By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy

Here’s an idea to strengthen your sense of resourcefulness. Reading time: 2:10.

It’s the July 4th holiday weekend. People flock to your house. More than expected. You run out of food. So, in a panic, you raid your refrigerator. But all you find is four-day old bread, a few eggs, Romano cheese and some Romaine lettuce. What do you do?

You improvise. That’s what Caesar Cardini did on Friday July 4, 1924 when his restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico ran out of food supplies. Caesar improvised with whatever he had on hand. And Caesar invented: Yep, you guessed it, Caesar salad.

Effective leaders improvise.

They see ahead beyond what they don’t have. They see ahead to what they could have. In fact the word “improvise” stems from the Latin “to see ahead.”

Leaders see ahead to innovate resources and to broaden marketing opportunities. Caesar Cardini compensated for the lack of food supplies with his resourcefulness and showmanship.

He tossed his Caesar salad in a large wooden bowl in front of the patron’s table while other patrons looked on and the curiosity got the best of them.

Caesar gave us all a solid leadership lesson 88 years ago today with the same innovative spirit that gave birth to America 236 years ago today: leverage whatever you have on hand and turn your tunnel vision into funnel vision. Consider the possibilities. Not the improbabilities.

Looking Over Not Over-Looking the Possibilities

That’s how an improvising leader turned dirt bricks into bucks. That’s how an improvising leader turned a girdle into a heart valve. And that’s how an improvising leader turned a stuffed teddy bear into Sir Cough a Lot, a heart patient recovering tool.

Indeed improvising leaders see ahead. They look over more than overlook the opportunity no matter how hidden from the naked eye. They refocus with their heart and soul on something new not on something they always knew. They ask “what if?” Not “what for.” And they always have food for thought. Especially when the food runs out.

Today’s ImproveMINT

Repurpose whatever you have to keep your leadership thinking in mint condition.

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