There’s not a day that goes by when I don’t think of Michael O’Grady. I can’t forget the creative ways he coached and mentored so many to new heights. In this series, Lesson’s Learned from the Magnificent Manager, I’ll share my insights, break throughs, tools, and techniques which honor Michael’s legacy of helping others grow and succeed.

hrough the nicotine haze and computer-generated coin dropping din, Brian, the manager, weaves in and out of the slots on the 100,000-square-foot casino floor at the Showboat in Atlantic City. “Hey, Sylvia, what’s doing? How’s my queen of the penny slots?” he asks Soprano style as she shoots off to deliver a piña colada to her favorite high roller.

Seconds later, Brian blitzes behind the scenes into the hidden north bar and tones it down a notch with another beverage server. “Nice job using the guest’s name,” he compliments Carol, as she loads her tray with three bottled waters and two cokes while taking her place in line for Mike the bartender to gun the booze into six waiting plastic cups on her tray.

“Carol and Sylvia are both great servers. They are naturally motivated by money. But the similarities end there,” Brian says.

1 Tune into Learning Styles
“Sylvia is aggressive and resistant,” says Brian. “One night she got all bent out of shape when I told her she failed to introduce herself and use the guest’s name. She shot back, ‘Can’t you see I’m busy and running around out here?’ So I stay cool and do my best Robert DeNiro: ‘Sir, here’s your rum and coke. What’s your name? The guest replies, Bob. Great, Bob. My name is Brian. I’ll check back with you in seven minutes.’ I then come out of character and say, ‘Relax, have fun in your station. It’s just like it’s a party out there.’”

Brian knows Sylvia learns best and becomes a believer only if he can show her the expected behavior in a glorious technicolor performance of words, tones, and gestures. Plus, he soothes her defiant style with a positive and easygoing approach. Later that night she stands in the middle of her station and yells out, “Ok, everyone. What’s my name?” The crowd shouts back, “Sylvia!” She flashes Brian a sly smile. He knows he’s hit the mark.

“Now Carol is a totally different story,” says Brian. “She’s Ms. Calm, Cool, and Collected. She’s open to feedback. Why? Because she sees what Showboat calls Spotlight Behaviors as a means to an end, making more money.

She knows if she gets a perfect score on her Spotlights she’ll get a $100 bonus check. So, she’s open. She listens up in training. On the floor, she has no problem with carrying the “Favorite Five” drinks on her tray to cut down unnecessary steps. Sure, from time to time she needs a few tips from me. But, overall she learns best by trying things out on her own,” Brian continues. He understands affable Carol is low maintenance. Brian knows that, unlike Sylvia, it’s best to not interfere since Carol has the ability to simply listen to integrate the behaviors into her warm and efficient style.

2 Understand Praise Preferences
It’s five in the afternoon and scores of maroon and black clad ladies are milling around in a massive back hallway with a backdrop of colored posters filled with scheduling, contest results, and guest letters. “Ladies! Ladies! Ladies! Listen up!” Dan, the manager, shouts out as he kicks off the Buzz Session, Showboat’s unique version of a pre-shift. As the group settles, he looks to Sylvia to energize the meeting. “Sylvia’s a real firecracker. You can count on her to role play a Spotlight, play Beverage Jeopardy, or even tell a joke. She’s always in the hunt to win anything from a T-shirt or a gas card to a Coach bag or a 62-inch Sony TV. Yet, it’s not so much the prize, but the winning that motivates her. Even if she hit the Mega-million she’d still be here. That’s how much she likes the recognition from her peers and performing for her audience,” continues Dan.

In the same meeting, Carol stands silently toward the back. She graciously accepts praise from Dan for getting a perfect score on one of her Spotlights. “Still, Carol is more moved by a pat on the back. So Brian and I make a point of complimenting her in quiet one-on-ones back in the office,” Dan says.

3 Hone in on Life/Work Balance
“Carol, while working the day shift, often called in and asked for a little extra time to take her son to pre-school. We always worked to accommodate her requests and eventually moved her to the swing shift from five to ten. Carol showed her gratitude many times over by picking up extra shifts and helping train new servers. By working with her, we were able to keep an invaluable member of our team.

Sylvia, on the other hand, thrives on entertaining her regulars and having fun with her teammates. For her, work is play. So, we gladly allow her to pick up extra shifts. As a matter of fact, she’s out running drinks at this very moment with a broken toe,” says Dan. “When I worked in other casinos I always heard a lot of lip service given to ‘we’re all one big family.’ But, here, we truly balance work with compassion for our people’s personal lives and it pays off big time.”

In the end, a manager’s task is to make abstract ideas concrete to address a variety of learning styles. Having had the time to observe Brian, I was amazed at his talent to quickly assess Sylvia’s learning style, then intervene with a brilliant spot-on demonstration.

Great managers are acutely aware of the differences in how their people like to receive recognition. Through careful observation, Brian and Dan took two very different approaches to praising and rewarding Carol and Sylvia.

And finally, Dan and Brian have worked well to create a firm but compassionate and playful work environment where each server feels valued and secure. In the end, they both know great coaches, as management guru Marcus Buckingham says, “play chess not checkers.” They understand each individual moves in different ways and that pushing all the right buttons is the key to creating a loyal, happy, and peak-performing team.

Bob Brown, president of Bob Brown Service Solutions, www.bobbrownss.com, pioneered Marriott’s Service Excellence Program and has worked with clients such as Disney, Hilton, Morton’s of Chicago, Olive Garden, and Red Lobster. He has appeared on the “Food Network” and “Hospitality Television” and is author of The Little Brown Book of Restaurant Success and The Big Brown Book of Managers’ Success.