Be greedy!

Money. We have to have it in order to survive. We often hear that it is the root of all that is evil. But is it?

 

 So, if greed is the seed, then what am I talking about today? I'll tell you what I am not talking about. I'm not talking about religion, or loving money so much it consumes your life and takes over your morals, integrity or manners. What I am talking about is success and work ethics. 

In 2001, at the age of 15, I started one of my first jobs working at a restaurant as a dishwasher. It was called Shiloh Steakhouse. If you ever get a chance to go through Cortez, Colorado, stop there because they have some amazing food! I worked after school 4 nights a week and then most of the day Saturday. I was responsible for taking a cloth to the silverware and water glasses to get all the water spots off of them and to make sure that all the dishes that went out to the diners had no remnants of food or leftover lipstick stains. I hated shining silverware and water glasses, it was mundane and I didn't see the point to shining the silverware of water spots. The wait staff usually made really great tips and were also compensated a little more because it was a practice of the restaurant to take a percentage of each wait staffs tips and divide it among the kitchen staff. I usually only got $5-10 each night but it was enough to put a little gas in my '74 chevy pickup and cruise Main street for a bit on the weekends. 

I remember one day seeing a notice on the schedule that there was a mandatory employee meeting on one of the days the restaurant was closed. The majority of us that worked there hated our boss because he was just that, a boss, not a leader. What he said during this meeting though has stuck with me the rest of my life and I still put it into practice today. He started out with a dustbin full of dirt and straw wrappers and toothpicks and orange rinds which he dumped on the floor. Then he pulled out a box of dishes that had stains and chips and remnants of food and lipstick which he placed a few at each table we were sitting at. He then pulled out a box of containers with rancid and moldy food from the walk-in refrigerator. For each section of the restaurant, he pulled out something that would make the respective employee cringe for seeing that their work was not done properly. He yelled. Loudly. He said he used to be proud of what he'd accomplished with this restaurant, but now looking at the mess us employees were turning it into, he was ashamed he owned it. He said,

 "I want you all to be greedy! I don't mean that I want you to start robbing one another of opportunities. I want you to want the whole restaurant to succeed so the customer is happy in the end and tips better, which means better tips for everyone. It also means that customer will tell someone else how great we are and recommend us to them."

For me and my other fellow dishwasher, this meant clean and polished dishes because if the dishes aren't clean then the wait staff has to replace them and that makes them look bad. 

I worked there for just over a year and got a taste for almost every position in that restaurant because people would call in sick, so I would "be greedy" and cover for them. I took these words with me to every job I worked. I wanted the company as a whole to succeed, so I developed a "greedy" attitude. I don't call it being greedy so much as I call it taking on the "its my job" attitude. 

Another case in point was when I worked at IFA country store. My official job title was receiving clerk. The job description included checking in shipments, unpacking the merchandise and labeling it, securing it and receiving it into inventory. I was also in charge of returns, cycle/inventory counts, till counts, and daily sales reconciliation. Nowhere in that description does it include helping store customers in any way, shape or form. Yet, every time I walked through the warehouse and there was a customer that needed pet/livestock feed loaded and I was able to load it for them, I would do it. If, on my way to the upper level offices I saw a line forming at the registers, I would stop and check a customer out to get the line moving. If, while counting inventory a customer came into my view, I would stop and ask if I could assist them in any way. It was never in my job description, but it was my job to make sure I was doing everything in my power at all times to help the company succeed. 

Having this mindset has always been what has earned me the most raises. So, while I'm not exactly "greedy" I am definitely motivated by the overall success of the company I work for or even the company I run myself. I want to be successful myself and sometimes that means helping others succeed too. So, be greedy, or whatever because it is your job to define what success means to you.

Have an amazing day!