Growing up in a family
business, John P. Ferry
Jr. learned a valuable lesson about respect.
“Just realize you don’t
demand respect; you have to
really earn it, and that takes
awhile sometimes to learn
that, to grow up and understand that it’s not just given,”
says the president and CEO
of Robertson’s Flowers.
“You’ve got to earn it.”
From previous generations
at the 81-year-old florist, Ferry
also learned how to be a good
listener, something he credits
with his success in leading
the company, which posted
2006 revenue of $6.5 million
and employs about 80 full-and part-time workers at
three locations.
Smart Business spoke
with Ferry about how to
earn respect from your
employees and how to be a
good listener.
Q. How can leaders earn
respect from their employees?
One of the things is to make
sure somebody knows that
you’ve done their job so that
you at least have an understanding. You work alongside
them at some point.
It’s difficult to do in some
capacities, but I think it helps
a lot if the people you’re leading realize you have done
their job. Certainly not full-time or anything close to that,
but that you know what they
go through. I think that is
really critical.
I’ve heard too many criticisms of people that, ‘This
person just doesn’t understand.’ It’s that old adage,
‘Don’t judge a person until you’ve walked in their
shoes.’ Do it in kind of a
small scale, but just understand what somebody goes
through. You need to be able
to do that. Every so often, do
it again so people see that
aspect of you that you are
willing to do that.
Q. How does earning that
respect help you grow the
company?
It gets employees and
everyone on the same page.
This is a tough business to be in. Everybody’s business is
tough in some
respects, but this
demands some ridiculous hours because it’s
so seasonal.
You’re asking a lot of
people to work 80-hour
weeks for three or four
straight weeks during
the Christmas season,
and people get tired. By
the 24th, everybody, no
matter how good they
are, has just had it with
the holiday.
If it starts out bad, or
if you don’t have the
respect, they are never
going to make it that
long. If it starts out with a
good foundation, then people will do anything you
want, sometimes without
really even being asked.
They just realize that is part
of the job and it’s expected,
and they actually help kind
of ride herd over anyone that
is new.
Q. How can a leader become
a better listener?
I think it’s maturation.
Sometimes, when I look back at what I was like when
I was 25, I cringe with what I
would do. I learned a lot as I
went along. I had some great
teachers. I had some great
examples.
But until I had children, I
think that’s actually what
kind of solidified everything
for me. That made me realize
I needed to be a better listener, and I needed to be a little
bit more empathetic and
realize that I was teaching
and not dictating to people.
Until I had that experience, I don’t think I was really
good at that.
Q. How do you make sure
employees know that you’re
hearing them?
Listen to what they are saying as opposed to talking
over them. I’m sure you’ve
experienced people in your
lifetime that may look like
they’re going through the
effort. They’ll ask a question,
but instead of just listening to
the answer, they’re responding. They’re responding to
your answer, and I don’t
think that builds any kind of
trust or respect. Let somebody say their total piece,
and have an honest dialogue.
That’s what I meant by
being honest. I may disagree
with you or disagree with
somebody, but I’m going to
tell you why or what we’re
going to do or why we’re
going to do it. I will listen to
what you have said and honestly take it into consideration.
You don’t just do things
because that is the way it is
done or that is the way we
did it 20 years ago. You have
to be open to some change
and especially listen to people that are on your front
line.
If somebody is dealing with
the customers all day long,
they’ve got a better perspective of that than you do. Or,
if someone is dealing with
suppliers all day long, they
have a better perspective on
that than you did. So, honestly, listen to what they are
saying and try to be receptive to it.
HOW TO REACH: Robertson’s Flowers, (215) 836-3050 or www.robertsonsflowers.com