The Prose & Rhetoric of an 80-hr Work Week

When I finally find him, surrounded by punch-drunk pedestrians, I’m unsurprised to see that he is chatting away on his Bluetooth while typing a mile-a-minute into his little black Macbook laptop. For 24-yr-old John Maxwell, work never ends. I wait patiently while he chats away, trying to peak over his shoulder at the e-mail that he is attempting to write. Eventually he gives me a wink to let me know he sees me, and I grab a barstool to settle in. As he wraps up his phone conversation I note his use of diction, the way he smoothly caresses the issue at hand with what sounds like a boss of some kind. Proper rhetoric is a game that Maxwell plays daily; each situation requires a unique mix of delicacy, reality, and simple business etiquette.

A Coincidental Beginning

Maxwell, now the General Manager of Famous Dave’s, started as a server in 2004. He claims the only reason he got hired was because the owner at the time was a huge fan of John C. Maxwell, a well-known writer who published books on active leadership and teamwork. Young Maxwell was a partying twenty-year-old with no regard for anything but the present, and the owner had faith in him simply because he had the same name as someone who represented everything he wanted in an employee. So suddenly, because of ironic luck, Maxwell felt this pressure to attempt to live up to those values... to be a leader, a team player, and a positive communicator. Four years later, he is now General Manager of the East Beltline Famous Dave’s, a job that surprised him with requiring as many writing skills as management skills.

Writing All Day Long

“I didn’t realize how much different it would be, to go from being an assistant manager to a general manager. And I especially didn’t realize how much writing would be involved.” To begin with, Maxwell corresponds daily with his bosses, usually by e-mail. He doesn’t feel a need to be too professional with them because of their close relationship, but he has found that if he isn’t very clear miscommunication will occur. Sometimes he may be e-mailing them just to let them know about a new gardener he hired or about spending $200 to fix one of the grills, and he has to remember to be thorough with his wording. “I can never abbreviate things with my bosses, Larry and Terry, or summarize a situation. They need to know the details, otherwise I’m going to end up writing three more e-mails and answering a couple phone calls when they don’t understand what I was writing them about.”

Choosing which words to write, how many, and to what depth is something Maxwell has to think about often. Another example, recovery letters, (aka: letters to guests that weren’t very pleased with their visit), is an example of daily writing that demands balance. “I want to be professional, yet friendly. I want to apologize, but not give excuses. I need to sound sincere, while thankful that they pointed out this problem to us.” Maxwell usually re-reads his recovery letters aloud a couple times before mailing them, well aware that grammatical errors will make him appear stupid, and one wrong word could give the wrong tone. He also does a lot of correspondence with guests about catering orders. People email often wanting quotes about how much food would be needed to feed 300 for a wedding, 150 for a grad party, or 20 for a work meeting. “To me, I’m just writing up numbers, thinking about ribs and chicken. But for them, its a really special event, and I have to remember to be sensitive to their situation while trying to sell them our food and service.” On top of all the writing Maxwell does to his bosses and guests, there is also a lot of writing involved with his employees. Disciplinary notes for tardiness or attitude are very specific. “I have to be VERY clear and concise when writing someone up. There’s also a lot of legality tied into disciplinary notes, so I can’t use words like “fired”, and I have to convey the situation accurately on this tiny one page piece of paper that gets faxed to our main office, so I have to choose my words wisely.”

Writing Makes the Workplace Go Round

Lastly, Maxwell writes schedules every week for servers, hostesses, bartenders, cooks, maintenance workers, and managers. This one task takes hours of time every week, and is of the utmost importance. Maxwell has to consult request-off books, shift-exchange books, availability sheets, and then has to try and plan ahead for a strong staff. After all that, he has to print off the schedule in a format that is organized and legible. “Usually I end up re-printing the schedule at least 3 times a week, because servers will switch shifts so many times, or someone will remind me that they needed a day off, and the schedule will become so battered and moved around that the manager on duty will have no clue who is working. That one piece of paper can make a shift extremely confusing if you’re expecting Brittany, Elizabeth and Katie to come in at four, and they actually gave their shifts to Matt, Aaron, and Rachel, who all think they’re coming in at five... And if that piece of paper gets lost, be prepared for chaos. I always save an updated copy of the schedule on the desktop to try and avoid the worst.”

After all this is over, and the shift is completed, Maxwell goes back to his office and writes a brief summary of the events of his day in his manager book, a book used to keep record of events and help the incoming manager be as informed and prepared as possible for their shift. The schedule, the return of guests, the success of large scale catering orders, the discipline of employees, and the correspondence between managers and owners all depends on John Maxwell’s ability to juggle words. Even though “writer” is no where in his job title, Maxwell will tell you that his English classes at Davenport have been the most useful so far. He has learned that dealing with people is something that you acquire over time, with experience. But if you don’t have the skills to send a guest a well-written letter, those are the kinds of weaknesses that people see right away. “Writing is a necessary life skill; I wouldn’t be able to properly do my job... if I wasn’t a capable writer.”

Four years ago, the old owner must have seen some potential in Maxwell beyond his name. With the help of his writing skills, John Maxwell now exemplifies a true leader and team player everyday.