Just recently I sat down with Cindy Lee, a good friend of mine and local leader. When you think of a leader, you might not think of Cindy, but there’s no doubt that she employs leadership every day in her line of work. Cindy is very active in her local church, volunteering on the Kitchen Committee (a big job in her church) and with AWANA, a children’s ministry. I think you’ll enjoy this interview with Cindy. As you read through it, look at some of the interpersonal skills that Cindy employs in her work as a leader. It will serve all of us well to learn to communicate and foster intentional relationships as Cindy does.
Next In Line: “Alright Cindy…tell me about what you do.”
Cindy: “I am assistant Deli Director over nine Price-Chopper delis. I have nine deli managers that I am in charge of. I have a boss over me. I work the stores, and he does most of the computer and inside work. I love being out and working with all kinds of different people. I go into the stores, we do resets, we train people, we try new foods, costing out new food, trying different products on the market, always looking for something to improve sales in the deli. I meet with salespeople who are trying to sell us those new products.
I train. I do a lot of training. Sometimes we move people. We have new managers that move up that don’t really know the job and I spend time with them training; teaching them how to do their job, showing them how to do their job. I really believe in showing and teaching by example.
I go in, I’m a hard worker (I’m not trying to toot my own horn by any means, but…). I have a lot of other people comment, not managers, but employees in the stores, “I can’t believe you come in here and work the way you do”. What am I supposed to do? You know. You come in and you work. Get things done.
Next In Line: “What would you consider your leadership style to be?”
Cindy: “Lead by example. I would never ask anybody else to do what I would not do myself, or have them see me do myself. When I was a deli manager, I would never ask anyone to do what I wouldn’t do. They would see me do it before I ever asked anyone else to do it, whether that’s scrubbing walls, scrubbing floors, scrubbing out the cooler, or whatever. I work right beside people. Work as hard as they do and they’ll work better for you. And I like people. I like what I do.”
Next In Line: “That helps”
Cindy: “It does help. I get to go around and work with a lot of different people; men, women, some good, some not so good.”
Next In Line: “How do you think being a Christian influences your leadership style?”
Cindy: “I treat people the way I would like to be treated. I talk to people the way I would like to be talked to. Sometimes when you have to discipline people, that gets a little bit harder. The hardest part of my job is probably letting somebody go because that’s really messing with someone’s life, but it’s not my choice, it’s their choice and the choices they make. That’s probably the hardest part.”
Next In Line: “Who or what has influenced your leadership the most?”
Cindy: “Probably my deli manager that I used to work for. Her name was Sue Wrigley. When I went to work for McKeevers (the owners of Price Chopper) I was a demo lady on Fridays and Saturdays, a few Sundays. Then I went to work as a deli employee for Sue. She was a good Christian woman. I then became her assistant manager, and then when we built a new store, at 135th and Mission, she went there to be the manager and I moved up to be the manager. I learned a lot from Sue. She was very hard working, very honest, told people the way it was. She probably has influenced me more, for what I’m doing right now. I have a great respect for the woman.”
Next in Line: “When did you realize that you had the capability to lead?”
Cindy: “I guess Sue Wrigley kind of grew me into that position because she saw it in me. I used to be a hairdresser before I went to work in the grocery store. I did hair for seven years for a beauty shop in Excelsior Springs (MO). I was good. I had a good clientele, and I was very, very busy. I made very good money and I worked two and a half days a week. In that, you kind of work for yourself. I have always been pretty independent. Pretty strong-willed sometimes, you might say. Probably went against my mother a few more times than what I should have. If I had to do things over I probably would have done things differently, like I’m sure we all would. I just like people, and I don’t consider myself above them or better than them. I’m their equal. I like working side by side with them. I’ve got a pretty good relationship with my managers, or I feel I have a good relationship with them because of that. They don’t hesitate to call me and ask me a question or bounce ideas back and forth with me.”
Next In Line: “I’m sure they’d let you know if they didn’t”
Next In Line: “What is the hardest thing about being a leader? You talked before about letting people go, how that is the hardest thing you do in your job. Is it different for you?”
Cindy: “That’s still probably the hardest part. That’s kind of a tough question. You know you’re messing with people’s lives. And you know we give people chance after chance after chance, it’s not like we go in and say, ‘okay, you’re not working for us anymore, we’ll see you later.’ We’ll do three write-ups on people, then do three days without pay. If things don’t change… that’s probably the hardest part. I don’t like firing anybody, it’s not fun.”
Next In Line: “no, no it’s not”
Cindy: “It’s no fun”
Next In Line: “What is the most rewarding thing about being a leader?”
Cindy: “When people appreciate me, tell me they appreciate me, show me they appreciate me. When people go the extra mile without being asked. I feel like I’ve done my job. When I go in to a store, I just say, ‘you know, you need to let me know and I’ll just come help you. We can handle it, we can do it.’ That’s rewarding: being able to see people do their job, without me being there to oversee them.”
Next In Line: “Keeps you off the hook”
Cindy: “Yeah, the whole idea is: if you train people right, and get good people around you, it makes your job a whole lot easier. That’s what it’s all about. It’s a people builder, problem solver, kind of job. That’s kind of our motto. You build people, you make them what they can be, you solve their problems, and life goes on.”
Next In Line: “For those of you who can’t hear, or those reading this, she swigging down a QuickTrip coffee. That little slurp you just heard was the QuickTrip Cappucino going down.”
Cindy Lee: “I’m going to need that for the AWANA children tonight.”
Next In Line: “Tell me about your work with AWANA. What drew you to the program, and what do you find good about that program?”
Cindy: “I’ve always liked kids, I’m from a family of ten children. I’m number five out of ten. I’ve always spoiled my nieces and nephews rotten. Probably what drew me a little bit was Brandy (the leader she works with and my wife). I’ll be honest with you.
Next In Line: “She can take the blame for that”
Cindy: “Yeah.” I’ve got a lot of respect for Brandy, she’s a pretty awesome lady, a God-fearing woman and I’ve really enjoyed working side by side with her, and getting to know her better, spending time wither her, and I really enjoy that. But I like the kids too. I can be really tired and not want to come; I’ll be honest with you, and when I get here I get revived, I get energized, and I feel better when I leave then when I come in.”
Next In Line: “How do you wear your Christianity at work? Where does it come out?”
Cindy: “All my managers know I’m a Christian. You know, because their very good about watching their language around me. And a few of them don’t, you know, they let it slip, my boss being number one. I don’t know that he’s a Christian, I don’t really think he is. He has a lot of the attributes of a believer. He would give me the shirt off his back if he thought I needed it; he is very, very good to me. And it really bothers him when someone cusses around me. He’s a good man, I’ve got a lot of respect for him. There’s a few things he does that I probably don’t agree with. For instance he asked me to do something one time that I couldn’t do. And I told him. And he was okay with that. He never asked me to do it again. It wasn’t like evil, it was just dishonest, and I couldn’t do it. I just told him I couldn’t, that he would have to. And he kinda looked at me and smiled, and said, ‘okay, I’ll do it’. And he’s never asked me again.”
Next In Line: “How do you keep your leadership fresh? How do you revive yourself? How do you keep going, in your position? It must be very high stress, and I know you work a lot of long hours in a lot of different places. You have multiple fires to stamp out every day.
Cindy: “Spending time with my family, I’m really close to my brothers and sisters. Getting away a day or two here or there. I’m a person that requires a lot of sleep. I need my eight hours, and I feel sorry for my husband sometimes because I’ll go to bed at eight or nine O’clock; leave him sitting up. He never holds that against me. He supports me 110%. That’s not the issue. I feel guilty.
And maybe I don’t get burnt out because I’m not doing the same thing day in and day out, or at the same place. There are a lot of perks to my job. We have sales people take us out to lunch. There’s days my boss lets me off early. If there’s nothing going on and everything’s going smooth, I can leave early. I get extra days off here and there, which is always good.
I read my Bible. That helps. That definitely helps. I listen to a lot of Christian music in the car. That’s when I do a lot of my praying during the day, because I do a lot of driving. Talk to God. I guess praying is talking to God, but I talk to Him more than I “pray” to Him. Like He’s sitting right there beside me, and we’re talking. Course I can’t close my eyes on the road. I talk things over with Him quite a bit if I know there’s going to be issues or if there’s a situation that I have to deal with that I’m heading to. And it always helps.”
Next In Line: “What advice would you give to Christian youth who felt the call to a leadership position, whether it be in the church or in the secular world, what advice would you give them? Give me the Cindy Lee Three-Step Action Plan.”
Cindy: “First of all, pray about it. Definitely. Second of all, before you would say or talk to anybody, put yourself in their shoes. (Ask yourself), if you were in that situation, how would you like to be approached by somebody. You want a third one?”
Next in Line: “Oh, it’s not necessary, I was just kidding. But if you’ve got a third one that’d be great.”
Cindy: “Well, that’s what I try to do. I try to look at it from their point of view and not my point of view. Which is a very hard thing to do sometimes. That’s when you have to step back, and think about it, pray about it, before you react. Sometimes something will happen at the store and before the human side of me takes over, and it has sometimes, unfortunately, it does. It’s going to. I’ll just turn around a walk away. They’ll know I’m upset or that I’m not happy with the situation. But they know I have to get away and get the right perspective before I go back and handle the situation. Don’t react on a sudden impulse to anything. It’s easy to do, and you will do it. And I’m not above apologizing. Probably too much, in fact, that’s what I’ve been told.”
Next In Line: “What books do you read?”
Cindy: “Like the Bible?”
Next In Line: “Just period.”
Cindy: “The Bible. I’ve read some Max Lucado. I like his books. That’s mostly what I’ve read because that’s mostly what we have around the house. And really not knowing who else to find to read, that’s basically the books I read.”
Next In Line: “What are your favorite books of the Bible?”
Cindy: “The New Testament. Probably the Gospels.”
Next in Line: “I really appreciate you sitting down with us today, Cindy, and I really appreciate your insight into your leadership style.”
