In a volunteer organization, respect and open communication matter more than hierarchy. The speaker warns against gossip and harsh language, which drive people away, and shares how he confronted Andy, an executive chef who spoke dismissively to teammates until told volunteers will quit if disrespected.
I think a lot of people have trouble growing and understanding that it's not the same as a 9-to-5 job. The way that you, like Bill was talking about gossip, or the negative stuff, or the water cooler talk, or whatever you wanna call it, like we don't do that here, 'cause it stunts your growth, all right? We treat everybody with respect, even the quitters. You don't know if they're gonna change their mind and come back. You don't wanna treat people any other way than how you would want to be treated, 'cause you don't know what people are going through. All right, this is a volunteer army. You can't make people do things. This was really hard when we started. Andy used to be an executive chef, and he was a little rough around the edges. And I used to tell him, listen, I heard you talking to this person, like they're all gonna quit. You can't talk to people that way. This is a volunteer army, and they're gonna leave. And that's something he had to get better at, right? So you have to look within and see what you can work on on yourself.
