Page 18 - NOV2020 BNM Digital Issue

bbq lessons
Vic Clevenger
Chimney Cartel
victor0568@gmail.com
As I sit here writing this, we’re in the last weeks of a presi- dential election (not going political so don’t worry) and I know we’ll all be glad when it’s over. There will be no more ads, no more debates and no more polls telling us who is voting for who. However, there is a bright light to watch during this season and that’s the Supreme Court nomina-
tion of Amy Coney Barrett. Now, before you read any further, know that I’m not here to debate one way or the other about her being nominated during an elec- tion year. But since she was, I watched a lot of her hear- ing and learned a lot that we can apply in how we conduct ourselves in our different businesses.
We all have a passion for BBQ, from cooking it to teaching it. Watching how Mrs. Barrett conducted her- self during the long days of grueling questions provided lessons we can apply to what we do. She gave a real-life example of the old Secret deodorant commercial slo- gan, “Never let them see you sweat.” I know what you’re asking though, “Vic, would you get to the point about what lessons we can learn from these hearings.” Well, I am glad you asked because these lessons can be applied to every position in every line of business in our BBQ world. I have come up with 4 major lessons we can learn from this current event.
Professional
From the very first impression she gave as she walked into the senate hearings, professional was the attribute which came to mind. She was smartly dressed, well spoken and never raised her voice even when those who disagreed with her raised theirs. This professionalism gave off the air of success and we know success breeds success. Carrying yourself as professional goes a long in earning respect from those with whom you interact, even with those whom you disagree. Your customers, both internal and external, rely on working with professional people. Professionalism builds trust between peers, colleagues and employees. When the leader carries themselves as a professional then they will exude confidence which brings us to the second lesson.
Confident
Another lesson learned from Amy Comey Barrett’s hear- ings was her (as well as others) confidence. She walked in with her head up, shoulders back and focused on the task at hand. Confidence has a way of owning a room. There’s a difference between confidence and arrogance. In my opin- ion, arrogance is a false confidence which will crumble when the pressure is on. What you saw in her was a gen- uine confidence which allowed her to joke and laugh with her questioners. Being a confident leader in your work will have others following you, even if you do not wear the title of supervisor or manager. Confidence supersedes titles. We’ve all have worked with people who had the title but not the confidence causing their subordinates to question even the slightest decision. Confidence allows the leader to own their decisions because they have used knowledge and wisdom to arrive at their conclusions. The truly confident person has no one in which they must impress which al- lows them to be humble.
Knowledgeable
As ACB (she has her own letters now) sat there answering all the questions thrown at her, I found one line of ques- tioning intriguing. Let’s set this scene just in case you didn’t see any of it. All the senators of the judicial commit- tee were sitting on the dais (above the witness, I might add)
BarbecueNews.com - 18
NOVEMBER 2020
Lessons Learned from the Amy Comey Barrett Hearings