"The Problem's at the Distant End"

This is the answer to the question, "what's the problem with the commo"?

"Commo" is slang for "communication" and the setting is the Army in the 1980s. Back then we used to run wire between positions in the field so soldiers and command posts could talk on antiquated hand-crank telephones (obviously, this was before the age of handheld computer devices -- the wire technology was pretty much from WWII). We also used antiquated FM radios for short-range tactical communications between units in the field.

When the radios broke or the crank phones couldn't talk, one of the soldiers would seek out the signal folks and ask "what's the problem with the commo?" You couldn't say "I don't know" so the obvious answer was "the problem's at the distant end". Of course, that answer was rarely allowed to stand and, if the problem was with a land line, the "wire dogs" would have to head out and figure out what was what.

When we talk about wire communications -- and that's wire hung on poles or in the trees, but more likely laying on the ground -- the first technique for troubleshooting the problem was to go about half way between the two parties, splice into the wire and see which way the commo was good and which way it wasn't. Then, you'd just keep dividing the offending part in half and repeat until the problem was found. This low-tech troubleshooting really does work and it's impartial...even though you say the problem's with the other end, this troubleshooting figures out for sure where the break lies.

How many times, when we're having trouble with personal communication between people, do we think the problem is at the distant end? How many times do we consider our end of the communication and if the problem could be with us?

Your Most Precious Asset...A Good Reputation

Potential Jobs: dozens

Professional Reputation: ONE, only one...and it can be good or bad

It seems like a person's reputation, is almost like a soul. It belongs to them, down deep. Some call it part of a person's identity, the way others see us. We can also think of it as our character, again as others see it.

"Bob is known as a hard worker who always puts others first. He is honest and open. If he says he'll do something, you can take it to the bank."

That's the reputation I want to have and work hard to display. It's how I think I ought to be. Do others see it? I hope so. I try to live up to the values by which I was raised.

How do I keep a good reputation? Be consistent and follow through. Whatever reputation you're trying to uphold, people need to see you exhibit the characterics of the reputation more times than not.

What if I have a poor reputation? As they say, it takes 100 "attaboys" to overcome 1 "aw sh**". So, if you have a poor reputation, you're going to have to work really hard to put it right. People have long memories. It's not impossible to rebuild your reputation, so don't give up if it's damaged. Just be patient and diligent. Do what you say you'll do, be honest and forthright, and be above board with your key stakeholders, letting them know that you want to make things better.

Employee Retention in a Bad Economy

Times are uncertain right now. Businesses are closing. Jobs are not safe. We all know people who have lost employment and it can make our people edgy. Employees are asking, "What's going to happen with my job?" People are looking for reassurance and some level of comfort.

Do we need to worry about employee retention at a time like this? Since there aren't many jobs, is it OK to feel that our people should just watch their butts because there's no place else to go? We're all being asked to do more with less and on top of that we have to get all "touchy-feely" with our employees because they're feeling insecure?

Employee retention is an important issue at ALL times, good economy or bad. Let's face it:

1. There are a lot of average workers in the world. That's why they're called average. If you've got a superstar or even an above-average employee, chances are that potential employers could feel the same way you do.
2. There are jobs out there. Not as many jobs are available as used to be, but jobs are there. If you have talented professionals working for you and their working conditions (security, pay, duties, leadership, etc.) are less than they think is optimal, they can patiently look for something that will be better. Then, they can surprise you one day with a "Sayonara, here's my notice".
3. I guess since other talented people are out of work, it's no big deal to replace a solid, trained performer in these economic times, right? WRONG. Many HR people will tell you that it can cost 30% of a worker's salary to find a suitable replacement. 30%! How many companies have the money to be doing that very often (more than they already are)?
4. Plus, you know all the hassle that goes along with hiring new folks...or combining jobs when your boss tells you that even though your "jumper" left a funded position, you're not going to be allowed to refill the position...things are bad, remember?
5. Don't forget employee morale for those who stayed...you don't want a potential stampede of workers out your doors. What about the whole "team" thing? It just keeps adding up.

Talent retention is a key role of every boss regardless of the economy...bottom line.

Who Loves Ya, Baby?

Really, in your business life, who can you count on to take the absolute best care of you? There should be only one answer: YOU!

I'm not talking about having a dog-eat-dog perspective on your work life where it's just about "me and mine" over the common good. All I'm saying is that -- bottom line -- when you have tough decisions to make that affect you and your life and your family, you are the only work person you can truly count on.

That was a hard lesson for me to learn. My parents raised me to trust others and in my leadership training my Army instructors taught me that my people should be able to trust me and I should be able to trust my bosses. I believed that.

I've had a few (very few) bosses who've betrayed that trust and the rest of my bosses did their best for me. I have always tried to do my absolute best for the people I oversaw.

Still, as much as they work to have an empathetic spirit and walk in their peoples' shoes, the best bosses don't know their teams' personal finances, family dynamics, stresses, etc. Only each individual does.

When it comes down to it, regardless of how much of our lives we put into them...our jobs are still just that...jobs. I only have one family, but I have had several jobs. Even among the military careerists where "it's not a job, it's a way of life" we still used to say, "it's not if you separate from the Service, it's when".

Let's stop at this: Be the best team member and leader you can be...while Taking Care of You.

The Rights of a Leader...Why Be a Boss?

We read and hear and talk about employee rights from time to time. There are patient rights (HIPAA - Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), too. Animals have rights. Shoot, I even saw dozens of web pages discussing whether dead people have rights.

Going back to employee rights, there are lots of them, especially in the Western world. Employees have the right to be treated fairly regarding any number of things like:

• Pay
• Hours
• Vacation
• Safety
• Taking care of their families
• Privacy
• Not to be harassed or discriminated against

All of these rights seem fair, don't they?

Well, what about managers or leaders? What rights do they have? Sure, they should have the same rights as any other employees, but do they have any rights that are specific or inherent to them as managers or leaders?

I can’t think of any…and I’ve been trying.

Certainly bosses have some level of power and that power allows them to do things like hire, fire, maybe promote, or discipline. But are these rights or responsibilities?

We’ve heard it said that rank has its privileges. What privileges are they…having nicer offices (they have a door instead of being stuck with the cube rats?), staying in nicer hotels on business trips, eating at fancier restaurants or getting paid more than their employees? Are these rights?

Is it all much ado about nothing? Should my post just go in the trash?

I’m just wondering because it makes me think being a manager or boss sure has a lot more responsibilities than it does perks.

Why are people bosses, then? Is it just for the money? Is it for the power, you know, getting to tell other people what to do? Does it make them feel special? Is it that, as I read in an article, it’s just a further expression of living a service-like life? Is it just better than having other people boss you around (although I’ve never met a boss who didn’t have another boss of his or her own in one way or another)?

Why do you think people choose to be bosses? And what rights do you think bosses have specific to them?

Reality Filters...here, take one

Wait, you already have one. So do I.

Reality filters are the way human beings see themselves and the world around them (you can also call them "points of view"). They are like snowflakes where every one is different from the others even if minutely so. Filters are comprised of many things, like results of:

• Upbringing and influence (manipulation) of others
• Environment
• Significant events in life
• Likes and dislikes

One could argue there are multiple realities, you know, that everyone has his or her own reality (this may be the genesis of the "perception is reality" phrase; I don't know).

The other possibility that I think of is that there is one reality, but none of us see it totally clearly and definitely not the same as anyone else around us. That's because we see reality through our unique filters.

If we look at it from a leadership or teamwork view, filters can be good when we use them to create, like in a project team, because each of us can bring our own perspective to the group. Filters in the form of wisdom can be great as we act as teachers and mentors imparting our perspective on a problem, issue, or challenge.

However, filters can be bad when our views and outlook diminish those around us. Filters can hinder progress when they halt or slow down creativity. Filters can cause us to discriminate. Filters can cause us to think more or less of ourselves than we should and can have the same effect as we look at those we lead, collaborate with, or even work for.

Filters aren't going away. We'll always have them. So, how can we ensure our filters are used only for good? Is it enough that we are aware of them, so we may try to understand how they affect our views and ideas? Can "suspending our assumptions" like I mentioned in my last post help us overcome the negative aspects of our filters?

Suspend Your Assumptions...

You know, many of us think, when we're not really thinking, that we can do it all ourselves and we really don't need help or input from others, like our team.

In reality, we know that's just not true. We need dialogue, we need brainstorming, we need dynamic conversation in order to often come up with the most robust solution to an issue, problem, or project.

Problem is, when we think we already know the answers or that our guesses are better than anyone else's thoughts, we can stop listening. When we stop listening, our solutions can be very limited because we're missing out on potentially great input from others.

We have to be confident and open enough to entertain to possiblity that our personal ideas are incorrect or imperfect. Peter Senge, in his book, "The Fifth Discipline", writes about suspending our assumptions.

When we "suspend" our assumptions, we're not throwing them out or saying that they're wrong. We're just admitting that it's possible a colleague might have an even better solution to the problem or project and that could to the BEST solution for everyone.

So what if our idea isn't the best? Is having a great result all about us? Or is it about the team, about the organization...maybe about the customer?

Suspending our assumptions temporarily allows us to actively listen and explore many more possibilities than we may have ever imagined.

Have you ever seen where your assumptions or the assumptions of your boss or one of your team members got in the way of a potentially better solution than the forerunner? Have you ever seen where pushing assumptions has caused others to shut down? How hard do you think it is to suspend assumptions, just for a little while, until all the ideas have been given their due?

Opinion as Fact

Whew. There are a long list of ways to quickly disengage others from a conversation. In fact, I think I probably know of many more ways to disengage others than to engage them.

One biggie is stating our opinions as facts. We all do it, don't we? We have a current reality that works for us, whether we like that reality or not. I think that subconciously we may just assume that our reality is THE reality even though, if asked in detail about it, we'd realize that everyone has a reality or maybe that we all see THE reality through our own filters (more on filters in another post...I'm saving it for later).

When we get into a discussion, especially a lively one, some people seem to state their reality as the only one that exists, or maybe worse, the only one that matters. When they are calm and rational, they know that is just not the case, but when they're passionate about an issue or a person or an idea, they can quickly take their side as THE side.

Do you ever state your opinion as fact? Think about it and think about how others react if you do it. What are ways we can help keep this "monster" in check?

Blame is way overrated

As soon as a mistake is made, what do many of us do? We rush to lay blame at the feet of the offender.

What does that do for us? It makes us feel better because there's no heat on us so that must elevate our position.

What does that do for the organization? It certainly DOES NOT move the organization forward.

In fact, the ART of Blame (and some of us do excel at that art) is, unless you're using it to help you get rid of an employee, just a waste of time...time that you're not using to fix problems and move the team or organization forward.

Peter Senge, in his book, "The Fifth Discipline", talks about how blame is so common and that we all look for opportunities to assign it. Then it's not our problem...it's someone else's. Check out this link reviewing " The Fifth Discipline" (it's hands-down the best learning book I've ever read).

Anyway, when something goes wrong or someone makes a mistake, we need to step back and think before pointing fingers. If we look at our world from a systematic approach and how we fit into our team or organization or world, rather than place blame, we need to look at how we could have positively affected the outcome. Just like we like to figure out our part in an event when it goes well, we need to ask ourselves what part we had to play or what part we could have played in an event that went way wrong. This way we're not making someone the problem; instead we're part of the solution.

Would we all like to be part of the solution where everyone is successful? Isn't that a much better way to work and live than trying to build ourselves up by tearing someone else down?

So let me ask you, does your organzation or team excel at placing blame? Do you ask yourself what you could have done to help another succeed instead of jumping on the "blame bandwagon"? How can organizations move past blame and move ahead toward shared success?

There's really nothing new to be said...

Is there? Is there anything new to be said about any of the topics I like to talk about: Leadership, Coaching, Service?

There have been brilliant minds throughout history that have thought and written and spoken about all these topics. True, the ideas have probably been refined and realigned as civilization has done the same. Still, have any new revelations surfaced recently, at least in our lifetime?

I don't think so.

So, how come we spend SO MUCH time on these subjects? We still write books, and give lectures and have workshops. Why?

Is it because, except for a few very rare people, leadership, coaching, and service are learned skills? Is it that with every new generation of humans coming into the world, we have to start them at the beginning?

Maybe it's that leadership and coaching and service have to be taught just like a child learning to tie his shoes, or a little kid learning how to ride her bike.

I guess we just rebadge and repackage based on current reality, on current society, on current culture. Because, deep down, we humans may be basically decent, but we're inherently self-centered and leadership, coaching, and service, if performed properly, are each about others, about advancing other people.

Advanced as we've become as a human race, we still have to start over with every generation, with every new person.

A new generation is coming and we need to get back at it.

Service is Important, but Don't be a Service Nazi

I was at dinner with my son on Saturday evening. We went to a local restaurant where we hadn't eaten in a while.

The restaurant was fairly empty and we were seated pretty fast. Then, however, it took a couple of minutes for our server to start with us and that didn't make any sense because things seemed quiet. I started getting a little irritated and said, "if we get to 5 minutes of waiting, we're out of here"; my son said, "Calm down. We're not in a rush and everything is fine." Turns out he was right. Once our server got to us (about a minute later) he gave us great service and our food was pretty good, too.

I've spent a lot of the last few years being a fanatic about service, about wowing the customer and working to give them a world-class experience.

The downside is that I can often be looking for what's wrong. I remember asking a doctor one time why he was always so negative and he told me, "because I've been taught to look for what's wrong". I think this may have been happening to me some lately. I've been looking so hard for someone to either wow me...or conversely to piss me off (and the "piss me off" part of the chart is way bigger than the "wow me" part), that I am sometimes forgetting to relax and let things be ok.

Service is important...in fact, it's very important. Still, we have to keep things in perspective and we don't have to be evil, pissy Nazis about service.

Again, we have to think about what's reasonable.

Enjoy your dinner.

Could They Perform if Their Lives Depended on it?

I was recently reading an article in the Great Leadership blog: "Managing 'Bad Apples' is Key to Productivity" and enjoying the comments as well as the article. It reminded me of what I had discussed as part of my series on coaching back in June: Everyday Coaching, Part I:, Definition, Purpose, and Application.

In this first part of the series, I reflected on the thoughts of Drs. Lois Frankel and Karen Otazo who wrote:

"Could this employee do the job if his or her life depended on it?"

If the answer is "no", then you need to train your employee.

If the answer is "yes", then someone has an attitude problem and coaching might be a great way to help fix that problem.

When we start thinking about employees and how they're performing (and maybe whether any of them are "bad apples"), we need to understand our role in their performance and ensure we're setting them up for success.

If there's an issue, we need to ask ourselves the question above and either train or coach to resolve the issue. We also MUST ensure our employee knows what is expected of him or her. How can he or she perform, if the expectations aren't clear?

I'm sure there are "bad apples" out in the business world, but we need to ensure we've done everything possible to help our employee succeed before we stick him or her with that label.

When do we know our leadership is working?

I assume that all leaders want to be really excellent leaders. That's a great goal, isn't it? Hopefully we all work hard to be really excellent.

So then, how do we know when we are excellent? What's the test of successful leadership?

It's that our people flourish.

If our people grow and develop and flourish under our leadership, we are excellent leaders.

Why Can't Service Be More Fun?

I struggle with this one. I talk a lot about service, about world-class customer service, about some ways to provide this often elusive commodity, about being a servant leader.

You'd think it would be something ingrained in my life. Hmmmm.

The thing is, if we truly believe service and being a service-minded individual is of great importance, how come it is sometimes so hard to provide? How come I dislike doing it...not always, but definitely part of the time?

I think my problem may be that I have decided to be a judge. I sometimes seem to decide who deserves great service from me and who doesn't...who's "earned" it and who hasn't. Of course, some service is provided as a part of my job, but during those times am I really being service-minded or just going through the motions because it's a requirement?

Whew. I know all the right words to say and all the right things to do, but sometimes I've made service all about me and what I feel like and what I want to do. Sometimes I relegate service to others as just another "function" I complete and there's either no thought or, even worse, negative thought attached.

Providing outstanding service to my fellow human beings can't just be based on what's fun or what I feel like at the moment or if I think someone is worthy or not. Can it?

Being "service-minded" should mean that I have service in mind when I carry on my activities. So here's my question: Is it OK to provide service for others when I don't think they deserve it, when I don't feel like doing it, or when it's not fun....or even when I don't perceive any personal gain for me?

It seems that providing the best service possible is good to do when I'm not in the right frame of mind, but it's much more desirable and frankly much easier to do (with a much more positive result) when my heart is in it.

I guess "service as a way of life" must mean that it's so ingrained in a person that they just provide great service for others whether thought is involved or not. Still, if I act with a service-minded spirit, it's got to be a better experience for the person receiving my service and for me.

Definitely a struggle. I need to think more about this, but not get in the way of doing the right thing while I'm still trying to figure it out.

The Leadership style of Ghengis K, Adolf H, Mickey M

What in the world? This post is kind of a follow up to yesterday's regarding leadership and blogging (did I really write something that dumb?).

Did you realize that on this wonderful internet of ours, you can find posts and articles about the leadership styles of Adolf Hitler and Ghengis Khan all the way through to Mickey Mouse and Mother Teresa? It's incredible. Go ahead...I dare you...type in the name of someone famous, nice or notorious and add "leadership style" along with it in the search bar. Chances are you'll come up with something.

I know there are plenty of us out there who think we have something profound to share about leadership. I know I do...but I could be wrong. It could be that all my words are a bunch of gobbledygook. We've all got opinions of who were good leaders or bad and who showed great leadership traits when others showed very poor ones. If you look hard enough you'll find something to support what you're looking to find.

My take...since I do, of course, think I have something profound to share about leadership...is to read A LOT and observe A LOT and think A LOT. Use your brain to think about what's reasonable. Don't turn your back on any potential lesson. There's plenty of opportunity to see examples of great leadership in rotten people and horrible leadership in wonderful people. Just try what works for you. Be open-minded and ever-seeking. When you think you've got it all down, then you'll know you need to put your ego in your back pocket and keep looking for ways to improve.

That's a leadership thought from....me.

Leadership is like Blogging?

Huh? What the what?

How in the world is there any connection, you ask? Well, I like to Stumble, you know "StumbleUpon"? You click on a button in your browser and it takes you to a random web site. If you want you can choose just to "stumble" through Blogspot blog sites. There are tons of these sites out there. Some of them are similar and some of them are as different as can be. Some of them are pretty good and some of them just plain stink.

To me, that's how you can look at different types of leadership. There's no one specific way to lead because people are involved. In my last job, when patients would ask about their surgical outcomes, I would often say that if the laser was being used on a piece of plastic, we'd pretty much get the same result every time. But since we used the laser on people, while you could predict the outcome, it was never so certain because of the ways the patients responded to the treatment.

So are there any rules for good solid leadership? I think so:

1. Know your people.
2. Be respectful of everyone and treat each person as an individual.
3. Treat everyone fairly.
4. Look for ways to help others grow.
5. Communicate, communicate, communicate.
6. Work on an empathetic spirit.
7. Set reasonable expectations.

I think, -- me, my own opinion here -- if you work on the items above then your leadership will emerge...your own individual style of leadership that you hopefully tailor to the team or people you're responsible for.

"I'm the boss and can do whatever I want!"

Oh, no!

You want to take the express lane straight to employee disengagement? Start using phrases like this and you most certainly will.

Isn't this the response (or something like it) that we might give when we're strongly questioned by our team, when we're pushed about what we're doing? It's a very defensive sounding statement. I have used statements like this a few times in my career (hopefully not too many times). I had made a statement or ruling or pronounced some "thing" was going to happen or not going to happen and it didn't make sense to my folks. Rightly, they questioned me. I think, because I hadn't made a decision based solidly on facts or because I didn't totally feel confident in what I was deciding or because I had failed to keep my team in the loop (and then they could have helped me ensure I was looking at a situation properly), I got my back up. I felt backed into a corner and I lashed out with, "because I'm the boss, that's why".

What I needed to do was check my ego at the door.

Leaders are not great and wonderful all by themselves. They make mistakes and are not infallible. That's why we have teams...not just to have people to boss around.

We need to challenge our people and let them challenge us (respectfully, both ways). We need to involve them and empower them with responsibility. We need to help them feel like key stakeholders in their jobs or in a project or with some task.

Leading is not about being the boss. Leading is about inspiring and guiding and teaching and pushing our people to excel at their jobs...to make everyone succeed.

No Leader is Perfect

We all know it. Nobody's perfect and that's certainly true for leaders, too. Hopefully most of us want to be the best people we can be and most of us leaders want to be the best leaders we can be. How can we do that?

A couple of things come to mind right away:

1. Introspection. Another word might be self-awareness. Think about your actions for a given time period, a particular group, or a specific person. Reflect on whether or not you think you acted appropriately as a leader and what you might do differently or better in the future. The introspection I'm speaking about should typically be positive. The goal isn't to beat yourself up or to get mad about how someone else acted or treated you. It's about your continuous self-improvement.

2. Solicit feedback. Since perception is reality, our self-perceptions are important. Way more important, though, are the perceptions of those around you...your boss, your team members, your colleagues. Ask them how you're doing and what you can do better. Consider these:

~When you have a 1:1 conversation with a team member and give your feedback and direction, take a few minutes to let them provide feedback for you on what they think you can be doing better. This one definitely needs to have a trusting foundation or your team member will never completely open up, fearing retribution of some kind.
~Find a mentor. This person should NOT be your boss. I've had several bosses who've told me, "well, I mentor you, myself". No they don't. They guide and direct in a vertical relationship. What they do is totally appropriate, but it is not mentoring. In a mentoring relationship with a colleague or some other person you trust, it should be a horizontal relationship and you ought to be able to talk about anything and that includes your boss (how could you not talk about your relationship with your boss, you know?). It's fine for your boss to help you find a mentor, but this should be a confidential relationship where the boss is not involved (of course, confidentiality has it's limits and the expectations should be understood when the mentoring relationship starts).
~Ask your boss. Hopefully, you have a boss who values 1:1 regular discussions with you and you already are receiving thoughtful, constructive feedback already. If you're not, ask for it. I asked a boss one time what I could do better (we had no evaluation or feedback system in place at all). She said she had nothing to tell me and that I was doing great. The problem was that she had no problem telling me how I'd screwed up during the course of business. I think the problem was that she didn't know how to give me feedback so she avoided it. If you have regular feedback and guidance sessions with your boss, you should never be surprised come evaluation time (hopefully you have one). It should just be the culmination of all the work you've done with your boss throughout the evaluation period.

Bottom line: YOU are ultimately responsible for making yourself a better person, employee and leader. To a large extent, you control your destiny. If processes are not in place to help you be better, go seek them out. It's up to you.

Leaders ACT Confident

Now, why would I write that? Why would I write "Leaders ACT Confident" instead of "Leaders ARE Confident"?

Well, leaders should be confident. That's very true. However, the reality is that leaders don't always know what's going on and leaders don't always feel good about how things are going.

As I've also mentioned in an earlier post, leaders are always on display. The troops often take on the characteristics of their leader: fear, confidence, unease, strength.

So, part of our jobs as leaders are to keep our people feeling good that, even if the world around isn't that great (as with our current economy), the boss is in control and is confident of his or her abilities to handle the situation.

I used to tell my leaders 2 things:

1. Be There (I wrote more about this in a previous post)
2. Act like you know what you're doing.

Today, I would add a #3...Act confident, even if you don't feel it. Your people are counting on you.

Private Conversations

It's happened to you, hasn't it? You've had a team member or colleague ask you, "can you keep this between us?" It's not uncommon at all.

Now, if they start off your conversation that way, or with other phrases like, "can you keep a secret?" or "can I tell you something in confidence?, you have the opportunity to stop them right then and say, "you know, I can't tell you for sure until I know what the 'something' is, and then it might be too late so...maybe you might want to hold off."

The reason is that, as a leader, you have loyalty to several people or groups: the person in the conversation, your team, your boss, as well as the organization as a whole. Your ultimate loyalty should always be to the organization as a whole (even more than to your boss) so that can definitely cause a problem.

You're in a better position if someone says, "I probably shouldn't tell you this" because then you can interrupt and say, "then don't tell me". If they insist, ensure they know you can't necessarily keep the conversation in confidence. If they STILL persist, then it's on them.

The problem can arise when the person has already shared with you and then asks for privacy. When you are asked to keep some information in confidence AFTER it's already been shared with you, then you have a potential conundrum. You want to be someone who others can confide in, who others can trust. You may have even expended a lot of effort building a trusting relationship with the people around you...you definitely don't want to screw that up.

The thing is, you have your integrity to consider along with the loyalty. You can't assure confidence and then go ahead and share with someone else even if it is the right thing to do.

Honesty is the best policy when it comes to confidential conversations. Just don't let yourself get backed into a corner when the right thing to do is share the details with the appropriate party.

Bottom Line: Be prepared for conversations like this and set the expectations right up front. The better others know where you stand, the more they'll respect you and your conversations will be easier.

World-Class Feedback

You know, I've spent a fair amount of time writing about providing world-class customer service so now I think it's time to spent a minute on what we should do when we receive it.

OK, really, I'm just going to talk about one great way to reward someone for outstanding service.

I'm someone who has no problem giving constructive feedback -- both positive and the other kind, too. In reality, I rarely provide direct negative feedback to people who don't work for me...unless they ask for it. If they do ask, well, I try to tactfully and unemotionally let them know how I feel and what I think they could do to remedy the situation. Otherwise, if it's someone who is expecting a tip, I'll let my displeasure show in the amount.

HOWEVER, for those few people who just knock my socks off with world-class service, I try to make sure the appropriate people are aware how happy and impressed I am. When I share my feedback about the outstanding service I receive, I attempt to do two things.

1. First, I let my server know. in a restaurant setting, for an example, I personally thank him or her know how much we appreciated the care we received. I also write a note on the restaurant copy of the receipt saying words like "you made my day" or "your great service made our food taste even better" (I got the receipt idea from something I heard Zig Ziglar say).

2. The other thing I try to do is let the manager know. One time, I told someone how great a job she did and she said, "thank you very much, but if you really like the service I provided, please tell my boss." She was right. So whenever I can find a boss or manager or supervisor, I ensure he or she knows about the great service I got and who provided it. It's actually a lot of fun because most managers are used to getting complaints, not compliments. So you say, "are you the manager?" and you can literall sense them tensing up. Then you let them know, "our server was Tom (and they're just waiting for the bomb to drop) and he was really outstanding. Our experience couldn't have been better." Then you see them relax and smile and hopefully you've made their day, too.

We human beings, especially Americans, I think, are so conditioned to complain that we sometimes don't know how to say "thank you" for outstanding service.

When you experience that world-class service, don't waste your chance to foster that great work. Say something.

Soak in With the Enemy

I had a boss in the Army, probably the best boss I ever had in my life, who used to read Sun Tzu's "The Art of War". When he was stressed, he read it and re-read it constantly. I would walk into his office and he would be sitting behind his desk pouring through the book or maybe just holding it up against his forehead like the information was moving through his skull. He would often say, "soak in with the enemy, Captain Hall." He would follow up with, "get inside their heads and think like they do. Know what they think before they do." His point was that you could defeat your enemy if you knew what he was thinking before he did. That way you could anticipate and beat him before he hurt you.

The thing was that many times the enemy was our Commanding General. I don't know if my boss looked at him truly as the enemy although he was an extremely difficult man to deal with. What the General really was, was our customer. My boss was dealing with a very demanding customer.

The way my boss beat the enemy (our General) in the customer service sense was to ask questions, know the General's expectations and what he was thinking, and then respond in such a way as to exceed the General's expectations...in fact to exceed them before the General even fully knew what they were.

My boss was a great role model. He knew his job was to make his customers know that he and his team were the BEST service providers possible. He never, ever quit and when he or we had a down day in the service department, he would ensure we all redoubled our efforts and attacked the enemy again.

So maybe I should say, "soak in with your customers" so you can provide them the absolute best possible service ever.

Credit and Blame

Have you ever had a boss take the credit for your work or the work of your team?

Have you ever made a mistake and then watched your boss, when the **** started hitting the fan, step back, point at you and say "there he is"?

I have.

It sucks.

To me, those are no kind of leaders at all.

I was taught a long time ago, so long ago that I don't remember who taught me, "leaders share the credit and take the blame". I think it must have been back in my Army days. It's a code I've tried to live by for many years. Sometimes I've done better than others.

Sharing the credit. You want to build loyalty among your troops? You want to build up leaders who can carry on in future roles? You want to see your folks flourish? Then get them recognized. When your team (including you) does something great, ensure others know that they did it (not you).

Don't worry. Along with completing the mission, your team is responsible for making you look good. If you take care of them by teaching, coaching, developing and then showcasing them, you won't have any trouble looking G R E A T.

Taking the blame. Your job, as a leader, is to keep the crap off your folks so they can focus on and excel at their duties. Your job is to protect them from outside forces that might harm them. You're the mother hen, the mama bear that ensures your young survive. When your team screws up (and they will), you did it. You let those outside your team know that you take the responsibility and not because you're great, but because it's your job.

Just because you take the blame for one or more of your team when they mess up, it doesn't mean they get away with the mistake. You, as their boss, can provide the coaching and correction needed to get the culprits back on track...but you're doing it inside your team. And, hopefully, as a leader in a position of authority, you've had the opportunity to build some funds in your "credibility bank" so you can take more of the heat from outside than your team member(s) can. You've built up a thick hide so "no worries", right?

So, don't be one of those leaders who says "I" when the good stuff happens. Instead, say "we" or "they". And when the bad stuff happens, you'll have your opportunity to say "I".

Effective Meetings

In this post, I’ll share some tips I’ve found pretty useful for me and my teams as well as for some of the managers I’ve trained.

1. Meet regularly
~In my opinion, staff meetings should happen weekly, but no less than every 2 weeks…otherwise, maybe your team doesn't have enough going on.
~Consider using daily/shift huddles with all your team(s) (or the people present for the day or that shift) to cover daily information:
--who’s working
--goals for the day
--other pertinent items
--something upbeat to get everyone going and "pumped" for the day and your customers
~Huddles should be no more than 5-15 minutes in length (I recommend having them standing up around the front desk or in the break room before customers arrive). Let the more formal staff meetings cover items at a higher level than daily unless that’s needed or you don’t do huddles.

2. Have a written agenda (even if it’s up on a board)...and stick to it.

3. Take notes that list tasks with deadlines and assignments. Assign a team member to take and distribute the notes. Please ensure you follow up on deadlines and assignments or they’re less worthwhile.

4. Show respect to your people by starting and ending meetings on time (regular meetings should be able to run no longer than 1 hour...that's why you should have them more often than once a month).

5. Staff meetings should be a 2-way street. Team members should be allowed and encouraged (if not assigned) to be involved in the dialog.

6. Whenever possible, include a few minutes for team development like a book or article review or a piece of training germane to your work.

Let me leave you with this thought that one of my team members found when preparing for a training session on effective meetings:

“Meetings matter because that’s where an organization’s culture perpetuates itself. So every day, if we go to boring meetings full of boring people, then we can’t help but think that we work for a boring company. Bad meetings are a source of negative messages about our company and ourselves.” -William R. Daniels

Staff meetings? We don't need no stinking staff meetings...

How often to you talk with your folks?

Communication.

How often do you meet with your team?

Communication.

How well does your office interact?

Communication.

I guess you can tell I'm kind of hitting the "communication" topic a little hard today...ok, pretty hard.

That's because communication, whether good or poor, is the life-blood of an organization. To illustrate my point, let's take a look at a living organism. Let's take a cat (or a tiger or cougar if you need something more fierce). The cat has eyes that it can use to determine where it needs to go, where it's food is, who it likes or not. The cat has teeth to help bring nourishment into it's body or to protect itself from enemies. It has legs and paws and claws to help it run toward or away from people or things -- friends or threats. And it has a brain that does all the thinking that a cat does.

So how does a cat get the results of it's limited thinking -- whether to eat or fight or run or look around from it's brain to all the parts doing those activities? Why, it's the nervous system -- all the neurons and synapses and such. How well the nervous system operates can have great bearing on whether that cat lives or dies.

It's the same for us in business, in relationships, in life -- COMMUNICATION is like the nervous system in that cat. How well it works often has great impact on whether our relationships, our families, our businesses LIVE OR DIE.

You can tell that I am definitely biased. I believe you've got to meet with your team. I mean, how can your people know the priorities, understand what's important to you, and operate efficiently and effectively unless people are talking to each other?

It is said that most leaders think they communicate enough, yet in reality, we don't come close to spending enough time talking with our people.

A few excuses for not having regular staff meetings:

"We're too busy."
"I send them emails all the time."
"I don't call meetings just to have meetings."
"The team already knows what's important."
"They know what I'm thinking" (yikes!).

Hmmm.

Think about how well you and your team communicate and look for ways to improve.

I'll go into some detail about holding effective meetings in the next post.

Customer Service -- is it enough just to be nice?

I hear a lot of people talk about Customer Service and I've found out that a lot of people equate Customer Service as just being nice to their customers.

For sure, being nice and friendly to your customers are important and definitely a part of customer service, but that's only a small part. The problem is that you can be nice to a customer and still have the customer leave your store or company without ever getting what they want (but you're still nice).

Perhaps another way of thinking about what you provide -- instead of calling it customer service -- would be customer success.

What is Customer Success? Customer Success is helping customers do or get what they want -- to meet the goals or objectives they had when they came to your office or store or web site.

It's about VALUE. In order to have an out-of-this-world experience, customers need to KNOW that when they came to see you, they came to the right place; that your place is where they belong. Otherwise, a conversation like this can happen: "Those are really nice folks, but I'm going to shop over here instead, because these guys provide me the value I'm looking for."

This can apply anywhere from going to buy groceries to purchasing a vehicle to going to the doctor. Customers have an idea or ideas in their minds, either overtly or subconsciously, about what they want to have happen with you and your organization.

A great way to build customer loyalty and return business is to:

1. Understand what your customers value (maybe ask them?) and...
2. Help them get that value and achieve the success they're looking for.

Look at your organization and ask yourself: Are my folks just nice (and, hopefully, at least they're nice) or does our customer service continue on to customer success and value? If you don't like the answer you get...well, time for you to step up and make some changes.

Go get'em.

How Can I Make My People Trust Me?

OK, so you've been taught that -- and you believe -- to be an effective leader, in order to help your people develop and grow, to build a superb team, you've got to have a team that trusts you as their leader.

So how can you make them trust you?

YOU CAN'T!

You cannot make your people trust you.

You cannot tell them they can trust you...well, you can; but your words will ring hollow unless there's some "umphf" behind it.

What do you need to do? You can't just snap your fingers and make it happen, but there are actions you can take to move toward a "trust" relationship:

1. Let the team know what they can expect from you...and meet the expectations. In other words, do what you say you'll do.
2. Build relationships with your team members (and I don't mean being buddies). Understand what is important to your people so you can help them achieve.
3. Show your people that you have their best interests in mind (like I alluded to in #1), by your words, your expressions, your actions.

Ask yourself a question: do you have your team's best interests in mind? And if you do, do they think so? Remember, perception is reality -- yours and theirs.

I know from personal experience, unfortunately, that trust is a way easier thing to lose than it is to gain (and almost impossible to regain once lost) so make your relationship with your team a priority.

Lead by Example...because you already are

We often hear the exhortation "lead by example" and there are all sorts of web pages and books about how you can best do that.

While it's a great topic for discussion, I really don't want to go into the different ways you can lead by example. There are plenty of people who've already done that.

I'd rather step back for a second and think about what leading by example means. To me, it means that leaders are on display. These leaders can be parents, bosses, team leaders, project managers, countries (like America...since this IS the 4th of July) and those who wield influence or cause others to view them as beings to emulate.

If you're a leader, you're always on display. That means others -- bosses, colleagues and followers -- watch how you exhibit that leadership. They can see if you're having a good day or a bad one (and you know that if a boss is having a bad day, everybody's going to have a bad day). They can tell if you walk the walk -- if your actions line up with your words. They can tell what you really think is acceptable and what is not.

The adage, "lead by example" kind of makes me think that leaders have a choice of whether or not to do that or that "leading by example" is an achievement to strive for.

Unfortunately, it's not that way at all. As soon as put on the mantle of command, in whatever form that takes, you ARE leading by example and the sooner you realize it -- the sooner you embrace that constant scrutiny, the judgments make by all those around you -- the more successful leader you'll be.

We Do As We Practice

Have you ever heard that? "We do as we practice" I definitely have. I know you've heard "practice makes perfect." That's why professional organizations -- military, first responders, medical, sports teams -- if they're any good, practice their tasks until they're sometimes sick of it...and they can perform them in their sleep.

We can't reasonably expect that our team members will perform consistently and at top of their game unless:

1. They know what's expected of them (and often you need to show or model the expectations to them).
2. Training is in place to complete the expected tasks in an
outstanding fashion
3. They practice, practice, practice.
4. Leaders and peers shadow/observe team members carrying out their tasks (directly, not listening from the other room like one manager told me).
5. Feedback is provided, both immediate and on-going (like during staff meetings or periodic training or practice sessions).

Both training and practice should include role-playing in front of the rest of the team...people don't think it's always fun, but the way the leadership approaches role-playing has a lot to do with how it's accepted by the group. Constructive feedback should be provided, "this is what I think Bob did great and these are the areas I think Bob could do even better" or words to that effect.

If your team makes practice a regular habit, then when a team member is not feeling 100% "there" on a given day, or if you're short-handed and people are scurrying around to get everything done, or if something else out of the ordinary is occuring, then you don't have to worry about how they'll interact with your customers...they'll just fall back on the way they practice.

Practice won't make you perfect, but, if it's a regular part of your team's activities, they will be that much closer than ever before.

Hiring Awareness Tip

Hiring people is always a crap-shoot, isn't it? We hope we're hiring the best person for the job, but it's really hard to tell what we're getting.

I learned a very important tip from a friend a couple of years ago that I wished I'd known way before then. He told me, "remember, when you're interviewing candidates, they are probably at their best right then. This is when they're minding their Ps and Qs. If you don't LOVE them during the interview, you probably won't later either."

I've hired a lot of people and a lot of them have been candidates who I thought were pretty good, but I didn't love them. What I sometimes did was convince myself and others that a) I just needed a body and it didn't matter that much what they were like as long as they didn't have a criminal record, b) the candidate was good enough, or c) that they probably just didn't interview that well and they'd get better. I was often wrong and regretted my decisions.

In business, we often have dual messaging coming at us or from us regarding hiring. The overt directive is typically to hire the best candidate (the one who can do the best job and gel with the rest of the team or organization) and not push the fit. The unspoken directive is to get a body right away. Now, rarely do both of these directives get accomplished simultaneously. Both are important, but the first one...don't push the fit...should take precedence every time. When you examine the cost in time and money and headaches to hire, train, discipline and terminate someone, it really doesn't make sense just to fill the position.

There's a lot more that goes into hiring than just my tip today, but still...if you don't love them during the interview, you probably won't love them later.

Apathy -- Do we really want customers?

I recently saw this poster and had to have it so I bought a framed one off eBay the other day. In case you can't read the words in white at the bottom of the poster, it reads,

"If we don't take care of the customer, maybe they'll stop bugging us."

This is both very funny and very sad at the same time. It's very funny because it's so true and it's very sad for the same reason. Now, I don't know any business owners who feel this way about customers, but I have run into many people working for businesses who feel this way -- most of them not ALL the time -- but many of them periodically.

I've heard managers and other leaders say that they're really glad it's "quiet" today so they can get some work done or that they are so busy with customers that they can't get their own tasks taken care of. It's easy to think like this and I have to admit that I've felt that way more than once in my life.

I do think the title of "Apathy" doesn't apply to most people, but the poster does make a point. If we don't take care of our customers, they won't be back. Historically, this hasn't been the case in the medical industry where so many doctors and their staff have felt like the patients needed them more than they needed the patients...and it was often true. However, with healthcare reform being such a hot topic, many medical practices are taking a much harder look at their customer service practices and working to shape up.

What if you determine your office has more than it's fair share of apathetic reactions to customers ("more than fair share" = ANY)? What do you do about it? It's very possible that it's ingrained in the fabric of your office. It's very possible that it's been such a long pattern of behavior that it just seems that this is the way it is.

CULTURE SHIFT time. And it very well may be a tough shift. By having a shift in culture, I mean that the office or organization, as a whole, takes a look at the business and decides to change, at the core, the way things are done. For culture shifts to be successful, they must start at the very top of the team or organization. It's often easier to successfully shift a culture when there's a major change like new leadership. Then the new leader can set expectations at the beginning of how things will run.

Let's say that you've determined that the focus of your group is way too centered on the team than on the customer, meaning policies, procedures, hours, interactions, etc, are designed more for the pleasure of your team. You want to make a change, but you've been around a while so you may be part of the problem. Some people will tell you that "this is the way we've always done it" or "this is what you led us to do". These statements may be true, but when you see a mistake, do you continue making that mistake just because you've always been doing it...even if it was your idea?

So, is it impossible to change the culture to a more customer-centric one? NO. But, as the leader, it's going to take a large commitment of effort to ensure the change takes place. Where do you start?

1. Identify the problem and communicate it to everyone on the team directly.
2. Set expectations for yourself, your other leaders, and your team members.
3. Train all parties as necessary. I find that a lot of times, people know the right things to do, but they're out of practice or just haven't been doing those right things.
4. Observe staff interacting with customers
5. Coach to the behavior you want.
6. Correct, as appropriate and REWARD the same way.
7. Don't be afraid to say "good-bye" to those team members who can't or won't learn the new focus on customers (institute the "Good to Great" approach that Jim Collins laid out and decide who should be "on the bus" and in what seats).

Let's face it. You're in business to make money and you make money...long-term...by taking care of your customers and providing them the value they're looking for.