Last week I went to see Mark Cuban, owner of the Mavericks basketball team and an investor on the ABC show “Shark Tank,” speak here in Gainesville on his business successes, and give advice to students at the University of Florida. He spoke for about fifteen minutes and then for the next hour or so took questions from the audience. Over fifty people lined up to ask him for his take on business strategies and life after college. I remember thinking before we went that someone, surely, would try and pitch their company to him.
I didn’t know it would be Third Guy.
Third Guy was one of the first people to jump out of his seat to line up behind a microphone, waiting to ask Mark Cuban a question in front of hundreds of people. First Guy and Second Guy had great questions. Third Guy had a pitch. He started slowly, and (just as you can probably imagine) it was like watching a train wreck. He was nervous and started spewing out numbers to Mark to try and explain why his business was successful and why Mark should invest in it. Can you guess what happened? Mark stopped him immediately and redirected the question. Third Guy went in for the kill one more time, only to be shot down and have Mark move on to Fourth Guy. Third Guy went back to his seat.
At first I thought to myself “Why would anyone ever do that? What did he think would happen?” But then I thought about the bravado and confidence that it took for Third Guy to even attempt to pitch his company. He took a risk. He probably thought to himself “What is the worst thing that could happen?” He probably took a page from Cuban’s book, thinking that every “No” that he gets is one step closer to a “Yes”.
I began to think what would happen within companies that had more people like Third Guy. And I’m not just talking in sales. What if you had people making aggressive, bold decisions to better the business, the service, the experience? Employees that weren’t afraid of embarrassment or failure? Do you create a culture like that? Do you allow your employees the autonomy to act like Third Guy?
A few weeks ago, one of my receptionists had an older member come in to buy one of our new retail shirts. He was so excited because his wife had just gotten out of a major surgery and had wanted this specific shirt to wear after. He was going to surprise her with it. As he pulled out the money to pay for it, she stopped him and said, “This time it’s on us. Tell her to feel better soon so we can see her in here wearing it.” He was amazed and left in tears. The receptionist knew that we don’t just give away clothes, but she saw the opportunity to create a “WOW” moment with a member.
Give your staff the confidence, the ability, and the autonomy to act like Third Guy. Give them the power to make a difference and they’ll take it from there.
Amanda Purser is the front desk manager at Gainesville Health & Fitness. She can be reached at APurser@ghfc.com.
