Leadership is Listening: More Words of Advice from Michael Martin - Teleflora EVP & GM of Sales & Membership
Part two of Vonda and Lori's conversation with Michael Martin, Teleflora's EVP and GM of Sales & Membership, digs into the working parts of leadership: listening when it's inconvenient, staying calm when you don't feel calm, having the hard conversations, and the surprising case for second chances. If you manage even one employee in your shop, this episode is full of tools you can use this week.
Listen when it's inconvenient — that's when it counts
Michael's first point: you can't listen only when it's convenient, because the most important conversations arrive at the most inconvenient times. When you're stressed and maxed out, everything becomes about you — and you miss the small pockets where real leadership happens. Lori admits her own trap: while an employee is talking, she's already devising her comeback. Her fix is beautifully practical — she keeps a pen and notebook, jots bullet words as the person talks, then plays it back: "So this is your biggest struggle right now, right?" It slows her down enough to listen to understand instead of listening to respond.
Michael adds an underrated leadership phrase: "I don't know." We're conditioned to always have an answer, but admitting you don't — and then actually following up — builds more trust than a fast, half-listened reply ever will.
The duck on the water
Michael comes across calm and collected, but he describes himself as a duck on a pond: serene on the surface, legs churning a thousand RPMs underneath. He's nervous all the time — and he's fine with that, because the nerves keep him sharp and present. What matters is the projection: if the leader is visibly frantic, the whole team picks it up and it trickles down. And yes, there's a "bad Michael" who occasionally stomps his feet on mute — but because he loses it maybe once every six months, when he does, people snap to attention. Rarity is what gives the reaction its power.
Hard conversations: fast, genuine, compassionate
Early in his career, Michael had to wind down Florafax after Teleflora acquired it — reducing a couple hundred employees to about eight, one difficult conversation at a time, in his late twenties. It ripped the band-aid off hard conversations forever. His rules now: have them fast, be genuine and authentic, and never be callous — stay compassionate, because someone's livelihood is on the other side of the table.
His most quotable line applies directly to flower shops: every employee is amazing — but often you have an amazing employee in the wrong job, and if so, it's only a matter of time before things go sideways. A leader's job is getting the right person into the right role. And when someone must be let go, it rarely comes out of nowhere; there's a track record, built on accountability along the way.
Skill versus will
Asked whether small shops need a "three strikes" policy, Michael pushed back on hard rules. Four mistakes from someone whose heart is in it and who's visibly growing is a completely different situation from four mistakes from someone who just doesn't care. Lori named it with a framework she and Vonda use constantly: skill versus will. You can teach skill to someone with will; you can't inject will into someone coasting for a paycheck. She shared a real example florists will recognize — talented designers who flat-out refuse to answer the phone even though it's in the job description. Accountability matters in a three-person shop just as much as a corporation, because the rest of the team is always watching how you handle it.
The power of second chances
Here's the part that surprised the hosts: Michael is a big believer in second chances, because he got one himself. He left Teleflora in 2004 to work for FTD — the big competitor — and Teleflora still brought him back in 2008. He's since rehired employees he once let go, and says an employee who's truly given a fresh start fights harder, doesn't want to let you down, and forms a bond deeper than a normal employer-employee relationship.
And when Lori asked him point-blank why a small shop should join Teleflora despite the anti-wire-service sentiment in the industry, he didn't dodge: he believes every florist can benefit from Teleflora in some capacity — whether that's point of sale, websites, product, or containers (his seven-year side passion project) — and his commitment is simply that the company will listen, be fair, and get a little better every day.
Key takeaways
- Listen to understand, not to respond — take notes and play back what you heard before offering solutions.
- "I don't know" is a perfectly good answer, as long as you follow up.
- Project calm; your stress trickles down to your team faster than you think.
- Judge mistakes through skill versus will: effort and heart change everything about how you respond.
- Have hard conversations quickly and compassionately — and stay open to second chances; they can create your most loyal people.