The other day, we were reminiscing with a client at the VIM Executive Coaching offices in Denver. He is an old-time radio buff, which is ironic because he loves digital and synthesized music (but he insisted they have a lot in common).
Bob and Ray
Our client turned to us and asked if we remembered the Bob and Ray show, actually. Bob and Ray’s Matinee. Why, yes! The comedy duo of Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding performed from 1946 to 1988, and after Goulding passed, Bob Elliott continued performing through his 90th birthday in 2014. They were improvisational geniuses whose “comedic tree” gave rise to scores, if not hundreds of aspiring comedians, radio and television programming, sitcoms and plays.
Bringing up the comedy duo, immediately caused a flood of memories. They had running gags, often in installments like really bad soap operas.
What does any of this have to do with executive leadership and business coaching? Actually, a great deal.
One of the long-running show’s series was The House of Toast. Bob and Ray created a parody of a fast-food franchise. The franchise sold…you guessed it…toast. In one episode, a customer (Bob Elliott) pulls up to the drive-thru window and asks for buttered toast.
The clerk behind the window asks: “Do you want it dry or buttered?” Buttered. Buttered is ten cents more. Do you want it buttered side-up or buttered side-down? Up. Up is ten cents more. Then the customer is asked if they want it lightly toasted, medium toasted or dark toasted? Medium. Then the customer is asked if they want the crust trimmed or plain? Trimmed. They are told that trimming the crust was ten cents extra. This goes on and on.
In another episode, Bob and Ray are portrayed as House of Toast executives. One of them takes a call from a prospective franchisee who wonders what kind of bread the House of Toast sold? “White bread,” was the response. “Can I sell raisin bread?” asks the caller. “Oh no, that’s another franchise.”
It occurred to us that far too many executive leadership courses and far too many leadership books, are uncomfortably similar to the House of Toast spoof. Quite often, prospective business coaching clients are met with a “hundred” variations of the same thing, and sadly far too often the client is told that the “next course,” or the “really big book,” or the “next theme,” is only available upon the student completing the basic book or the small book or the current theme. The steps are never ending.
Executive Leadership is a Mindful Process
Executive leadership, and business coaching in general, is an evolving and mindful process. The goal of leadership should be to move toward greater authenticity so that the leader is consistent “within their own breath.” By that we mean that the leader should be aware, present and effective in the here and now.
Leaders evolve and become more effective not through gimmickry or by running new and/or artificial gauntlets or adding on more courses.
At some point there must be an inner and mindful awareness. The best leaders must take that inward journey and answer the hardest questions for any leader to answer; the questions they must ask of themselves.
Great leaders strive to unclutter themselves by arriving at a place of genuineness. VIM Executive Coaching helps leaders find that place.
Ultimately, the customer of any “House of Toast” must arrive at a level of self-awareness. The awareness is that upside-down or right-side-up, light, medium or dark, trimmed or untrimmed, they are still getting buttered toast. If the customer wants something better or different it is up to them to take the most authentic path to find it.