Effective Way to Increase Employee Engagement

A story about Frank Perdue and Don Mabe

The person who argued the most with Frank was the man Frank eventually appointed to succeed him as president of his company. This would have greatly surprised any outsider who didn’t understand how Frank operated.

The fact is, Don Mabe and Frank Perdue would have seemingly horrendous public arguments. As an example, Frank had once assembled a meeting with six sales people whom he, for unknown reasons, had nicknamed, “The Whores and the Booger Bears.”

This group was in a small room with the sales people sitting along the sides of a conference table, with Don Mabe at one end and Frank Perdue at the other. Frank and Mabe had been fighting like cats and dogs all day about whether to scrap the Cornish hen program.

Mabe, who was more cost-conscious than Frank, felt the program was too expensive. Frank, on the other hand, wanted market share. The two men were yin and yang.

Anyway, at one point Don Mabe got so mad that he took his glasses off, threw them down hard on the conference table – with the result that the glasses bounced once and ended up hitting Frank square in the chest!

The salespeople who were there reported that the incident was so intense that it seemed to be happening in slow motion. Some were even having trouble catching their breath. “Damn it, Frank,” Mabe yelled at Frank, “You need to retire!”

Frank picked up Don’s reading glasses, calmly handed them to the guy next to him, who handed them to the guy next to him until the glasses got back to Mabe. Meanwhile the argument continued to rage.

 

Cherish the people who stand up to you

You’d think an incident like that would rupture their relationship, but in fact, Frank was fine with it. The fact is, Frank and I had dinner with Don Mabe and his wife, Flo, soon after and we were all laughing about it. Frank never held a grudge and actually deeply appreciated Mabe’s views.

Mabe didn’t win that particular battle, but he often got Frank to see his way.

Frank valued that Mabe really, really cared. And on top of that, Frank benefited greatly by having someone confront him with the other side of important questions.

This was a pattern that Frank followed regularly: he valued the people who stood up to him; he never held it against them; and he gave them the respect of appreciating that they cared more about doing what was right than about telling the boss what the boss might want to hear.

Instead, people focused on doing and saying the right thing, as opposed to sucking up to the boss. It meant ownership of their work. It deepened their engagement.

Mitzi Perdue is a speaker, author, and businesswoman. She is the widow of Frank Perdue and daughter of Ernest Henderson, co-founder of the Sheraton Hotel Chain.
Permission is granted to reprint this blog post in your newsletter or magazine with the following byline and clickable link: www.MitziPerdue.com. Please let Mitzi know when you do this!

To find out more about her programs and services,
write to: Mitzi@MitziPerdue.com
or call 410 860 4444.

Search Articles

Latest Articles

The Art of Influence

You’ve proven that you’re a lifelong learner: the act of reading this article shows you are a seeker of new information. But why do you choose to keep on learning?

read more

Subscribe to Updates

About Author

Mitzi Perdue is the widow of the poultry magnate, Frank Perdue.  She’s the author of How To Make Your Family Business Last and 52 Tips to Combat Human Trafficking.  Contact her at www.MitziPerdue.com

All Articles

Recurrent Vaginitis

Recurrent Vaginitis

Recurrent VaginitisMOST WOMEN WILL AT SOME TIME EXPERIENCE VAGINITIS At some point in their lives, most women will experience vaginitis. It’s one of the most common gynecologic condition encountered in the office. Typically, it comes about when the yeast or bacteria...

read more
Take Action: Beating Your Competitors

Take Action: Beating Your Competitors

Take Action: Beating Your Competitors Act Faster Than Your Competitors The super-successful people I’ve known have all had a huge propensity for action. They had tremendous agility in carrying out projects rapidly. I remember one night in late 1951, my father Ernest...

read more
Transforming Cardiovascular Disease Prevention In Women

Transforming Cardiovascular Disease Prevention In Women

Transforming Cardiovascular Disease Prevention In WomenCARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE (CVD) IS USA’S LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH FOR WOMEN One in four women will die of CVD, and to put this in perspective, the annual CVD mortality for women is double that of all forms of cancer...

read more
Obesity In Women: New Insights

Obesity In Women: New Insights

Obesity In Women: New InsightsOBESITY HAS MORE IMPACT THAN ANY OTHER CHRONIC DISEASE Obesity has enormous impact, partly because it is so widespread and partly because it exacerbates so many other disease states.  In the US, there are 93 million Americans with...

read more
Fingernail Infections

Fingernail Infections

Fingernail InfectionsFINGERNAIL INFECTIONS AFFECT WOMEN MORE THAN MEN In contrast to toenail infections, fingernail infections, especially those caused by candida, impact more women than men. This happens because often women’s jobs as housekeepers or dishwashers...

read more
Strategies to Preserve Your Family Business

Strategies to Preserve Your Family Business

Strategies to Preserve Your Family BusinessOriginally from http://www.familybusinessmagazine.com/mitzi-perdue%E2%80%99s-strategies-preserve-your-company-family-businessThe widow of Frank Perdue, longtime president and CEO of Perdue Farms, offers nine suggestions on...

read more