GUEST COLUMN: Famous Dave on Being a Good Teacher First

By "Famous" Dave Anderson

Posted on Facebook

Most recently, all of us business owners have repeatedly heard or said—“Where have all the good, hard-working employees gone?—it seems like the kids today have no clue of what “work ethic’ means. This tells me that, as entrepreneurs, we’re not doing a good job of being teachers. Where I am going with this discussion is that instead of trying to look elsewhere for blame—the only way to fix the problem is to own it.

Most business owners think they are in the business of selling a product and growing their business. After all, a business that doesn’t grow is dying. You have to grow! However, what almost all business owners don’t get— is that they are actually in the business of “Growing Their People First.”

Whenever someone walks in a store and asks to see the Manager—generally they are thinking “Who is managing the business?” When in fact, they should be thinking—“Who is responsible for growing and teaching the employees in this business!"

A great business owner is actually a great teacher first! A business is like school—you have the Top of The Class Students, Average Students, and The Bottom of The Class Students. In business, you have the A-Team Employees, Average Employees, and The Bottom Bustouts that need to be fired. The best way to grow a business is to focus on growing Average Employees into the finest A-Team possible!

I have learned the hard way that I should be spending more time figuring out how to grow my Average Employees into “A-Team Players" than worrying about sales. If I can turn the average employee into an “A-Team Player,” then the business of selling my product will take care of itself. Growing “A-Team Players” begins with creating a Vision for a Better Future. True inspiration comes—not from selling the company’s features— but from selling the person on their own successful future—first.

I’ve always said, “When a person thinks they are working for a business—trying to teach them anything is like pushing rope. When an employee believes in themselves first and they believe they can be successful in their career—they will pick up the rope and carry the business forward into a successful future!"

I always wanted to train my team into the best they could become so that other businesses would want to steal my employees— they were that good! In fact, someone once said, “Dave, you spend a lot training your people, but what happens if they leave to go work for someone else?"—and I replied, “Well, what happens if I don’t invest in training my people—and they stay!”

I always believed that if I did a good job training my people to be successful in life— then they would be loyal to my business because what they learned at work would transfer back to their families and create a more successful life at home. A “job” isn’t about working for money—it's about learning how to be happy, believing you are integral to creating a better future, and making other people happy no matter what you do to earn your living.

Here’s the most important point—You can’t grow a successful business without successful thinking team members first!

At the end of the day, training people or teaching your team how to be successful in life is all about learning how to make “other people” happy first!

The very best teachers just don’t teach, they inspire their students. Inspiring a student is all about giving them a belief in themselves that they can dream bigger dreams and achieve anything in life. Nothing is impossible. You grow a business by being a great teacher. A great teacher in business is called a “Vision Caster”—as an entrepreneur, you share your passion for a better future by making a lot of people happy! A great teacher is a Good Finder. A great entrepreneur, business owner, or manager is always a Good Finder! Be The Best Grower of People You Can Be…

I leave you with this thought—Your training department should be bigger than your marketing department!

“Famous Dave” America’s Rib King and BBQ Hall of Fame!