Free Pizza Part 1 - The call of leadership 🍕🫵

Yesterday I was given a leadership challenge.  You may not immediately think of it that way, but the story includes every single component in my definition of success, which is:

Persuading the…

…right PEOPLE

…in the right VOLUME

…to take the right ACTIONS

…at the right TIME

If you think about it you will find that everything you consider to be a success in your life is a result of that formula.  You need to get enough people who are right for your offering and culture to agree to your terms on a certain timeline.  Then you do it again.  If you can keep doing it you’ll stay in demand.  Lose the edge and you’ll stagnate, eventually shrink.  It’s a perpetual challenge to keep doing it, and that’s how we grow.

So, how does this relate to free pizza?  Here’s Part 1…

My kids are on the swim team through our local YMCA.  The central competitive events of this sport are swim meets, hosted by YMCAs all over the state.  On any given weekend during swim season you’ll find us loading up the minivan and trekking across the state to all these different meets.  My favorite part is exploring and relearning foreign YMCAs.  The hardest part is the waiting.  Each kid will swim in 4 or 5 events, and this requires camping out in the gym all day in a folding chair, passing the time, and resisting the temptation to derail your diet at the concession stand.  Visiting a swim meet is like waiting for a flight, but with greater cognitive load.  I typically pace around the building, listening to podcasts and audiobooks, all the while working hard not to miss my kids’ events.

Hosting is actually more fun, because then we have jobs to do, as each meet is run by a crack team of volunteers.  It’s actually a great case study in healthy teamwork and culture.  Swim families are good people, and so the teamwork and cultures tend to be easy, emanating as they do from a good place.

Yesterday I worked at the concession stand, manning the cash box - I like that and I’m good at it.  One of the most popular items is pizza from our local by-the-slice joint.  You try to calculate your supply correctly.  We were close - just a little leftover, ending the day with a jumbled pile of stale cheese, pepperoni, and sausage in one box.

No one likes to waste food.  Someone asked, can we get rid of this?  And suddenly my purpose was clear.  I saw the vision of an empty box to throw on the stack, and the team’s satisfaction as the remaining pizza found a good home instead of going to waste.  The time was NOW.  The choice was mine to accept the call and spring into action…

Tomorrow - did Aaron accept the call, or shrink away in fear?  Tune in next time for the exciting second installment 📻