Page 184 - Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company

Practice, Practice, Practice 165

There were more formal celebrations, too, when a milestone was met,
but these were on company time and at company expense. The impromptu
gatherings were more family affairs and really served to establish cross-
cultural bonds.

Our Featured Organization: Men’s Wearhouse

SERVANT LEADERSHIP IN ACTION

Most retailers don’t put training on their “to do” list, and when people fail
to perform, they’re sent packing. Why bother developing people, when we
can pay people with less experience less money and when we know there
are people on the street that we can hire? some may ask. George Zimmer,
however, and his team at Men’s Wearhouse, North America’s largest spe-
cialty retailer of men’s tailored clothing and business attire, know why this
thinking is short-sighted.
George has invested years of tending to his culture where “Servant
Leadership” rules. This practical philosophy of motivating, supporting,
and inspiring (all words incorporated into Men’s Wearhouse mission
statement) is the foundation for all of the company’s training programs.
Servant Leadership at Men’s Wearhouse is about nurturing people and
training them to become the best they can be: “self-actualized” (another
word from Men’s Wearhouse mission statement). “It’s about how much
you impact the people below you, not impress the people above you,”
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Shlomo Maor, associate vice president of training told us. Based on
teachings of the late Robert Greenleaf who coined and defined the
concept in the 1970s, the essence of Servant Leadership is the adoption
of persuasive rather than manipulative power. Since leaders must be
“authentic” in the mind of George Zimmer, the entire Men’s Wearhouse
culture has become a caring and benevolent one where leaders know that
their business is more about people than about men’s clothing.
Seeking out individuals who like other people, who are optimistic,
who have passion, and who are trainable is much more important to the
leadership of Men’s Wearhouse than finding folks with stellar resumes. In
fact, many employees of the company are ones who were viewed as failures
in their former work lives. Potential new hires who arrive here quickly
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