I walked into my neighborhood coffee shop for my regular Americano, but walked out with a lesson, a leadership lesson. Let me explain.
The Beginning
This coffee shop opened here in my town around three years ago. Since then, I have become a regular customer. If I have time in the morning, I just walk there, I’m even the first or second customer, I have my morning coffee and walk back home. That’s how I start my days.
When I walked in one day, I saw a guy who was kind of different. He was hardworking, you could feel it. He was different, and I just started talking with him. I asked, “Hey, are you the owner of this branch?” He told me no, he was just the manager of that branch.
When I say “just,” I mean it is still a big responsibility, but he was acting like the owner of that branch, he had a different approach. That’s what I thought. I remember when I walked out, I told myself: if one day I decide to get a franchise for a coffee shop, I should have a manager like that. That was the impression he left on me.
Three Years Later
Fast forward to 2025. As usual, I walked in and he was there. I started talking with him again, and here’s what I learned: He was assigned to another role. This time, he was not just the manager of that specific branch, he was some kind of regional manager, overseeing the coffee shops in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. There was another lady assigned as manager for that branch.
When I learned that, I was not suprised. It was something he deserved.
The Lesson
Here’s what I’m talking about: I’m talking about a guy I saw only a couple of minutes per week. My total interaction with him is no more than 60 minutes overall, but I was still somehow expecting this person to be at another level of management.
Here’s my lesson, what I learned from this interaction: When people look at you, even though they see you for only a couple of minutes, they should feel like “Hey, this guy is different. This guy is doing his job well. I want to work with him.” That is what we should try to be.
I’m not just talking about work life here, I’m not limiting this to work life. When people look at you and see you interact with your kids, they should say, “Hey, I need to learn something from him because he is doing whatever he is doing well.”
The Impact
This is some kind of leadership lesson, a life lesson for me. If that manager can leave such a strong impression on me after only brief interactions, I believe that’s the kind of positive impression we can leave on others through even short encounters.
Watch the Video
I also shared this leadership lesson in video format. You can watch it here: