Continue learning about franchising beginning with this free report: 7 Habits of Highly Effective Franchisees. Get it now by subscribing to my newsletter!
Left breakfast the other morning with a copy of Developing Personal Leadership written by Rex Houze, one of my occasional breakfast masterminds. Rex is a leadership development coach and the former president of a franchise company. During a break later in the day, I opened the book to a random page – it’s a habit that I’ve cultivated; if I don’t land on an interesting message I’m not going to read the book – and I was happy to read this:
You can improve the odds of being in your ZONE by matching jobs, challenges and goals to your skill level. You can also get into your ZONE by increasing your skill level.
Hmmm. The message was particularly interesting to me at the time because I was waiting to hear from the folks at Potbelly franchising for a blog article about why they use profiling (via the Franchise Navigator) to select franchisees.
Will the franchise meet the franchisee’s capabilities?
Rex also wrote:
People can be described as being in their ZONE when they appear to be working effortlessly and getting optimum results. When a task or job challenges a person’s abilities, the opportunity to be in the ZONE exists. When challenge is low and ability is high, the person may become bored, distracted, and have a tendency to be sloppy or make mistakes. When a challenge is above a person’s skill level, it can cause stress, frustration and tension, which leads to poor performance.
Wow, I said to myself. All that explains why franchisors use (or should use) profiling to select franchisees.
In every franchise system, the most successful franchisees – the best franchisees – work “effortlessly” and they get “optimum results.” The problem is, in every franchise system there are always too few of those franchisees. And invariably franchisors are asking: “Why is that so?”
Who Gets It? Most franchisees don’t
If some franchisees can work “effortlessly” and get “optimum results,” how come all franchisees can’t do so?
That question kept me awake for many nights while I was the CEO of a major franchise company and I eventually wrote a book called Get It! in which I explained that the “best” franchisees “get it” (that is, they understand what they have to do, when to do it, how to do it, and they’re prepared to do it) and all the rest do not – even though they could if they wanted to.
Now I’m not so sure that I knew what I was talking about. Because now I’m thinking that all the rest could not necessarily get it even if they wanted to.
Rex wrote that problems occur when “challenge is low and ability is high,” and also when “a challenge is above a person’s skill level.”
If only franchisees were all alike
There’s the rub! Not all franchisees are created equal.
Many (and in some franchise networks, most) franchisees are not prepared to be franchisees. They love the idea of self-employment. They’ve got a dream (even though I’m pretty much sick and tired of hearing about the importance of dreams). They’re ready to be entrepreneurial. They’re ready to build their own business. And so on and so on and so on . . . and they buy a franchise and the next thing you know they’re miserable. They’re working 24/7. No one wants to be around them because they’re negative and grumbling all the time. They’re almost out of money. The business isn’t what they thought it would be. The franchisor isn’t all that helpful anymore. And life sucks.
What happened?
Rex told us what happened: Either the franchisee is bored, or the franchisee is in over his head.
The better question is: Why did that happen?
Rex answered that question, too. The franchisee is not working in his ZONE. (And — I’ll add this — the franchisor isn’t doing anything to help the franchisee understand how to work in the ZONE).
Three reasons explain why it’s so
Which begs the next obvious question: How come?
- Because neither franchisor nor franchisee realized the importance of aligning talents and values and skills with operational challenges. Not all franchisees want to do, or can do, the same type of work! And not all franchisors do a good job of helping franchisees improve their skill sets.
- Because the franchisee didn’t realize – or didn’t want to hear – that he can’t do everything or anything he wants. There’s that dreamer again! It’s a lie to believe you can be anything you want to be. Thank God my father didn’t tell me that I could be a jockey. And I never dreamed that I could, either! Some people are better than other people at doing some things. It turns out it’s important to know what you can do well and want to do well.
- Because the franchisor didn’t realize that not all franchisees are created equal – they’re not all going to perform exactly the same way unless they’re all exactly the same way! And they never are. However, some of them are, and it’s the franchisor’s job to find those people (and continually help them to improve their skills). Find the franchise prospects who can work in the franchise ZONE and the franchise network will include more people who “get it” and fewer that don’t.
Pretty simple stuff.
If you’re buying a franchise, find out first if you can work in the ZONE of that franchise business. If you’re selling franchises, it’s your job (and responsibility) to identify the ZONE, then find (and prepare) the franchisees who will prosper while working in the ZONE.
That’s why profiling is important (and I’m still eager to hear what the Potbelly folks have to say).
And that’s how you can develop personal leadership.
Email this post
Tweet This Post
{ 0 comments… add one now }