Stop Saying Your Employees Work "With" You When They Work "For" You

My father owned a tire shop in my hometown of Sulphur Springs. On any given day, it was like Floyd's Barber Shop from "The Andy Griffith Show."

Farmers and other local businessmen would gather at W.G. Tire to discuss the upcoming hunting season, how many calves their herd had produced that spring, or what their wives had done to annoy them.

I loved going to what we simply referred to as "the store." The smell of rubber and gasoline, the familiar faces – it was truly a special place. W.G. actually stood for Wright and Glover, the last name initials of my father, his father, and a gentleman named Paul Glover who all went in as partners in the store.

The story goes that Paul heard my great-grandfather owned the old empty Shell station on the service road and thought it would make a great tire store. Back then, there were only a couple in town. He approached my dad about it, who then approached my grandfather. Together, they went to my great-grandfather and secured a lease.

Around 1981, W.G. Tire opened. Eventually, my father, being the one running the store day-to-day, decided to buy out Paul and my grandfather, leaving him as the sole owner.

My father has always gone to extremes to downplay himself and elevate others. It is a sign of humility, and I always admired it growing up. One of his popular expressions to reflect this humility was when he always said, "People don't work for me; they work with me."

For the longest time, I thought this was a great saying. It had to make the employees feel good. They had a boss who considered them equals, benevolent and worthy of admiration. Then I became a business owner myself.

I quickly learned that not only did the people not just work for me, but ultimately, employees work for themselves. They work for themselves by working for me.

Here's the deal: even if you tell your employees they work with you, not for you, they don't believe you. After all, it's your business, not theirs. Furthermore, employees don't want to work "with" you. If they did, they'd ask to buy in and become your partner. They don't. Why? Because they don't want to be the person other people work for. That requires more risk than they are willing to assume. They'd rather do a job, do it to the best of their ability, exchange their labor for your money, and go home without thinking twice about you or your business until the next day.

I remember when my dad closed the doors of his store. He did this because his manager of 10 years quit. How could this be? He worked "with" my dad, not for him. If they worked together like colleagues, shouldn't there have been some agreement? Nope. There wasn't because Billy didn't work with my dad; he worked "for" my dad. Whatever mess was left upon his leaving was my Dad’s to clean up.

What about those weeks or months when my father didn't have enough money to pay himself? I'm not sure my dad ever actually paid himself a salary. I'm pretty sure his employees he worked 'with' got a check every two weeks. Furthermore, I'm sure it was his signature on the check, not a co-signed check by him and the employees.

Employees want a leader. Many people want a leader. They want to know there is someone making all the tough decisions they don't have or want to. Employees want a leader who is confident and says, "Yes, you work for me, and I take that responsibility very seriously. I will do all I can as your leader to not take you for granted."

By telling an employee they work 'with' you when they very well know they work 'for' you, it sows cynicism.

My dad was exercising humility. I get it. However, I have grown to believe this is not a good business practice. Quit telling employees who know full well they don’t work 'with' you when really what they want is to be appreciated for working 'for' you. Earn their trust and their loyalty and they’ll work for you with all they have.

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