Factor

The Hero Factor teaches by example that real leadership success focuses on people as much as profits.

In business, you have to have profits to survive. Without positive cash flow, you can’t maintain your daily activities, let alone keep any employees. But your people are just as important as a steady stream of incoming cash. The way you take care of your team will make or break your business. So how do you make profits while caring for your employees at the same time?

Make sure that your income streams are solid by following the rules of operational excellence. Set goals to improve revenues over time. Make sure that what you are offering provides value and is superior to your competition. Finally, consistently seek to gather and retain great people on your team.

Caring for the needs of your team members is more about your own openness to collaboration than anything else. Heroic leaders are great listeners who aren’t afraid to admit when they’re wrong. They have the courage and humility to let themselves not be the smartest person in the room. Diversity of perspectives is also a powerful tool that heroic leaders employ to care for their people.

Think of a boss that you’ve had that was open to your suggestions for their improvement and genuinely listened when you offered them. How did their character make you feel? This is the same power that you can hold for those you lead as well.

It’s one thing to see a company have a mission statement and values. But the feeling we get when we see people live their values is entirely different. Let’s look at a positive example of this to learn another level of heroic leadership.

In June of 2018, police arrested two African American men in a Philadelphia Starbucks. According to the manager who called the police, the men wouldn’t leave the store. But the men were only waiting for another friend to get there before they bought their food.

While a clear example of racism, these actions by the manager also defied the values of Starbucks, which is to be a place where anyone, customer or not, can congregate together.

Starbucks put its values over profits by closing 8,000 of its stores one afternoon to provide training about racial bias. Even in the wake of the public failure of one of its managers to live their values, Starbucks decided to make the sacrifice to help their employees better practice what they were preaching.

Example is the best teacher and is one of the most vital components of heroic leadership.