Dec 2, 2020
Kristen Hadeed is the founder of Student Maid, a successful
cleaning company that has employed thousands of students over the
last decade and that is known for building the next generation of
leaders.
In 2017, she published her first
book, “Permission To Screw Up”, in which she offers an unapologetic
account of her biggest mistakes in leadership. She hopes that her
vulnerability will give others the courage to open up about their
own “perfectly imperfect” moments and proudly embrace them as the
tremendous learning opportunities they are.
Kristen has been featured in
news outlets including PBS, FOX, Inc., NBC, TIME, and Forbes. Her
first TED Talk has more than three million views on
YouTube.
Key Takeaways
[4:10] In college, Kristen got a
cleaning contract and within 3 days, 45 of the 60 people she hired
walked off the job. She had no idea she was such a bad leader, but
it was a defining moment for her to change.
[6:25] Instead of blaming
others, Kristen took an introspective approach. That’s because she
grew up in a household where failure is learning.
[9:55] People don’t trust people
who are perfect.
[11:25] When Kristen was writing
her book, she realized she had a fear of failure as well as a fear
of success.
[14:20] If you keep people in
bubble wrap to prevent them from making mistakes, the business will
not be able to grow.
[14:50] Kristen defines
“empowering” as trusting in someone before they’ve proven it. It’s
about believing in someone’s potential.
[17:50] Kristen puts the
responsibility on her staff to own their own performance plan and
to take accountability for their actions.
[22:05] Kristen focuses on
building leaders not simply hiring people to join a cleaning
company.
[25:20] Companies are hesitant
to invest in their low-level employees if they know they’re just
going to move on. Kristen invests in her employees because she
cares about the people.
[25:50] People do so much for
our organizations, so it’s only natural we give back
and.
[26:50] Kristen used to be so
focused on retention, but has since shifted her focus to investing
in people.
[28:25] Empathy is really about
hearing people, seeing them, and validating their
feelings.
[30:35] The pandemic has been an
excellent time for Kristen to reflect on her priorities as she now
feels like she was on autopilot before.
[34:00] Kristen always ends her
day on a daily reflection, so that she can both learn from the good
and the bad that happened throughout her day.
[38:30] Listener challenge: When
we look back on this time, what do you want to say about it? Live a
proud life.
Quotable Quotes
- “If
you’re always trying to be perfect, you’re never going to take
risks.”
- “In
our effort to appear perfect, we lose a lot of trust.”
- “When
human beings are in the equation, there’s probably some screwing up
that’s going to happen.”
Resources Mentioned
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