Someone tagged the railroad bridge at the end of our block.

It says, “An army of sheep lead [sic] by lions will always defeat an army of lions lead [sic] by sheep.”

All four cars at the light praised me when I took this picture, thinking that I was going to report it to the authorities.

I took the picture because it gave me pause and made me think. The message would seem to be that the talent of leadership outweighs the talent of the workers. The leaders willing to make the bold moves will inspire their followers to accomplish greater things than leaders with weak ideas and strong followers. In battle that may be true, but in retail I’m not yet convinced.

A great work force without great leadership will ultimately fail.
A great leader without a great work force will ultimately fail.

Oh, they both might stick around by default for a while, but in retail both of these will fall quickly to lion leading lions.

You can spend all your time on training your staff, but if you don’t spend any time training yourself, another retailer will eat your lunch. Likewise, you can spend all your time training yourself, but if you don’t spend equal time training your staff, another retailer will clean your clock.

But when the lions are led by lions, the Savannah is all theirs for the taking.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS If you’re a sheep of a leader, hire a lion to manage your business. If you have a lot of sheep on the front lines, go find some lions to pounce on those customers. Don’t worry about teamwork. Lions work well in a pride. This book will show you how to identify the right type of lion, whether for management or the front lines.