The Guiding Path of a Kind Leader: Introducing The Sun, Herself

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.” -Steve Jobs

Back in 2011, I would listen to my idol Steve Jobs give his famous Stanford commencement speech from 2005 during daily work drives in the stagnant Miami traffic. It’s around 15 mins long and Jobs puts on a Master Class in storytelling with 3 unrelated stories from his life. Definitely worth a listen if you haven’t had the pleasure to listen.

I had no idea how my dots would lay out but I was eager to find out as a brand new Personal Banker at Wachovia, A Wells Fargo Company at the Seventh Avenue branch in North Miami. NO ONE was prepared for my arrival on my first day. Cool people but that was just the vibe there. You just “figured it out.” I took care of the standard endless amounts of customers on that first day without making a peep (or eating) until 4 p.m. when we closed the doors. I was lucky, I at least got a week of the illustrious “bankers’ hours”. Seventh Ave was my new family and I was totally there for the daily shit-show.

Things changed in a BIG way quickly, as they so often do when someone from Texas is the new sheriff in town. Picture a person who can command a room filled with hundreds of diverse faces. Someone who can have that room hang… on…. every. single. word. and with the ability to speak with genuine passion empowering you towards helping people.

HER name is Sarah Lee and she’s a burning sun of energy. She’ll meet ANYONE with the most genuine smile, instantly gaining their absolute attention. There was zero time for BS but always time for having fun while working hard. The General has her expectations but always ties them back to the customer. She was playing chess and I was eager to learn.

KIND LEADER EXAMPLE

A few months into my tenure, we were about to start the transition to drop the Wachovia portion of the name and there were plenty of milestones to hit along the way. Sarah started giving me smaller tasks as our branch was busy and the manager was putting out fires daily. Smaller jobs turned into bigger responsibilities like leading morning huddles to prep for the day or playing acting manager on slower Saturdays. Here is where the skillset of motivation and encouragement was finally getting developed. She gave me a chance by relieving some of the workload of others, thus allowing them to focus on other tasks.

I think Sarah saw a small part of herself in the boy with a loud voice and a really big smile. If I could lead my 20+ colleagues, no doubt I could lead a team.

She started teaching me about Strengths-Based Leadership, which focuses on mastering your own Top 5 Strengths while honing in on developing your team’s top 5. That made sense. Her chess was building teams with unique strengths that could “solve” a very particular need. She talked me through why she couldn’t give me the first opportunity Branch Manager that came open under her. I think I still have the business plan she had me create. This was WAY before ChatGPT and I had just barely navigated college on auto-pilot. It couldn’t have been any good. I put more effort into that business plan than I did throughout all of college. I was engaged and motivated.

This is an undervalued form of kindness, investing in the development of someone at work. You can propel someone forward with a relatively small amount of effort and time.

We transitioned to the Stagecoach and were on our way. Sarah said to be patient and it paid off. I remember being so proud of getting promoted. I quickly gained insight into generational pride. Considering 50ish years prior my parents and grandparents were immigrating from Cuba and now I was a Bank Manager 1. Watch out now, folks.

Nothing will knock you down to size quicker than having direct reports and a branch to run. We were a team of 6 total in a really small space, everywhere. The branch was jammed between Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital (our namesake) and the County Jail. We experienced a lot.

Sarah invested the time to come out, as scheduled, and talk me through different issues I’d be facing. She understood that the client’s experience was the true focus. If they connect with you, they usually become and stay as customers. And in order to do that, she knew she needed to invest in her own people.

I was promoted in October and Sarah was gone before we Jumped into January. So, it was time to take what she invested in me and build upon it.

Those first few years in the workforce were tough. I would have hung on to ANYONE who cared enough to show me. Looking back and “connecting the dots”, it was Sarah herself that set me on this same path I’m on today to motivate and encourage people to live a kinder life. When we chatted this week, she did that exact same thing. Great leaders bring clarity to your path, Kind Leaders provide a map and some additional tools to use.

How do you follow up someone who can be compared to the SUN in energy?

A Jedi Master.

Post Script:

I encourage everyone to read more about Sarah Lee and what she’s been up to. She is still coaching, it’s just a lot more aligned with her own heart. Sarah is helping people find that “Recovery is Possible” when it comes to conquering an eating disorder. No surprise she is changing the world!