Remember that barista I wrote about back in February?  The one who made it her business to know my name and drink order and have it ready before I ever got to the counter, despite not being required by her company, a national US coffee retailer, to know or do either?  Well, she just left for college, superstar that she is.

So, on a recent Sunday morning when I went to the café, I expected to miss her greeting and her service.  And I did.  But no sooner did I get to the counter, than one of her co-workers saw me and called out a hello as she whisked by, hustling to fill drink orders during the morning rush.  And she didn’t just say hello, she greeted me by name.  I placed my order, grabbed one of the last remaining tables with comfy seats, and sat down to write.  And before my computer could finish booting up, a steaming mug of hot chocolate was delivered to my table by the barista who made it.  Yes, she of the greeting and the hustling to fill orders.  My name wasn’t called, I didn’t have to go to the counter to retrieve my drink.  She just brought it to me with a pleasant, “Here you go, Sarah.”

Culture isn’t just top-down.  It’s lateral, as well.

Are you hiring superstars who are able to self-lead, who make all boats rise by their presence and performance?  And are you capturing and creating best practices for your entire team, thereby leveraging their excellence?

I’ll be talking about self-leadership next month when delivering the closing keynote on Magnificent Leadership™ at Blue Cross Blue Shield’s senior leadership event.

And if you haven’t yet made it to the beach this year, and want to combine business and some sun, I’m giving the opening session keynote on Magnificent Leadership™ at the New Jersey Bankers Annual Conference in gorgeous Palm Beach, Florida at The Breakers.  Go here to register.

If you’d like to have a mutually exploratory conversation about working with me directly on your own leadership and what you can do to further excel and drive business outcomes, you can reach me at sarah@sarah-levitt.com.  I’ll have openings in mid-Q2.