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Welcome to The Quiet Rich, your weekly email for a quiet mind + a rich life. Today, I’m sharing the #1 secret for managing your team. Scroll down for it.
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CONTEXT
Danny Meyer is an iconic New York restauranteur— known for Shake Shack, Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, and Manhatta (a recent fave of mine), among many others.
On the Tim Ferriss Show, he revealed the simple (but oh-so-powerful) 2x2 matrix he uses to manage his team.
It’s the best framework for people managers to decide who to spend their time on.
Danny “scores” his employees across two things:
Willingness (will / won’t): how motivated someone is by their job
Ability (can / can’t): how skilled they are at that job.
So, which group does he spend the most time with as a manager?
Many people would say the the team members who aren’t motivated.
Danny disagrees.
He spends the most time with the folks who ARE motivated.
Why? Let’s go through each one…
Download this high-res PDF to keep handy on your desk.
METHOD
1. CAN + WILL (high performers)
It seems easy to just “leave these folks alone.” They’re crushing their jobs!
But without recognition, they can quickly lose motivation…
What they need:
Words of praise and gratitude
Leadership opportunities to inspire the rest of the team
Celebrating what they bring to the culture
2. CAN’T but WILL (untrained):
These might be new hires— folks who are super motivated to learn, but don’t have all the skills yet.
What they need:
Coaching
Mentorship
Weekly check-ins
Onboarding
If you invest the time in training them, you’ll have a loyal employee for years.
—————
3. CAN but WON’T (unmotivated)
These folks might have been in the same role for a while and lost interest.
They can easily drag your culture down if they’re doing far less work than everyone else with no consequences.
What they need:
A new project that boosts interest
A 6-month goal to work towards
A performance improvement plan
4. CAN’T + WON’T (need to exit):
The trickiest category. These folks don’t have the skills they need for the job, and aren’t motivated to learn them.
What they need:
Clear expectations for their role
Honest feedback about where they’re not meeting expectations
An action plan to help them find a different role if nothing changes
WHY IT WORKS
Danny doesn’t keep this quadrant in his head. He puts it on the mirror in his employees’ locker room. He’s 100% transparent in how he manages the team.
And every time his team gets ready… they can decide which quadrant they’re in now, and where they want to be.
I’ll leave you with my favorite quote from Danny’s interview: “My grandmother’s lesson was right. If I water the flowers and spend more time with the people who maybe I’ve taken for granted because they’re doing such a great job, they actually crowd out the weeds— and the weeds take care of themselves.”
Btw, I highly recommend listening to the full podcast episode. Danny is a phenomenal storyteller.
Much love,
Jade
P.S. Sending a warm welcome to the thousands who have joined since last week! Learn more about The Quiet Rich here. 🎉