The Power Of A Drug Store Clerk

In a recent workshop on leadership, I asked the participants to identify someone who they think is a powerful person.  I then asked them to consider if that person’s power is unique to them or is it of a nature that any of us can acquire.

Of course, names of the usual suspects popped up, i.e. Gates, Jobs, Clinton (both), parents, teachers, et.al.  But then Elizabeth, a woman who can claim a measure of power in her own right as she’s a partner in five influential restaurants here in SoCal, offered that she recently encountered a powerful woman in a CVS drug store––a matronly clerk at the cash register!  It was the only open register and there was a line of five people ahead of Elizabeth.  Throughout, the clerk remained not only calm and efficient, but also cheerful, answering questions (the usual inane kind that people ask when there’s a line) and being friendly even as customers fumbled for cash or credit cards.

Marveling at her composure, Elizabeth complimented the woman and asked her how she did it.  The woman seemed surprised but laughed and said, “what else can I do?  Yell?  What good would that do?”

As Elizabeth said to the class, “Now that was power!”

That clerk will never rise to the ranks of CEO of CVS, but indeed she is a woman of power.  Why?  Well, there are various attributes to being a powerful person and one of them is this: a powerful person is not a victim.

Playing the role of victim doesn’t give you genuine power.  It might give you attention, but not respect––from yourself and others.  The simple truth is that each one of us is responsible for what we are doing, having, being, and feeling.

This clerk easily could have played the victim and vented her frustration with management on hapless customers.  Instead, she took charge of the situation and decided how she wanted to handle things.  She was neither insulted nor intimidated by impatient customers.  She chose to be gracious, personable, and as efficient as her resources allowed her to be.

Elizabeth told us that she plans on remembering this woman and will pass on her power to her own staffs and customers.

Powerful people are influential.  Even a drugstore clerk. What about you?  Where do you have power?  How are you and how can you be influential?