Struggling to Inspire? Kristen Hadeed Gives 3 Tips at EntreCon®

  • March 11, 2019
  • /   Lynne Randall
  • /   entrecon,EntreCon Pensacola,training-development
Kristen Hadeed Speaking to Crowd at EntreCon 2018
Author and keynote speaker Kristen Hadeed joined EntreCon® 2018 to share her three best leadership practices—empowerment, feedback, and relationships—and explains how she had to learn these the hard way. 

Kristen started her cleaning company, Student Maid, as a way to finance her $99 jeans. However, she found herself struggling with inspiring her team members to perform well. When asked how she fixed her problem, Kristen humbly stated, “I became a human being, admitted my weaknesses, and asked for help.”  

Kristen started with 60 employees and no knowledge of how to do her job. After losing 75% of her workforce the first day, panic set in. Under the subtle pretense of an early paycheck, she was able to gather her employees to apologize and offer new practices; the first change was for her—learning to lead. “I became obsessed with leadership… I wanted people who couldn’t wait to get to work,” said Hadeed.

Empowerment

Kristen discovered that part of being a good leader was to empower her employees to solve problems on their own. 

She was a “one-woman” show without the stamina to continue. After a St. Louis trip prevented her from being the “one-woman” problem solver, she realized her Millennial workers could make critical decisions— “I will never forget how proud they were to tell me they figured it out,” she says. 

From that day forward her leadership style began to change. She decided she was going to step back so other people in the company could step up. By doing that, she also realized the only way for people to grow was to sometimes make mistakes. For Hadeed, empowerment meant trusting others with responsibility before they’ve even proven they can handle it.

Feedback

Kristen’s second leadership practice, feedback, began to emerge when she visited Bill, her toilet-cleaning-despondent employee. Bill was depressed about cleaning too many toilets, a job he felt was embarrassing and demeaning. “I didn’t know if I should offer him a snack or a nap,” Kristen laughs. 

She started giving Bill a slightly embellished pep talk about his exceptional toilet-cleaning skills and excellent work ethic. Before she knew it, Bill requested another toilet! Kristen realized that as a leader her words held a lot of power. She did, however, discover that meaningless, insincere praise will still result in worker walkout: When we don’t give honest feedback because we are uncomfortable, we are being selfish.

Today, Kristen proudly uses Bob Chapman’s (Everybody Matters) feedback tool—the FBI method. 

• Feeling – Tell someone how you feel. 

• Behavior – What behavior made you feel that way? 

• Impact – What was the impact of the behavior? 

    Kristen also trains her millennial workforce in the FBI method. “I think we need intentional communication; teach people how to use their voice,” she states.


    Relationships

    The final leadership skill Kristen practices is building relationships. She realized from the first mass employee walk-out that she needed to really get to know her employees. “Our job is to get to know people deeply…People are walking around with ‘stuff’…The human piece is missing.”  

    According to Gallup, only 40% of employees believe their leaders care for them. 

    Kristen reminds us that Millennials are known as the “lonely generation” with a very high suicide rate. She’s thankful to be working in the cleaning business with Millennials and says she is thankful the industry chose her.


    In Conclusion

    I, personally, was fortunate to have the opportunity to improve my leadership skills. My former employer not only offered participation in boot camps to improve supervisory skills, but also invested in monthly leadership training for all on our leadership team. I valued the opportunity and lessons; I became a better leader! How often do you place people in leadership without necessary skills? How ready are you to equip your leaders to lead? Thanks to Studer Community Institute’s leadership workshops and yearly EntreCon® conference, our community IS investing in leadership! 

    I’m very excited for Quint Studer’s upcoming 2-part workshop series titled, The Busy Leader’s Handbook, as provides the opportunity for supervisors to improve their leadership skills. 


    So, how easy is it for you to take time out to show you really care?

    How much of your time are you willing to invest in others—getting to really know them, love them, lead them?

    Are you willing to show your vulnerabilities to your team? To be real? 


    Kristen believes it doesn’t really matter what type of work we do—it’s how we make people feel while they’re doing the work that makes all the difference. “If a cleaning company can inspire its people, any organization can.”

    What other leadership qualities do you find important that you would add to Kristen's list? Do you have a situation with one of these and would like additional resources for how to manage it? Email us at [email protected].  Also, be sure to sign up for our newsletter to get all of the latest articles on leadership development!


    About the Author:
    Lynne Randall, Human Resource and Talent Director for Chick-fil-A Bayou Blvd

    Lynne is currently the Human Resource and Talent Director for Chick-fil-A Bayou Blvd. When she is not co-leading her team, she enjoys volunteering with Studer Community Institute. She also is dedicated to developing a much-needed Career Transition group for Northwest Florida. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, biking and traveling with her husband to spend time with their four children and two grand-children.

    Lynne previously served as a business consultant specializing in human resource management for Chick-fil-A’s both in Tennessee and Florida. She also served Santa Rosa County high school students as a Career and Technical Education instructor specializing in Microsoft Office certifications.

    Lynne earned her master’s in business administration from the University of Southern Mississippi and completed Studer Education’s TeacherReady program to gain her Florida Professional Educator business education certification in 2015.
    Back to Blogs

    Recent Posts

    1. Charles Marohn CivicCon launches with a look at good growth in cities
    2. baby in a stroller Building stronger brains one baby, one parent at a time
    3. SCI debuts commercial on Early Learning City
    4. Entrecon: World class speakers and an opportunity to sharpen skills
    5. PYP Quality of Life survey 2017
    6. EntreCon Pensacola 2016: A look back
    7. Leadership tip: getting better employee takeaways
    8. Leadership tip: be interested instead of interesting
    9. Leadership tip: delivering difficult messages
    10. Brain Bags boost Arc, Early Childhood Court programs

    We use cookies to enhance your experience and improve our services and our website’s functionality. By continuing to use our website, including remaining on the landing page, you consent to our use of cookies.

    Your items have been added to the shopping cart. The shopping cart modal has opened and here you can review items in your cart before going to checkout