When you provide service, what does it do to you?

I've talked several times about providing world-class, unparalleled customer service. Our focus is primarily on our customers and how it affects them and, consequently, how it impacts our organization.

I'd like to take a second to look at service from the angle of its impact on the provider. What does providing service do to us? In the last sentence, I didn't write "what does providing outstanding service do FOR us", but I wrote "what does providing outstanding service do TO us". This is an important distinction.

In a sermon by my friend Aaron Wymer last week, he said that a pattern of heartfelt giving and sincere service to others changes our character. It changes the type of people we are. Where we honestly give of ourselves to others; where we genuinely serve our fellow human beings -- that's where our hearts go. Then the act of true service goes full-circle impacting the customer, the organization, and us.

So, the next time we think about outstanding customer service and how it helps others around us, let's remember what it does FOR and TO us.

Do you have to like something to be good at it?

I was recently in a conversation with an acquaintance. The person was saying that their child was doing poorly in one class because the child didn't like it. I blurted out, "the kid doesn't like it? Who cares if the kid doesn't like it?" This person looked at me like I had pulled out a gun or something.

That leads to me to my question for today? Can you be good at something and not like it?

I get the impression that most people feel that if you don't like to do something, you can't expect to be any good at it, let alone excel at it. That just boggles my mind. Our lives are filled with tasks and duties that we don't like or care for. Shoot, if you have children, you know there are plenty of distasteful things that you have to do because you're a parent. You don't automatically suck at cleaning up vomit just because you don't like to do it. It goes with the job and that's how most people deal with it.

How is it any different with work? I had a boss once ask me if I really liked one of the things I was working on. I told her, "no, I really don't care for it." She asked me, "would you like to do something else? Maybe you'd do better at that." I responded with "am I doing a poor job at this task?" She replied, "no, you're doing great, but I want you to be happy." I then responded, "happy? what does that have to do with anything? I like my job, but I don't like this. I'll deal with it." She said, "well, people do better when they like what they do." I came back with, "I'm a professional. I do my best at everything you give me to do. Whether I like it or not is immaterial."

So what do you think? Am I just a weirdo? Do you have to like what you do in order to be great or even good at it?

What do you do when you make a mistake?

Maybe this seems like a weird question, but I really want to know. What do you do when you make a mistake?

1. Do you cover it up? Do you build elaborate stories and make up tales or lie to ensure no one knows you messed up? Do you blame someone else, especially if they will never know?
2. Do you wait to see what will happen? It's not that that you will lie or anything, but maybe no one will notice. Maybe everybody else has so much stuff going on that they just let the mistake go and keep on moving. If people do notice, you can admit the mistake then.
3. Do you act like someone else made that mistake? Do you act like you are as surprised or outraged as anybody else? "Who did that?" "How could that happen?" Then you just wait for things to blow over, admitting nothing, and then go on about your life.
4. Do you admit your mistake proactively, before it becomes known? You know you messed up and the mistake could have an adverse impact on your business and on other people. You stand up and say, "that was me, I did it".

I suspect that there are a few people who "live" in one of these worlds with regard to mistakes and will rarely deviate. I also suspect that the rest of us have moved in and out of more than one of these worlds at one time or another. While I bet most of us were taught to handle mistakes like #4, is that the smart thing to do? Is that one of those options when you can be right and dumb and the same time?

What do you think?

Do You Have A Mentor?

What do I mean by "mentor"? Well, the definition of a mentor is: a trusted friend, counselor, or teacher, usually a more experienced person. Back in July, I wrote a post called "No Leader Is Perfect" where I touched on the need for a mentor (you can read that post through this link). I'd like to expand on the whole idea of a mentor today.

I believe we all should have a mentor figure in our lives, someone who we can count on us to give good solid advice and be there when we need them. Here are a few questions and my thoughts regarding each:

1. What are the main duties of the mentor toward the person being mentored (let's call that person the "mentee")?

• TRUST (if this isn't present, the relationship should not exist)
• Honesty
• Empathy
• Strong, active listening
• Guidance
• Coaching

2. What are NOT duties of mentors?

• Fixing problems
• Inserting themselves in the mentee's chain of command
• Being a spy for the mentee's boss

3. Is it possible for two individuals to positively mentor each other? I think so, especially if each of the individual's strengths are a little different. In fact, there are some distinct advantages to two people mentoring each other in that they can build a strong bond of trust and really understand how each other ticks.

4. Should a boss be a mentor? No, no, no. Was I clear enough? NO. I know there are people who would disagree with me here and I've had bosses who thought they should be my mentor. It's just that bosses are supposed to help fix problems whereas mentors should help their mentees see how to fix problems themselves. Plus, there may be times when the mentee needs advice on a conflict or issue with the boss. That can't really happen when the boss is the mentor. Additionally, when you have a great boss and a great mentor, then you have two really good sources of guidance instead of the one.

5. Should a subordinate ever mentor a boss? What? Are you kidding me? This is a real question, though. Team members can definitely give their bosses their opinions and their advice, but it is totally inappropriate and unprofessional for team members to mentor their bosses.

6. Can I have more than one mentor? I believe individuals can have several advisers especially if the individuals are managers or leaders, because they probably have varying responsibilities that different experienced people could help with. Mentors are different than advisers, though. Mentors build deeper relationships with their mentees. There's an element of openness, trust, and honesty that mentors should garner and that advisers probably cannot. So I think, that individuals should limit the number of mentors they have to one or two, as a rule of thumb. There's no problem at all with mentors having more than one person who they mentor, though.

7. Should the mentor be older than the mentee? The mentor should be more experienced and, in most cases, that makes the mentor an older person, but not necessarily.

What other questions are there regarding the mentor relationship? Is there anything to add? Do you have a mentor? Do you think having a mentor is valuable?

Aspiring to Greatness

I just finished watching an interview with Captain Chesley Sullenberger where they talked about the "Miracle on the Hudson" as well as what his life has been like over the last 9 months, since the accident. Yesterday, when digging through papers looking for my DD-214 discharge form from the Army, I came across several photos from around 20 years ago. I posted these photos on my Facebook page and have probably looked at them a couple dozen times since then. They bring back such a flood of memories, both good and bad. That part of my life was so long ago.

As I'm counting the days to my 50th birthday, things like the photos and the interview cause me to think about what I have and have not done in my life. They cause me to think about success and greatness and then I try to take my measure. It's really not the most fun exercise I've undertaken recently. I see so many people who have accomplished so many great things in their lives (at least, great by my standards) and it kind of gets to me.

Then I remember a very smart boss I once had, Dr. Cynthia Wike, who used to tell her people, when they were having a bad day, "OK, you've got 15 minutes to whine and feel sorry for yourself. Then you're done and you need to get back to work."

Thinking about Dr. Wike's words, I know we have to remember the past and pay it our respects, but then move on with life. I think the point should be to aspire to greatness, not in the sense of fame or fortune, but as human beings. How many lives have we touched, how many people have we helped, how much service have we provided to God and to our fellow humans? We also have to remember that when we fail (and we will, repeatedly), we do not give up like a bunch of losers. We can have our whine time and then get back to it because we are not quitters and the causes to which we aspire never stop, never wane.

Well, my 15 minutes are up. I need to get back to work now.

"...3 fingers pointing back at you"

I heard this phrase the first time when I was a young lieutenant (I mean, majorly wet behind the ears). I was a Signal Corps officer assigned to a Field Artillery battalion in the 4th Infantry Division. I was responsible for all the communications assets and was one of a handful of non-artillery types in the battalion's group of officers. I had gone to speak to my battalion commander about how the other officers and their men were not taking care of the communications equipment and how they wouldn't follow the manuals regarding communications training.

The colonel looked at me and said, "OK, Lieutenant Hall, I'll get on the other officers about this. However, remember, when you're pointing your finger at someone else, you have three more pointing back at you." I didn't get it. First, I'd never heard that phrase before and second, THEY were at fault, not me. At least that was obvious to me.

What I came to find out later was that my men had not properly trained the "gun bunnies" on how to use the equipment and I hadn't done as good a job working with my fellow officers as I could have. It was very uncomfortable to deal with when those officers got chewed out and then they proceeded to let the colonel and others know how the Signal guys had dropped the ball.

I point all this out to say that whenever we're not happy with what other people have done or failed to do, whether they're family, friends, coworkers, or people who report to us, we will be sorely mistaken if we don't take a serious look at our potential role in the problem. What did we do that helped cause the problem? What could we have done to ensure the problem didn't get this far or never existed at all?

Bosses take heed. When you're not happy with your people's performance, ask yourself what role you had to play. Ensure you've done your part and more before you start pointing fingers.

What Keeps You Awake At Night?

Someone once asked me what keeps me awake at night. You know, what is it that worries me more than anything else.

I reflected on that and realized I worry most about being fair to other people (my wife told me that's also what keeps her awake more than any anything else). I wonder why that is. The world isn't fair by any means. People mistreat each other constantly. People are unfair to each other regularly.

There are people dying in this world constantly, from starvation, from violence, and from disasters. We have two children who are going off on their own to build their lives. We have parents who are getting older and some relatives and friends who are sick, yet we worry most about being fair to those we deal with?

Could it be because the trust thing is so personal? I'm not sure that's it because what's more personal than your children, family, and friends? Being treated fairly by Bob Hall has got to rank at the bottom of the spectrum when compared to what some people are experiencing.

Could it be because my word and my personal values are so important to me (I can't speak for my wife here)? I definitely would rather have someone's respect more than friendship (did I really say that?).

Could it be that I believe how I treat others is something I can control when so many other things in my life are out of my control? I think that could be it. I'll think about it some more.

What keeps you awake at night?