JS Tip 628: Leading and Serving

From the Leadership Workshops: Leading and Serving. One and the Same.

A good leader respects and appreciates those who do the work.

We’ve used this example in our workshops. It’s an excerpt from Sixty Minutes. 

Aaron Feuerstein

The fire that broke out at Malden Mills in the winter of 1995 was the largest fire Massachusetts had seen for a century. No one was killed. But the town was devastated. Malden Mills was one of the few large employers in a town that was already in desperate straits.

“The only thing that went through my mind was, how can I possibly recreate it,” says owner Aaron Feuerstein, the third generation of his family to run the mill.

“I was proud of the family business and I wanted to keep that alive, and I wanted that to survive. But I also felt the responsibility for all my employees, to take care of them, to give them jobs.”

He made a decision—one that others in the textile industry found hard to believe. Feuerstein decided to rebuild right there in Lawrence—not to move down South or overseas as much of the industry had done in search of cheap labor.

He also made another shocking decision. For the next six months, all employees would be paid their full salaries.

“I think it was a wise business decision, but that isn’t why I did it. I did it because it was the right thing to do,” says Feuerstein.

Some might have said the proper business decision was to take the $300 million in insurance and retire.

“And what would I do with it? Eat more? Buy another suit? Retire and die?” asks Feuerstein. “No, that did not go into my mind.”

—Sixty Minutes, Sunday, July 3rd, 2003

What Happened Next

Feuerstein kept his promises. He rebuilt the factory, and while he was rebuilding the factory, he paid $25 million in payroll. He was honored by President Clinton. 

He received twelve honorary degrees and a “Courage of Conscience Award.”

We love good leadership.