The Standard Is The Standard

When I first got my foot in the door, I was just a college kid working the floor – Warehouse Associate, freshman year, no real plan except to make some money. I was lucky enough to climb up quickly, but even at 19, doing the same tasks day in and day out, I realized fast that the folks in charge didn’t always know what we actually needed to do the job right.

You know how it is – you’re at the bottom and you catch yourself thinking, “If I was running this place, I’d do it this way, fix that, clean up this mess…” We’ve all done that.

When I started moving up, I kept that same mindset in my back pocket. Whenever I got a shot to improve something, I’d start by going right back to the guys doing the work. I’d run ideas by them first, and honestly, that’s when I learned what listening really means. Yeah, you’ll get hit with complaints – and not every one of them is a hill to die on – but if you brush it all off, you’ll miss the problems you’ll end up fixing later anyway.

Back then, I’d do my own brainstorm sessions: whiteboard, Expo markers, a ridiculous amount of coffee, scribbling boxes and arrows until it made sense. Eventually, I stopped doing it solo. I blocked time, got the floor crew involved, and we’d burn a couple hours working through the whole process end to end. We’d even build extra units ahead of time to cover the gap – probably the only reason my boss ever signed off on it, if we’re being honest.

We’d test the wilder ideas on a trial run, then circle back and tweak them together. Once the crew saw their ideas actually make it to the floor, they bought in even more. People started holding each other accountable, pride kicked in, and the vibe noticeably shifted.

There’s actually data to back this up too. Gallup ran a study on employee engagement and found that teams who feel like their ideas are heard are up to 21% more productive and show way higher retention. Makes sense, right? When people know you’re not just nodding your head but actually putting their input into play, they’ll show up for you. They’ll take pride in it because they had a hand in building it.

As the great Mike Tomlin once said, “The standard is the standard.” As a leader, you’re responsible for setting that standard.

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