Walk into cafe. General manager is sitting at a table working on something.
20 minutes later he walks by. I catch his attention, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you sit for so long. You’re always moving!”
He nods, “Yeah, the 6 hour manager meetings we have are brutal.”
“I bet.”
“You’ve seen Gabe working though, right?”
“Yeah, he never stops. If he isn’t doing loopty loops between bussing tables or replacing coffee, he’s cleaning windows.”
“And Stephanie…”
“Yeah, she does laps.”
“And Jose…”
“He’s your sweeper guy. He’s either sweeping or washing the floor. He never stops either.”
He laughs.
What I find remarkable about this conversation is that he took a compliment and then deflected it in a way that showed praise and respect for those he manages.
I like that.
I like that a lot.