The Power of Praise: Chester Elton on Building a Winning Culture

What if the most powerful driver of performance wasn't pressure, but praise? Hey, friends. Welcome back to Chats with Jason. I'm your host, Jason S. Bradshaw. And today's episode will shift the way you lead forever.

If you want to attract top talent and you want to retain that top talent, you have to have a ratio that's positive. And there is nothing that creates a positive workplace more than the simple act of gratitude, random acts of kindness. I'm excited. I love to teach, I love to share with people how you can create those cultures where people believe what they do matters. They make a difference. And when they make a difference, it's noticed and celebrated. Because you know what? At the end of the day, everybody wants to be happy.

I'm joined by the legendary Chester Elton, best selling author of the Carrot Principle, Anxiety at Work and Leading with Gratitude. He's been called the apostle of appreciation, and his work has helped transform cultures at some of the world's most respected brands. Think Pepsi, American Express, and Salesforce, just to name a few. Chester doesn't just talk about leadership. He proves time and time again that gratitude isn't soft. It's a secret weapon for high performing cultures. In this episode, we dig into why recognition often fails and how to make it stick. How to lead with empathy without sacrificing results, and the mindset shift that turns workplace anxiety into engagement. If you want to build a culture where people feel seen, stay longer and perform better, this conversation is your roadmap. Let's get into it. Chester, welcome to the show, Chase, and.

Delighted to be here. Thanks for the invite.

I appreciate it. And for our listeners at home or on their commute at the moment, I really have to say a big thank you, Chester. I know that you're doing this recording quite late in the evening from your home, so I appreciate that. So that we can share your message. Let's jump into the very first question and get to the heart of your work. How do you explain what you do, why it matters to someone who has never heard of culture consulting or gratitude leadership?

It's a great question, Jason. I remember when my kids were little, you know, my co author is Adrian Gostig, and we've been doing this for 25 years, right? And my kids would say, I'd say, hey, when you talk to your friends, you know, their dads are lawyers or brokers or whatever, what do you say that your dad does? And my little son Gary goes, I tell him, my dad travels the world and reminds people to say thank you. And you know what? It's a pretty good definition of what I do. It's so interesting because after a couple of decades of doing this, all the research, all the books that we've written, the smartest, the best, the most productive leaders all had that one thing in common, and it was expressions of gratitude and recognition. They valued their people, they listened to their people. They were quick to praise. And not that they were soft, actually, quite the contrary, but they knew how to engage and motivate their people. When they did something great, they recognized it right away. They were really specific with it. They tied it to their culture, and they knew that they were going to get a lot more productivity long term and in many cases, short term, if they really did value the people that worked with them. Isn't that lovely to know that, like, the nice guys and the nice women actually finish first?

Yeah, absolutely. I was just about to say it just proves that the nice guy doesn't have to or the nice person doesn't have to finish last. You've worked with numerous leaders over the decades at some of the world's most recognizable companies. What's one something that even great leaders consistently get wrong when it comes to recognition?

It's to do it right away. Often leaders, you know, you've got so much on your plate and you'll say, well, I'll remember later, and you won't. One of the remedies for that was a wonderful leader that we got to interview for one of the books we wrote, Leading With Gratitude, Ken Chenault. He just retired as the CEO of American Express. And over the years, we've bumped into a lot of people that work for Ken. And it was so funny. They'd say he always had this little notepad with him and something would happen. You'd see him scribble it down really quick. And then on the flight back, he would write these thank you notes to all these people because he knew if he didn't write it down, he was going to forget it. So often we forget that if we don't do it right now, we're probably not going to do it.

Yeah, yeah. I love the intentionality behind, you know, if now's not the right time for time pressure or whatever reason that he's taken the time to write a note so he doesn't forget. It's a great reminder to us all that intentionality makes a difference between our actions. So you've said, I think maybe three or four times already, and we're only a few minutes in that gratitude isn't soft at. And by extension of that and your work, it's a secret weapon for high performing cultures. Can you walk us through the business case for appreciation? Like, some people watching this want to know what's my ROI on saying thank you?

Yeah, it's so interesting that we take recognition. We say, look, it's a key part of any great culture. I feel valued, I feel appreciated. So how do you tie that into your business results? I will tell you where recognition is soft, and that's when it's too general. We've all had those leaders that went through the HR training. They say, look, you got to say thank you more often. You're going to write thank you notes. You got to be more appreciative. And they'll come in and go, hey, great job. Great job. Jason, you're the best. You're the Tower of Pisa. Without the specificity, it is soft and it's meaningless. And it becomes irritating fairly quickly, actually. So this idea of a great culture, and we talk about cultures that are all in. I love that expression. You know, lots of sports teams, we're all in, or you push all the chips to the center of the poker table. This idea of I believe what I do matters and I make a difference. That's that emotional engagement to work, right? So we always add to that, though. I believe what I do matters and I make a difference. And when I make a difference, it's noticed and it's celebrated. See, here's the business case. You want those behaviors that are tied to your core values. Let's say it's extraordinary customer service, on time, delivery, innovation, whatever it is, right? Once I exhibit that behavior, if it's praised and recognized and it's done in a timely way, the odds of me repeating that behavior go way up. You know, it's Pavlovian, right? It's almost. It's like when you ring the bell. So the business case is if you want more of that behavior, reinforce it with gratitude and recognition. It's actually a very simple formula. We always like to say it's common sense, unfortunately, uncommonly practiced, right? Because we get caught up in the day to day and say, look, I'm doing the hard stuff. I'll tell you, Jason, I hate it when people say it's a soft skill because it's not. It's a people skill. And you and I both know very well that people skills are hard skills. They're not nice to haves, they're must haves. And if you really understand how to reinforce those values, those behaviors with gratitude and recognition. You're way ahead of the game.

I just want to highlight the point around being timely in that feedback, because as much as I praised the individual from American Express that had the intention to write down so he didn't forget to praise. If we leave it too long, the person we're praising might not even remember the actions that they took. And therefore, how do you get that repeated behavior that we're all looking for? So key takeaway there. Make sure that we timely in our recognition. Now, Peter Drucker famously said that culture eats strategy for breakfast. In your experience, I guess I know the answer to this. But in your experience working with global organizations, how have you seen this truth play out? What's a risk that leaders have if they focus on strategy while ignoring the culture?

Yeah, I love that expression too. I actually have added a little to that, I think. Okay, culture. Each strategy for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I mean, it is just never ending. The problem is, if you don't build the culture you want, a culture will develop. Whether you like it or not, it's probably not the one you want. So, being very intentional about your culture, I'll share with you a couple that I think are phenomenal first and foremost, and I don't think they have in your neck of the woods, but Texas Roadhouse restaurants is this fabulous restaurant chain here in the States. And they've got some international. They've got Seoul, Korean, and Taiwan and so on. A few international. Their mission, vision, and values are boiled down to four words. It's beyond brilliance. Legendary service, legendary food. The thing is, they want to own the word legendary. And they do. And it's very easily expressed in their culture in that if the food comes up and the waitress or the waiter doesn't think it's quite right, all they have to say is, you know what? Not legendary. Can you do this again? And the cooks and the chefs, no problem. Like, if you don't think it's legendary, I don't think it's legendary. I will tell you a funny story. Adrian and I actually wrote the. The autobiography of Kent Taylor, who was the founder of this, like, 400 restaurant chain. Well, as they started to grow, of course they brought in consultants and different things. Things. And. And Ken actually, and I apologize to any MBAs that are listening, he hated MBAs, and he hated people that wore ties. Like, he would cut it off, and people would actually wear their ties. So they cut it off so they could have it as a souvenir. Right. It was very funny. But they got this one Consultant. They said, you know, Kent, you got to kind of come up with the times here. You got to talk about the environment, you got to talk about equity, you got to talk about inclusion, and on and on and on. And he said, you know what? Have at it. Two rules. Whatever you come up with can't be more than four words. And two of those words have to be legendary. So the reason I tell you that is very intentional about this is what we're all about. This is what we talk about. This is what we live, this is what we bring. And their quality and their service is legendary. Now, had they not focused on that, if they'd said, okay, we want to be. And you could put all the buzzwords in there that you want, right? It's too confusing. We were doing some consulting with a tech firm out of California, and we said, what are your core values? I says, ah, perfect timing. We just had this retreat, like three days. You know, it was California. There was probably some hot tubs involved. And I said, great, well, what are they? And he said, well, let me go get him. Which right away tells you that he, you know, and then he came back and they. They had 12 core values, Jason, 12.

And couldn't remember one of them.

And I said to him, you've got no core values. And by the way, Moses only had 10. Now, another great example, big financial company we just talked about. Ken Chenault spent a lot of time with American Express. They're blue box values. They're posted everywhere. People know what they are. It's high integrity. You know, you can go to Johnson and Johnson, the J and J credo, legendary. And it's lasted for decades and decades and decades. So the idea of culture that you want, producing the results you want, and you're very, very intentional about it, and you talk about it all the time. And boy, you think of those names. J and J, you know, American Express. Hopefully introducing Texas Roadhouse to a lot of your listeners. You can't beat it.

Yeah, yeah. I'm just thinking, why have I never gone to a Texas Roadhouse while I'm in the States? So just another thing that I need to check out when I'm back in town. You've mentioned, touched on that. You know, big places like American Express have their values posted everywhere. And then you said, but it's talked about constantly. It's reinforced constantly. And I have this opinion that there are organizations out there that, you know, have these wonderful executive off sites. In all transparency, I've been at them as a participant. And you walk Away with hopefully not 12 core values, but you walk away with some core values, and then the next natural action that most companies take is let's put them on some posters and hang them up around the place and someone inevitably, with all good intention, says, job done, ticked. But I believe that the actual key to shaping the culture isn't the poster. It's the behaviors that you reinforce. It's the recognition that you reinforce. It's when you recognize the right behaviors aligned to your culture. It's how you live that culture every day. As opposed to the poster. The poster is just wallpaper. At the end of the day, I'm wondering what you think makes for an effective strategy in embedding shaping a culture.

Excellent question. We'll go to Texas Roadhouse again and then I have a couple more examples for you that I think will be helpful for your listeners. Big fan of rituals and a cadence. So Texas Roadhouse, before they open, they have what they call their rally alleys, which is brilliant. Now, Texas Roadhouse, right? Employees, associates, teammates, whatever you want to call them. At Texas Roadhouse, they're affectionately called roadies, which you gotta love, right? And lots of music. And anyway, in the rally alley, they talk about legendary, they call out people, they tell stories. They don't start a shift without a rally alley. They don't end a day without a rally alley. So this cadence of here's how we're going to get ourselves pumped up. If you've ever worked in a restaurant, it is grueling work. It is really tough to know that your co workers, your other roadies, that they're cheering for you, that they've got stories to tell about you, that you're going to be recognized, you're going to be heard, you're going to be celebrated. Wow. So I'm a big fan of rituals. I'm a big fan of tokens. Now, Texas roadhouse used to have peanuts that you'd eat and the shells would go all over the place. And then allergies kind of kicked in and they had to change that. They had an award. It was a golden peanut. It was great. A silly little thing. It wasn't, you know, it wasn't a Faberge. It was just fun.

Yeah.

But boy, if you ain't got a golden peanut, that was a big deal. An optometrist company that we did some wonderful work with up in Canada, they had what they called their 10 and 10, 10 minutes before every shift would start and 10 minutes at the end and again, telling stories, calling people out, celebrating, right? Then you look at great cultures over the years. They've got rituals, they've got tokens, they've got golden peanuts, they've got rubber chickens they pass around. And you say, well, that stuff is kind of silly. It's because you don't get it. And not everybody uses a rubber chicken. Obviously, not everybody uses a gold. You figure out what works in your culture. That repetition, that cadence. Another thing that Texas Roadhouse did every week is they had a newsletter by their CEO. And, you know, he grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, and his nickname was Bubba, if you know, and his newsletter was Bubba says. He'd even put in, here are the books I'm reading. And there was such great affection. People didn't want to let him down. He would show up at the restaurants, he'd talk to the cooks, he'd talk to the waitress. So, yes, excellent question. Rituals, cadence. Don't discount that. And then it takes time.

Yeah.

Any culture takes time.

Yeah. I remember I was part of a large transformation program, and for the first 12 months, I think I sprouted the five principles, the five pillars of what we were doing at every meeting that I was at five days a week, and then, you know, twice on Sundays. And by the. By the end of that year, everyone knew what those five were and why they mattered. It makes a difference. Culture is not a one and done. Culture is something that you have to constantly pour energy into. And I love the examples that you provided there. Just wondering about recognition in the context of building great cultures. What excuses or myths do you think leaders have that they use to give themselves permission to avoid making practical recognition?

Yeah. First, let me share a little quote that my father made me memorize when I was a little boy. And it was this. Excuses, even when valid, are never impressive. Excuses. I mean, we can all come up with excuses. It's the old adage, I don't care how bad the storm was. Did you bring the ship in to start with? I brought the ship. And then you can tell me about the storm. So some very common ones. One is, it won't come across as sincere. It's just not the way I'm wired. Everything takes practice. I. I love guys that say, look, I'm just not worried that way, and I'll do it. But they'll know I don't mean it. They said, well, are you a golfer? They say, yeah. I said, how long did it take you to become a. A decent golfer? Because very few people are good golfers, right? Said, ah, yeah, hundreds of hours and thousands of. And I Said, well, there's your. Yeah, of course you're not going to be good at it right away. So if it's important, it's a discipline. The other one is, I love. This is time. It always comes down to time. If I had more time, I say, great. Let me ask you something. So Jason's doing a great job and, you know, really knocking it out of the park with this unbelievable podcast he's got, right? You don't have time to tell him he's doing a great job. Well, he knows he's doing a great job. I don't need to tell him it's a great. Jason screws up. How much time you got for him now? Oh, I'm on that in a New York minute.

Yeah.

So you've always got time to discipline somebody. You've always got time to point out what somebody's doing wrong and you're telling me you don't have time to tell them what's doing right? Doesn't that seem a little backwards to you? Well, yeah, but, but they go, don't give me any buts, don't give me any excuses. It takes practice. It takes discipline. You have to be intentional and you don't make the time because everybody gets the same amount of time. You find the time. And that's where rituals really help you just build an intention. We had a wonderful hospital down in Dallas, Texas, and it was a Methodist hospital. It was faith based. They called it the sacred 60. You're going to love this, Jason. Leaders had to leave their phones and their laptops in their offices and for 60 minutes a day, they just were going to walk around and point out what was going right. Wow, 60 minutes. Every day. You go, well, that's a big chunk of my time. They go, yeah. And he said, and that's why it's so important. And I want you to do it and I want you to report back on it. So, yeah, lots of excuses. I'll tell you what's really interesting though. Once leaders start to do it and in the beginning, they're not good at it, you can't expect that, right? The more they do it, the better they get. There's this tipping point, as Malcolm Gladwell would say, right? From you're a leader that gives recognition, you're a leader that gives gratitude to your leading. With gratitude, you're a recognition leader. The more you do it, the better you get. And then there's that tipping point and it just becomes a part of your leadership style. Great question. Thanks, Jason. That was a good One, as we've.

Chatted, there's so many questions that I have for you, but I've been thinking about organizations, well intentioned departments set up these things called recognition programs and they're a little bit different to the rituals that you've talked about. Usually they're an online based system where someone goes and nominates someone and then it might go to a manager to approve it. And then if you're really good, maybe it will go to another manager who will approve, you know, a slightly better certificate to get printed in black and white and or emailed to you and you might get yourself a $50 gift card or you know, some token of, of appreciation. What's your take on those? Because nothing we've shared today has been about bureaucracy in the process of recognition. None of it's been about let's have 50 steps to saying thank you. What's your take on those sorts of programs?

I actually like them. I think it's for those managers that really are so intimidated by, you know, bringing their personality into that. It's a nice reminder and I think employees really appreciate it. I think it's one of the elements of a great culture. What you're hoping with those. And a lot of those platforms also have non monetary and no points, all that you can send a fun little E card or something. And the thing about those that is lovely I think is that you can broadcast it. They've used to get pages where people go in and say, hey, look what Susan did. And if she got this certification or they want a big account or whatever. So when you bring that socialization into it, I think it's great. I think you're right. A lot of times you got to be careful with those because then they say, okay, I brought in a million dollar account and I got 100 points. And Susan brought in a $10,000 account and she got a hundred points. There's this commoditization that says your behavior was translated to X number of dollars or euros or pound sterling, whatever you deal in. So that's where you've got to be careful. I do love the platform though. That gets you in the habit and broadcasts it widely. So yeah, I think one without the other doesn't work. You find a way to combine it. You can really leverage them and have great success.

Yeah, makes a lot of sense. So you've shared some really great stories with us. You've got me thirsty and hungry to go to Texas Roadhouse, but I'm wondering whether there's a company that you've work worked with and you don't have to name names, but that's radically improved their performance and retention through recognition. Perhaps they didn't have a recognition program or they weren't intentional about recognition. And with your thought leadership and the, the work that you do, they've turned that around and, and really seen a transformative performance level or increase in their business.

Yeah. Well, I want to tell you the story of this optometrist company up in Canada. We started to work with them right before the pandemic. And so the pandemic hit. It's when we actually wrote our book on mental health anxiety at work. There's eight strategies. One of the strategies is to have a gratitude ritual. And so one of the things that we really focused on was not only are you recognizing and praising your people, and we say, look, do it now, do it often. Be specific and be sincere. And that often part became really important, you know, during the pandemic. Now, they really were disciplined about it. They met regularly. Right. They told stories of heroic service to their customers. As you might guess, if somebody can't get their reading glasses, they can't read. I mean, it's kind of important that you be able to see. They had to lay some people off, and they did it in a very kind way. Their people couldn't wait to come back because they felt appreciated. The engagement during the pandemic skyrocketed. Like their engagement scores actually went up. And we asked them as we were working with them, they said, look, these weekly encounters, these daily encounters, the way that we do it, not only has it increased our productivity and our engagement, it's lowered our anxiety levels. Isn't that interesting? You know, when I feel valued, when I feel appreciated, I can breathe. Right? So, yeah, there's a lot of benefits I wanted to share with you because I know we're coming to time here pretty quick, but my son sent me this wonderful article about Leo Tolstoy, the wonderful Russian author, War and Peace and so on. And he said he studied human behavior. And he found that in his study of all these different people and characters that he based on real people, the most intelligent people that he ever met all had one thing in common. They were kind. Isn't that interesting? They were kind. And see, I think gratitude and recognition is an expression of kindness. They're inextricably woven together, Right?

Yeah.

So this idea that kindness is soft, that recognition is soft, is absolutely 180 degrees wrong. You think of the great leaders you worked for and the great people in Your life. I guarantee you that you always knew they were cheering for you and they weren't easy on you by any means. They pushed you and they challenged you and they were kind. And I think that kindness and gratitude, when you put those two things together, not only is it a sign of a great leader. I love. Tolstoy says it's evidence of intelligence. Gotta love that. Come on.

Yeah, it's great. It's great. Look, we're at that point in the, the show where people are intrigued by your work, they're wanting to follow you, connect with you. What exciting things do you have coming up? And what's the best way for people to keep in touch with. With your thought leadership?

Well, my cell phone number is. LinkedIn is a great place to follow us. We've got a wonderful Gratitude Journal, our newsletter we publish every other week. In fact, we're publishing it in a couple days. TheCultureWorks.com is the consulting and training company that Adrian and I have put together. And chesterelton.com if you're looking for us to speak or train or. Our executive coaching business has really blossomed. And we love that because, you know, if you can get leaders to really buy in and make the change, the ripple effect through their teams and so on is remarkable. So chesteralton.com, cultureworks.com tag us on LinkedIn. We'd love to hear your stories and help out any way we can.

Fantastic. And we'll be sure, of course, to put those links in the show notes now, if you're. Okay, Chester, I wouldn't mind running a little bit longer on this episode because I've got three questions I'd like to finish up.

Sure. Absolutely.

You mentioned the pandemic just when you were talking about that Canadian optometry firm. And it's reminded me of just how much the pandemic disrupted things. And I know in the us, as is in many of the Western worlds, at least, there's this conversation around people returning to the office and hybrid working or remote working, some are for it, some are against it. I'll go to say they hate it. But in this hybrid, remote workplace, which is going to exist, I think whether we like or, or not in some form, it's going to exist. I think if we're really honest, it's always existed. We just didn't have a nut label for it. But how can leaders show appreciation in this world of hybrid and remote working in a way that still feels authentic and personal?

Yeah. Time. You give people your time, call them up. Zoom them up, teams them up. However you do it and you develop a relationship. Listen, I am of the opinion that we are social animals. And while people say, oh, I love being remote, blah, blah, blah, you know what? Get in the office and you're hanging around people. It's a party. It just is. And so I'm a big fan of Hybrid and I am a big fan of showing up in the workplace. Now, that depends what your commute is. You know, I live just outside New York City. Trust me, those commutes can be stolen. Right.

I'm gonna say New Jersey to New York. That's not necessarily a Sunday relaxing drive. Yeah.

Trains even aren't all that reliable. It's, you know, it's not Singapore. Here's the thing, though. You give people your time. That's a sign of I care. I give you my time. Look, it's no different than with your kids or your grandkids or wherever you are, your neighbors, your friends, you give them your time. And the message is, I care. And when I know a leader cares about me, I'm more likely to produce and do great work. I think it's really that simple.

Yeah. Fantastic. Certainly the research work that I've done as well. Customers and employees alike, no matter what they say, they crave human connection.

Absolutely.

Some of us need a lot of human connection and some of us need less. But the reality is someone working remotely needs and desires human connection as much as someone that wants to go into the office every day. And we need to cater for that. So how can an emerging leader, someone that's aspiring to be the next executive, start building a culture of gratitude from wherever they are in their career?

Yeah. Listen, I'm a big fan of cheering for people, and it's really interesting. One of the most remarkable leaders I've ever known as a sports executive. His name is Scott o'. Neill. I've known Scott a long time, various wonderful jobs from the NBA to NHL. He's now the CEO of live golf, which is a huge thing. Yeah, yeah. Everybody just says that.

Wow.

Live golf, that's amazing.

I'm not a golfer and it's still wow.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've just heard about it, you know. Anyway, Scott builds remarkable teams very quickly, and he bases it on the rule of three you and I talked about. Keep it simple. Right. And his rule of three is, when you come to work, give me your best every day, Give me world class every day. Right. Secondly is no surprises if you make a mistake. Tell me. He said, very rarely in business Are surprises positive? That's almost like customer's upset we missed the deadline. You know, the product shipped late, whatever. The third one, though, he says, is the key, and that is we cheer for each other. So if you can be the leader early on, that's quick to point out what's going right, not ignoring what's going wrong. I'm not saying that. If you're the one that can really, you know, build that esprit de corps that says, wow, we're in this together now. I love asking executives, tell me about a great team you're on. When you were in college or high school or a band or an orchestra or a workplace, what made that team great? And it's always that we had each other's best. We really liked working with each other, we were good to each other, and we cheered for each other. Scott says, look, you look at your team, who's easy to cheer for, and then ask yourself the tough question. Who are you not cheering for and why? Maybe they're in the wrong spot. Maybe they need to be coached up. Maybe they need some training. Maybe they need to go play for another team. Right. It's really interesting, this idea of, do we have a culture where we support each other, we care about each other, and we cheer for each other, And I think it's brilliant. And by the way, nobody builds better teams than Scott o'. Neill. Nobody.

Yeah, well, great advice there. As we round out this episode with one last question. What's the one piece of advice that every leader listening today who wants to transform their culture, their culture, strategy today? What would it be? What's that one piece of advice you want to leave our listeners with?

Yeah, I'll leave it with you in a story. I was born in Edmonton, Alberta, grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia. If you've ever been to Vancouver, it's one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Right? I'm the youngest of five boys, and so when my older brothers had all left, I had my dad to myself for a few years. And we're a tennis family. And my dad and I had a ritual. We would often go play Saturday morning tennis at the Vancouver Lawn Tennis and Badminton Club. Jason. I mean, this was as old school as you can get, right? What we would often do after we played tennis is we go downtown. We go to McDonald's and have a McMuffin. And my dad used to love to go to the army and Navy. It was this distressed inventory, $0.10 on the dollar. My dad loved a bargain. Right. We'd often have to walk by a place called Pigeon park. And this is where the unhoused would live, you know, the homeless people of Anchorage. So, sure enough, one beautiful summer day, and Vancouver is shockingly beautiful. We're walking down the Army Navy, and sure enough, this homeless woman is coming across the street with a big brown paper sack. Everything she owned, it split open and spilled on the sidewalk. Nothing you and I'd want to own everything she owned. Now, Vancouver is a walk in city. And I was amazed at how quickly people just gave her a space and just kept moving. Everybody but my dad, he immediately went up to her, knelt down, helped her gather up her stuff. He said something, made her laugh. I'll never forget that. And he escorted her safely in the park. Now, I'm a teenager at this point, Jason, so I pretty much knew the world. And I said to my dad, I said, you know, dad, you probably shouldn't have touched her. She's probably not clean. And he looked at me and he said, jessica, you be good to everybody. Everybody's having a tough day. I never forgot that. You be good to everybody. Everybody's having a tough day. As emerging leaders assume positive intent about your people, that they're coming to work, they're doing the best they can, they're going to make mistakes, and that's okay. And understand everybody's dealing with something. They're worried about their aged parents, they got trouble with a kid, their commute stinks. They maybe got health problems that they don't want to talk about. This idea of caring for your people, being kind, cheering for them, at the same time holding them accountable, I'm not discounting that at all. You want to be a great leader. Let your people know you care about them. And you be good to everybody, because everybody's having a tough day.

Yeah. What great way to end the show. Chester, once again, thanks for being on the show with us today.

Jason, it was a pleasure. You can call me anytime.

Fantastic. So what if the next breakthrough in your business wasn't a new tool or a tactic, but simply a shift in how you see and celebrate your people? Chester reminded us today that leadership isn't just about driving results. It's about creating a culture where people want to do their best work. People want to feel seen. They stay. When they feel valued, they rise. When gratitude becomes the norm, not the exception. Everything changes. If today's conversation sparked something in you, do me a favor. Share this episode with someone who leads, loves, or lifts others. And don't forget to hit that subscribe button so that you never miss out on the conversations that are reshaping the way that we work and live. I'm Jason S. Bradshaw reminding you that better business starts with delivering a better experience. And when you transform the experience, you transform the business and the world around you. Thanks for tuning in to chats with Jason.