Page 123 - Everything I Know About Business I Learned

Lead by Example

Ray’s lead was easy to follow, and that made it easy for others
to subscribe to the direction he set for the system. It wasn’t hard
to know what to do—though you felt the pressure to have your
game on. As Irv Klein, a retired longtime franchisee, explained to
me: “When Fred did walk in your store, or Ray came in, it scared
you to death, but at the same time, it made you feel you were really
part of something.” The company’s commitment to QSC was dem-
onstrated throughout the system—and we strived to honor the
same mission that the top executives believed in.
Ray, the owner of the San Diego Padres, adopted the same
approach with that team, Ed Rensi reminded me. “One game
was just hideous, and Ray went into the pressroom and got on
the PA system and said, ‘I apologize to the 40,000 people in the
stands about what crummy baseball the Padres were playing.’ He
wanted us to stop off at the ticket booth, so he could refund all
our money because we shouldn’t have to pay for such garbage.
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Talk about leading by example, honesty, and integrity. You look
at these little stories and they imply what these guys believed.
You’ve got to act like who you want to be.”
Ed and others who worked closely with Ray always knew
where he stood. “He had the native ability to lead,” Ed said,
“much more so than I think he ever realized. But he was a man
who was very influential [with] other men. Part of that was being
a sales manager. Leading by example—well, that’s Ray.”
Don Horowitz, retired executive vice president of the legal
department, made this interesting observation to me: “They taught
management in the restaurants, and they were really watching the
operation and talking to the crew and knew what the hell was going
on at the lowest level. I think that was a huge difference.”
Ron Bailey, a six-store operator, said to me, “We still believe
in the hands-on approach, from the regional manager to the
business consultant. I always said the speed of the leader deter-
mines the rate of the pack. So when your crew sees you picking