Tabatha Takes Over

Tracy proves herself to Tabatha.

For four seasons I've been in love with Tabatha Takes Over on Bravo.  Tabatha Coffey takes struggling, independently owned hair salons and "takes over".  It's so refreshing that this isn't a simple HGTV surface makeover - Tabatha looks at the salon's finances, marketing, operations, organizational behavior - it's a full on consultation.  And she's kind of my hero of attitude, not pulling any punches with the owners.  I am fully aware I could never pull off her attitude - it works excellent for her, but would come off as obnoxious from me.  Still, I can dream.

ANYWAY, this season she's branched out into other industries besides hair salons, and it's amazing.  It sounds completely ridiculous but I think business owners and managers can learn a lot from this reality TV show on Bravo.  The shot from above is from Episode 4 - Pat's Hair Shoppe (I know).  Tracy (left) is the "manager" pretty much in name only.  What I took away from this episode was the level of emotional intelligence Tracy displayed - when Tabatha came back to check up six weeks later, Tracy had come to the realization that she really wasn't a very good manager, and that the skills she did have could be put to use to serve the salon (or Shoppe, as it were) in better ways than just pretending to manage.

I haven't come across many people in my career who:

• Take new challenges on and then
• Actually admit failure where appropriate

Of course, these are the people you want in your organization!  I'd love to have Tracy as a co-worker.  Imagine a place where employees are accountable for their actions while striving to make a business successful.  I can only hope she got a raise for stepping down from the management position gracefully - that's a personality trait that's real rare to find.

Tabatha Takes Over - seriously, set your DVR's and take a lesson.

ALSO, the new Cloud Nothings album?  Amazing.